Nobility in Makara

The Noble Lords and Ladies of Makara occupy an important place in the societal table. Despite the very advanced and, in many ways democratic, nature of the Principality, old ways still hold value.

Social Hierarchy

The social hierarchy in Makara is in many ways the Feudal table of hierarchy that we all likely know well from grade school. The only real change is that Guildmasters and Merchants in the Lords and Knights cross-sections, respectively.

Courtesy of Feudems.com

Royalty
Makara has no king, but it still has royalty. The Prince of Makara is the latest in a long line of men and women who have ruled the country for the last 80 years. Succession is typically by primogeniture, with the ruler's first born child becoming the next Prince or Princess. But it is possible for a Prince to nominate another member of their dynasty to succeed them, although it is rare.

Nobles
The Nobility of Makara mostly exist in two places; as courtiers to the Prince, living in the capital, receiving an income from the Royal Court, and serving the Prince how he deems fit. Or as landed Lords across the country, mainly the rural areas. Landed Lords rule over vast domains of sparsely populated farm or borderlands that provide, respectively, food or protection to the rest of the country.

Marcher Lords
The Margravates, Lords, Stewards, and Knights of the "Marchlands", or the uncivilized borders, are very important to the defense of the realm as a whole. Constantly engaged with raiding tribes from the Orcish Wastes, or angry border Governers from the Hobgoblin Empire, these lands are always ready to fight, and the men and women levied from the towns and villages have far more military experience than their fellows in the more peaceful interior of Makara.

Knights
The most well trained and experienced soldiers in Makara are the Knights. These heavily armored men and women are employed by Lords, Guilds, the Army, and even the Prince at times to lead the rank and file soldier of the realm and carry out precision surgical strikes against valuable foes.

A knighthood can be granted to anyone by any knight, but the rank and respect of the person who knighted someone carries a lot of influence into how that new knight will be treated and respected by others. A poor knight from the country who can barely afford chain armor is not someone you'd prefer to be knighted by. But the Prince himself knighting you? There is no higher honor.

Some knights, especially in the Marchlands, can be granted rulership of a village or even a small town in order to gain income from the settlement while also organizing it into a more defensible and competent military asset.

Commoners
The vast majority of Makaran citizens are commoners. Men and Women who are free to make their own way in life but, also, not entitled to any power or wealth. Merchants, Guildmasters, Lawyers, Politicians. They all come from this level, which just goes to show how far up the social ladder an average person can rise in Makara.

Peasants and Serfs
Serfdom and Peasantry are not common in Makara. The only real holdouts of these old acts are in the Marchlands, where Lords can argue the need for absolute servitude by those whom they outrank. Many Peasants and Serfs make a break for the cities and towns where they find their freedom as Lords are not allowed to hunt down these deserters from their lands.