A class system exists in the desert herd, which is primarily based upon bloodline. These classes come with a title that will commonly precede the given name of the individual in said class. These classes do not define the jobs that phae in the desert may have, and any class of phae may have any job available in the herd. All herd members are expected to work and contribute to the herd’s success. To not work is considered a great shame upon the individual.
Social Classes
Superior
Offspring of the Primary and their Regent or Regent Consorts. Politically, Superiors are at the top of the social chain and considered in-line with the Regent and Primary.
Regal
Political savants that have arranged themselves and their families well within the Deserts society. These phae have made themselves somewhat important to the inner workings of the herd, whether it be through a booming mercantile business, the most fertile farming lands, the best builders, the best hunters, etcetc. These phae are the industry leaders of their craft and thus are typically the ones with the honor to provide their goods to the Primary and their family.
Noble
Well-off Phae who are still climbing to the top of the social chain but have established themself well within society and have a measure of superior or regal blood somewhere in their family tree. These mid-ranking but still relatively royal Phae are often striving to better themselves and earn themselves a keen eye from Regals and Superiors alike in search of ‘diamonds in the rough’ to join their Houses.
Desertfolk
The working class of the Desertfolk are the more pragmatic and level headed stock of the herd but incredibly varied in their backgrounds and motivations alike. Some are comfortable with their station and uninterested in grandeur whilst others might be ambitiously striving for more or bitter at their birthstation.
Class Inheritance
Primary x Regent/Regent Consort = Superior (any claimed mate of the Primary must be the Regent or the Regent Consort, else the resulting child will not be considered a Superior)
Regent x Regent Consort = Superior
Regent Consort x Regent Consort = Superior
Superior x Superior = Superior
Superior x Regal = Regal
Superior x Noble = Noble
Superior x Desertfolk = Noble
Regal x Regal = Regal
Regal x Noble = Noble
Regal x Desertfolk = Desertfolk
Noble x Noble = Noble
Noble x Desertfolk = Desertfolk
**It is important to note that if a Phae’s class improves or if the phae gets demoted in class, their offspring’s rank will not change and will be determined by the class of their parents the moment they are born.
Social Class Advancement
To move up a class level, Phae must gain reputation. They can do so by gaining notoriety within the herd through collaborative RPs with different herd members. Submit your Phae for social class advancement through the Dawnspire Class Advancement Form.
Requirements to move up one class.
8 Collaborative Literature meeting the following requirements:
- Must be at least 300+ words
- Must be with members outside of the Phae’s own noble house.
- Must include at least 1 Literature piece interacting with a Phae of the class they are aspiring towards.
OR
8 Collaborative Art pieces meeting the following requirements:
- Must at least be a headshot and have a background.
- Must be with members outside the Phae’s own noble house.
- Must include at least 1 art piece interacting with a Phae of the class they are aspiring towards.
Class Demotion
It is possible for phae to be demoted to lower classes if they have committed a crime. Please refer to the Politics and Laws of Dawnspire for more information.
**It is important to note that if a phae’s class improves or if the phae gets demoted in class, their offspring’s rank will not change and will be determined by the class of their parents the moment they are born.
Reputation & Noble Houses
The desert herd is a very family and kin-oriented society. Family units are required to be a part of one of the “Houses” where members of a House are considered as a collective working for the House itself (e.g. Regal Ynara Omari of House Irisil; Social Class Regal, Family Omari, and House Irisil).
The Royal Houses are a group effort (compare them to companies or the houses in Henry Pewter ™) with no one Phae in charge of the House itself, rather the Phae act as representatives that serve the House’s name and reputation. Many different families work together for one particular Noble House. Anyone of noble blood or higher can join a house and the ‘adoption’ of Phae without blood family into a house or family unit is common.
Harems are very common for any gender of Phae and polyamory is widely accepted. Both stags and does can form ‘harems’, often resulting in groups of unrelated phae connected by these relationships who work together as a unit to raise fawns in a family unit and bring further prosperity to the Noble House as a result (because the general assumption is that the fawn will stay part of the House that the rest of the family unit is a part of.
To give an example we take our phae:
Noble Henry Pewter of House Grimbeldor
Social Class: Noble
Family Surname: Pewter
House he works for: Grimbeldor
**Note: Whilst the Noble Houses all have a physical multiple-story ‘House’ to gather under, they do not live in these houses. At most, they might stay overnight to get more work done but always go back to their family Houses in the Noble, Regal, or Superior District at the end of the day. They are intended as a place of work, to hold meetings with other members of the House, tutor fawns in the ways of the House, host foreign dignitaries and visitors for a few days, or to hold grand parties/celebrations
Families and Surnames
Often working under the Noble Houses, are many different family units. To identify which member of a social class belongs to which family, Dawnspire makes use of family surnames. These came about to group a bloodline or harem collective, including any adopted phae, in order to refer to them efficiently. It is common for Phae to refer to nobility and make a note of always including their surname and house, as a sign of respect in their absence or if different phae may share the same first name.
During marriage or the merging of harems, a decision is to be made about which surname a family unit will take and which house they will all collectively join and work for. Typically, more ambitious Phae will choose to take the surname of the mate with the highest social class and reputation and join their House. In other situations, families may choose to hyphenate their surname or come to an agreement about which surname to pick (out of preservation of the history of a long-standing bloodline or simply for aesthetics). It is not an uncommon occurrence for members of a family unit (e.g. fawns or uncles/aunts) to choose to join a different House outside of the family’s chosen, at risk of offending their family but the decision is generally accepted if a House aligns more with the individual’s personal views and goals.
In more unconventional family compositions (such as a couple with each their own harem that don’t inter-mingle) hyphenation of surnames is a common occurrence where the couple will hyphenate their surnames together and their respective harem members will hypenate their own with their partner who is part of said couple. In some complicated and more convoluted marital set-ups, however, a couple or members of a collective or separate harem might just choose a new surname altogether or simply elect the oldest/most well-known surname out for the sake of ease.
Options are:
– Take one phae’s surname
– Hypenate the phaes’ surnames together
– Create a new surname (because of disagreement on which to chose, to start a new chapter, or to spite both their birth families/be cut from their families’ public perception)
To give an example with a couple who each has their own (unjoined) harems when they get married:
Regal Ophelius Torrine and Regal Soraye Lovalai become married and each has their own harem. Regal Ophelius’ new name would be Regal Ophelius Torrine-Lovalai and Regal Soraye becomes Regal Soraye Torrine-Lovalai.
Regal Soraye’s harem member, Noble Chastos Vilrin, would then adopt her surname with his own and become Noble Chastos Lovalai-Vilrin.
A fawn will always take the surname of both its biological parents, hyphenated (whether they are married, in a harem together, or simply partook in a casual fling).
**General Note: Whilst we will not be introducing mechanics for Family Reputation or generally moderating the choosing/combining of Surnames, a rule of thumb narratively is that the more members in a family there is with higher reputation the more likely a family is well-known in the herd**
Individual Reputation
Individual Repute
How well known and integrated a Phae is in Dawnspire’s society is quantified by their Individual Reputation. Phae can gain reputation points through collaborative RP pieces (lit or art). The higher their reputation points, the more likely they are well respected in their job and to the herd as a whole (and more likely to be called on for jobs by the higher ranking Phae of Dawnspire). Phae can also lose reputation points by committing crimes. Anyone with negative reputation points is considered well known in the negative sense.
Please note your Phae’s reputation points and consult the database to see your Phae’s current points if need be. [link]
All newborn/starter phae start with 0 Reputation Points regardless of their class/rank.
Please refer to the Skills Page to see how many points are earned per art/literature piece.
- A phae earns the same amount of reputation points as skill points for each piece listed under collaborative art/lit.
- E.g: An art piece that earns a phae 4 skill points also gains them 4 reputation points.
House Reputation
Aside from the Phae’s own reputation, they must also work to increase the reputation of their Noble house. The reputation of the noble house can be important for elections and eligibility, increased notoriety when interacting with the Primary and their family, and general bragging rights.
House Reputation Points:
Currently, there is no way in game to gain reputation for Noble Houses but there is a system in the works. For the time being, all Noble Houses reputation are equal and neutral.
The Noble Houses
A House Reputation Sheet is still under development and can be consulted in the future to see the current reputation for each house.
Please refer to our Dawnspire Deviantart Folders to see the current members of each Noble House.
House Naviris
This House seems to always attract the public eye due to its very elaborate parties but is also just a constant weekly influx of theatrical melodrama amongst its members of who is together with who and which families are arguing and why. Dawnspire wishes they could just have their tumultuous drama documented in books to read but that would be an affront to the house so they settle with the grapevine.
General Political Goal: Open up the yearly feast of unity with other herd leaders so that members of the noble houses receive an invite.
General Personality Traits: Dramatic, Theatrical, Emotional, Social, Incredibly Welcoming.
House Luneir
House Luneir is known for its artistry, having close connections to some of the best performers, and having highly talented ones within the house. They have also been known to sponsor performers and artists from other herds to come and visit Dawnspire for special celebrations.
General Political Goal: Create more occasions for celebration and performance, drawing in tourism.
General Personality Traits: Artistic, Festive, Laid-Back, Insightful, Good Character Judges.
House Irisil
This house commonly attracts the loyalty of families with a love of frivolity. They import a significant portion of the herd’s foreign luxuries each year. They are some of the best talkers when it comes to bargaining and has a vast amount of cultural knowledge in their inventory to aid them in this. Typically, other herds are happy to see them arrive as they are always jovial and in for a good respectable spar to hustle trades of interesting wares.
General Political Goal: Increase the number of trade routes and secure paths.
General Personlity Traits: Jovial, Extravagant, Good Bargainers, Cultured, Materialistic.
House Trevaire
According to gossip, this house has deep ties to the thieves guild and black market. There are several recorded instances of old enemies disappearing, though no proof has ever surfaced. Typically, there has never been enough strong evidence to support any concrete accusation of criminal activity and their general charm also works to ward off any active actions against them. In truth, every Primary in the past has been warned not to press the matter as long as the House doesn’t perform any public overtly criminal acts and royalty who works under this house know there is a secret agreement that there are consequences if you get caught and then all the blame will be solely fabricated against you and you alone (even if you weren’t the only one involved). They are granted this freedom by Dawnspire for the mass amounts of trade and resources they contribute to the herd that might not be obtainable by legal means (e.g. Primary turning a blind eye to a member of the House ‘Kidnapping’ a Phae with Healing magic to save someone from death where otherwise they might not have cooperated).
General Political Goal: Abolish laws surrounding the black market and assimilate them back into the herd’s protection.
General Personality Traits: Secretive, Guarded, Cunning, Charming, Intimidating.
House Solus
House Solus is one of the oldest and most devout in respecting and rightfully/healthily fearing the power of the gods. Wants to seek out old long lost knowledge of rituals and ways to appease their deities and tries to urge others not to do/say anything too insulting (still level-headed and not forcing others to believe in their ways but have healthy respect for the divine).
General Political Goal: Reform laws to disallow disrespect towards the gods to prevent history repeating itself.
General Personality Traits: Holier-Than-Thou, Patronizing, Patient, Persistent, Intelligent.
House Eld
The House Eld has always held very radical viewpoints on the division between nobility and desertfolk, believing that the open community is a disgrace to the glory of the primary and nobility as a whole. Incredibly elitist even in their perfect vision for the selection of Primaries, members of this house have even committed high treason in the form of an assassination attempt in days long past when a primary did not hold up to their standards (and were subsequently executed). They believe the primary to be an idol of Althene who should subscribe to encompass her values and draw hard lines, for they believe it to be essential to the herd’s continued survival.
General Political Goal: More imperial control (more centurions in the citadel and harbour).
General Personality Traits: High-Browed, Elitist, Old-Fashioned, Religious, Judgemental.
House Sýkora
This noble house has been known for the many members that represented it in the past who have had a very keen eye for designing apparel. From jewelers to tailors alike, many phae came together under their shared love and expertise surrounding personal aesthetics. Of course, there have been artistic differences in the past surrounding personal taste but the members under this house have gained a reputation for being fashionistas (whether in the good or bad sense remains subjective).
General Political Goal: Setting up apprenticeships/student exchanges with other herds.
General Personality Traits: Creative, Insightful, Experimental, Proud, Ambitious.
House Neveh
Publicly regarded as the house that draws the bleeding-heart samaritans. These phae, though of noble, regal, or superior standing, are staunchly against any divide or differential treatment towards those of lesser rank. Even though this isn’t a herd-wide problem in general, but rather reserved to the entitled select few, they go out of their way to cater and give voice to the Desertfolk. They believe Dawnspire to be hardened due to the cruelty of Althene and the cut-throat nature of survival instincts and instead encourage their own to follow the good nature of Nehme or Zemides in their daily lives.
General Political Goal: Shift the herd’s faith towards a softer approach to life.
General Personality Traits: Kind, Philantropical, Sensitive, Naive, Outspoken.
House Adarsid
To say this house is extremely varied and diverse would be an understatement, to say the least. Phae from all kinds of professions, personalities, and general demeanor have typically represented this house, making it difficult to pin down or categorize. As one of the youngest houses, some more critical members of nobility regard them as a house of misfits that are disorganized or disjointed with no conceivable way of working together. However, something about the specific way the many differences under this house interact just seems to work and well, considering one another more family than coworkers (annoying siblings and drunk uncles included but a family nonetheless).
General Political Goal: Establish safe travel for a fee to the Primary via ship accompanied by centurions.
General Personality Traits: Understanding, Tolerant, Communicative, Disorganized, Kind.
House Izidhra
This long-standing house has very strict moral and etiquette values due to the fact that no less than 8 primaries spouted from their ranks granting them a lot of pride (and arrogance). Many of them have previously filled up the ranks of keepers, tutors, and medics in the past. They often travel to Vinelocke to learn more of their advancements in the field of medical treatment but are very withdrawn, private, and reserved towards other herdmembers in Dawnspire (except for house Eyrrion, which they seem to have the closest political ties with).
General Political Goal: Converge and exchange knowledge more often with other herds.
General Personality Traits: Dogmatic, Arrogant, Strict, Conservative, Sophisticated.
House Somna
House Somna is known to place great value on magic training, with somewhat of an unspoken goal to have at least one Phae of every magic type in its service for prosperity. There have been a series of mishaps in the past though leading to them having to reconstruct parts of the communal house.
General Political Goal: Place more effort into investigating and putting to use different magic types to benefit the herd.
General Personality Traits: Intense, Studious, Intellectual, Hard-Working, Idiosyncratic.
House Eyrrion
One of the eldest Houses in Dawnspire, and once one of the richest, a series of scandals amongst several families have left their reputation in tatters. Rumor has it that at one point their coffers were entirely empty. Now populated by very serious individuals, a lot of which hold positions like centurions and architects, dedicated to reforming the house image into a more mature era. In their pursuit to restore their old honour, they forget to let loose once in a while.
General Political Goal: Boost the numbers of centurions and dispatchable architects.
General Personality Traits: Dedicated, Reflective, Competitive, Familial, Stiff.