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.
See Dawnspire’s Class System for more information.
General Ranks
Overseen By The Steward of Militia
Centurion
The guardsmen of Dawnspire, and the main force making up it’s army. They are expected to keep an eye on its citizens to uphold the law.
Requirements:
Medium in 1 physical stat.
Rank Sub-ranks:
Imperial Guard
Centurion’s tasked with guarding the primary and their family. This is seen as a great honor, reserved for those who have shown great skill and are trusted by the primary.
Requirements:
Advanced in 2 physical stats.
Crimson Centurion
Centurion’s in charge of patrolling the most dangerous parts of Dawnspire’s territory.
Requirements:
Advanced in 1 physical stat.
Reavers
Assassins under the command of the Primary alone. These centurions often daylight as Imperial Guards and not many know of their existence. They are called on as Reavers only in highly dangerous situations where there is an imminent threat to the Primary (or their family’s) life.
Requirements:
Master in 1 physical stat.
Advanced in 1 other physical stat.
Brigadier
Centurions that can be hired for personal guard from the herd. They are still employed by the herd itself and can be called on in case of dire emergency or war but are primarily tasked with protecting individuals (typically well-off merchants and their families or higher ranking classes). Brigadiers often are hired accompany high value merchant caravans to the citadel and act as escorts for merchants and important foreigners.
Requirements:
Medium in 2 physical stats OR Advanced in 1 physical stat.
Aspirant
Recruits in Dawnspire’s army. These young phae often train in groups in the citadel before being tasked with shadowing centurions of the specialisation they wish to go into.
Requirements:
Age 5-8 years.
Messenger
Messengers are highly important members of the army and often the quickest members of the herd. In any sign of danger or emergency they are the key to a swift action plan.
Requirements:
Medium or higher in agility.
Overseen By The Steward of Magicka
Medic
Magical or herbology- based healers (herbology is included in magical oversight). Medics will often travel the great expanse of the desert to reach their patients and are expected to uphold a strict ethic code when doing so.
Requirements:
Medium in herbology OR healing magic.
Rank Sub-ranks:
Physician
Advanced Medics who have studied their specialisation for years and are often called on to take care of the most important herd members. In the case of mass injury or illness they coordinate in unison with the steward of Magicka and advise on the best course of action, often having to make difficult moral or ethical choices.
Requirements:
Age 15+ years.
Advanced or higher in herbology OR healing magic.
Intern
Aspiring Medics starting to learn the tricks of the trade. Interns will often assist a Medic or Physician on their tasks until they are capable of treating phae independently.
Requirements:
Age 5+ years.
Magicians
The Magicians of Dawnspire are highly valued and revered. Dawnspire’s leaders have often been of the belief that magic is power, and this was only further reinforced when they connected magic to architecture leading the herd into its era of prosperity. The herd will try to recruit and persuade any users of magics outside the herd’s own to join them. They are expected to then further hone their magic and put it to use in any way they can. This can range from putting out fires, assisting Artisans, protection and more.
Requirements:
Medium magic.
Rank Sub-ranks:
Elemental
Magicians with a connection to the elements; water, fire, earth and wind.
Requirements:
Advanced level in an elemental magic (Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Lightning, Ice, Ash, Poison)
Weaver
Magicians with an affinity for magic that alters the threads of fate within the universe.
Requirements:
Advanced level in weaver magics (Curses, Favor, Healing, Necromancy, Formchanger)
Psion
Magicians who are predominantly skilled in mental magics.
Requirements:
Advanced level in mental magics (Empathy, Leech, Psychokinesis, Illusion, Shield)
Aberrant
Magicians who are predominantly skilled in physical magics.
Requirements:
Advanced level in aberrant magics (Toxicskin, Stoneskin, Osteocation)
Magical Tutor
Dawnspire places great importance in the learning and improvement of all types of magic, as they consider it a means of improving the herd’s stature and versatility as a whole. If a fawn shows affinity with magic, they are assigned a tutor at a young age to guide their young in gaining a grip on their abilities safely and responsibly. The phae of higher social classes especially pay attention to the student’s advancement to guage if there are any young talents among them to recruit for the different Noble Houses.
Most teachings take place at the Imperium, however magic that requires safe practice in open space will often require field trips with the tutors and students accompanied by Centurions.
Requirements:
Medium in 2 magics.
Rank Sub-ranks:
Elemental Tutor
Tutors adept in Elemental Magics.
Requirements:
Medium in 2 elemental magics OR Advanced in 1.
Weaving Tutor
Tutors adept in Weaver Magics.
Requirements:
Medium in 2 weaver magics OR Advanced in 1.
Psionics Tutor
Tutors adept in Mental Magics.
Requirements:
Medium in 2 mental magics OR Advanced in 1.
Aberrant Tutor
Tutors adept in Aberrant Magics.
Requirements:
Advanced in 1 aberrant magics.
Advanced in 1 other magic.
Overseen By The Steward of Trade
Servicefolk
Servicefolk are the staff specialised in serving others, with a wide variety of personal skills at their disposal. This can range from taking care of a phae’s personal looks, preparing and gathering supplies for celebrations, or maintaining the House’s living quarters and keeping them well supplied. Though it is most common for those of higher social ranks to have servicefolk employed, there are also some stationed in lower classes homes that can afford their wage.
Requirements:
None
Rank Sub-ranks:
Retainer
Head of staff of the House. Coordinates requests for the house members and daily tasks. The retainer of a House is seen as the manager of the attendants and ultimately responsible for the behaviour and task fullfilment of the other staff. Retainers are often the middle-phae in acquiring anything the employer requires and will also often go out of their way to find phae to hire for other jobs that fall out of the attendant’s purview (e.g. an architect should a part of the house need renovation, artisans for celebrations, or carefolk). Retainers are often selected based on their study in etiquette and general demeanor.
Requirements:
Age 10+ years.
Attendant
All servicefolk tasked with ensuring ease of daily life of the members of a house. This can include cleaning, running errands, delivering messages, gathering supplies, and accompanying members of the house should it be needed.
Requirements:
Age 5+ years.
Gardener
Serve to care for plants in the gardens of noble families, or community spaces within the herd in general. A difficult task, in a place nature is so hostile.
Requirements:
Medium in herbology OR Medium earth magic.
Carefolk
With the value placed on family, it is perhaps no surprise that the care of the young, sick and elderly is a priority within Dawnspire. It is the carefolk who take on these roles, providing for those who cannot adequately look after themselves.
Requirements:
Age 5+ years.
Rank Sub-ranks:
Duenna
Head of house fawncare. Hired to ensure the fawns’ needs are taken care of and they are taught and kept an eye on. Will often work on the same level in coordination with the retainer of the house.
Requirements:
Age 10+ years.
At least medium level in herbalism for emergencies.
Nursemaid
Biologically female phaes hired in case a fawn’s mother can’t produce milk or doesn’t produce enough. In cases where a mother has a highly demanding job a nursemaid will also be hired to ensure a fawn gets enough nutrition.
Requirements:
Age 5+ years.
Alma
Primary carers/watchers of fawns of the House when their parents are away. Almas can also be hired to look after elderly relatives.
Requirements:
Age 5+ years.
At least medium level in herbalism for emergencies.
Entertainer
The phae of Dawnspire love to be entertained. Entertainers can be found in the markets, or may be retained by the noble families for events and elections.
Requirements:
Age 5+ years.
Rank Sub-ranks:
Dancer
The light-footed and entrancing phae of the herd that are highly skilled in different dancing styles. Some dancers chose to accompany their performances with different magic to enhance the visual experience.
Requirements:
Medium in 1 physical stat.
Singer
The phae who have discovered their golden voice and made it their profession. Often highly sought after for celebrations, whether personal or grand scale.
Requirements:
None
Storyteller
Some have a gift for the intricate choice of words and grip on pacing and intrigue required to tell a good story. These phae can grip an audience with their expansive imagination and know exactly how to enthrall a crowd. Some, like dancers, use magic to enhance the experience.
Requirements:
None
Merchant
Making a business of buying and selling goods for profit. Some run stores, while others travel to other herds in pursuit of rarer goods.
Rank Sub-ranks:
Peddler
Where every merchant begins. A peddler tends to have lower value goods, and little reputation to fall back on.
Requirements:
Age 7+ years.
At least 1 in-game transaction (buying/selling) [may be with NPCs].
Broker
Merchants who have built a reputation. They may have a wider range of goods, or be more specialized with higher prices.
Requirements:
Age 10+
At least 3 in-game transactions (buying/selling) [may be with NPCs]
Magnate
The top of the Merchant food chain, magnates have spent years build their stock and their reputation. They often have lower ranked merchants working beneath them, and expansive networks of contacts.
Requirements:
Age 15+
At least 6 in-game transactions (buying/selling) [may be with NPCs]
Farmer
Food is a valuable resource in the desert, and the farmers are responsible for growing and harvesting crops. Its not an easy task, but if you are good at it then the profits can be great.
Rank Sub-ranks:
Minder
Minders are the farmers who specialise themselve in keeping different livestock. The challenge being that minders have to have in-depth knowledge of what different animals require and signs of illness to keep them in the challenging conditions of the desert. Some examples of livestock include; goats for milk, chickens for eggs, etc (no herbavores larger than phae).
Requirements:
None
Tiller
Farmers who specialise in working the difficult soils of the desert to keep plants, crops, and herbs. They have very in-depth knowledge of how to work around the different challenges the conditions bring and can often be very creative in finding solutions. Often, they work together with the herd’s Horticulturalists to try new things or think of new strategies.
Requirements:
Medium in herbalism OR earth magic.
Artisan
Skilled phae with a trade, artisans create most of the items which the members of Dawnspire covet. Fancy buildings? Clothing? Beautiful accessories? They likely all were made at the hoof of the artisans.
Requirements:
Age 5+ years.
Rank Sub-ranks:
Architect
Great thinkers and planners, but most importantly skilled crafters with psychokinesis magic enabling them to make grand structures.
Requirements:
Advanced crafting.
Advanced psychokinesis.
Artist
A big part of making the homes in Dawnspire more aesthetically pleasing is the use of paints and paintings. Artists are the Phae most adept with a paintbrush and a particular artistic vision. They are often commissioned to paint portraits or pieces for inside homes or can even be hired to paint the very walls of houses themselves.
Requirements:
None
Tailor
The phae of Dawnspire love to look good, and the tailors help ensure that they achieve that. Specialising in the creation of material, clothing and extravagant outfits they compete to see who can be the most in-demand each given season. Fashion, baby.
Requirements:
Advanced crafting.
Jeweler
What is an outfit without accessories? Jewelers specialize in crafting those accenting pieces. It’s intricate, difficult work, but high quality pieces can bring a high reward.
Requirements:
Master crafting.
Overseen By The Steward of Erudition
Tutor
Serving to teach the young non-magical skills that will benefit them throughout their lives, and may also help older phae to better themselves later in life. Tutors help impart knowledge, the cornerstone of many things. Anything that falls outside of these categories is not taught at the Imperium but rather the phae are expected to find apprenticeships to gain knowledge of the other areas of specialisation (e.g. crafting, the arts, farming, gardening).
Requirements:
Medium in 2 non-magic stats.
Rank Sub-ranks:
Etiquette Tutor
It is required, especially for Phae living inside of the citadel and those aspiring towards higher positions, to follow etiquette lessons within the imperium. Etiquette lessons teach a phae all about how to compose themselves, the different underlying meanings of their actions (e.g. gift giving, walking ahead of a phae ranking higher) and what is or isn’t acceptable.
Requirements:
Age 10+ years.
Combat Tutor
All children of Dawnspire are taught basic combat skills and self defense if their parents should wish for them to learn it. Some take a shine to combat training either as a hobby, for personal improvement, or to be able to gain a certain profession. It is up to combat tutors to teach them the responsibility that comes with combat knowledge.
Requirements:
Age 10+ years.
Advanced in 2 physical stats.
Literary Tutor
The ability to read and write is a crucial skill in society and Dawnspire’s leaders stress that every fawn should at least have a basic grasp to integrate themselves in different areas of the world. For the moment, it is not mandatory but mentioned every year at the Day of Proclamation as a reminder.
Requirements:
Age 10+ years.
Keeper
Knowledge holders of the herd. Keepers study the gods, history, other herds, and may also be an expert in magic/herbology/crafting. Younger keepers will often work under those more experienced of their chosen specialisation to keep herd records up to date and transcribe knowledge within the Athenaeum of the Imperium.
Requirements:
Age 5+ years.
Rank Sub-ranks:
Horticulturalist
Horticuluralists specialise their study in survival in the sometimes unforgiving Desert conditions. They are experts in gardening and different plants and herbs, often going on expeditions to other territories to expand their knowledge or find plants and resources they could cultivate back home.
Requirements:
Age 10+ years.
Advanced in herbology.
Cleric
These Keepers specialise themselves in knowledge of the gods and their history. Often, they will consult with Soothsayers to incur about the current happenings and circumstances of the godly domain. They keep records of encounters, potential interactions, strange phenomena, dreams, and successful methods/circumstances to invoke interaction that may be related to the gods.
Requirements:
Age 10+ years.
Chronicler
Phae in charge of keeping the herd’s historical records up to date and organised. They often consult the records for patterns or to advise on current situations based on past actions and outcomes. Chroniclers will often be present for every major herd event and the Steward of Erudition will enlist chroniclers to record happenings of the Primary’s visits to other herds which the Steward will inform them about verbatim.
Requirements:
Age 10+ years.
Soothsayer
Soothsayers focus on fortune telling and prophecy, and are believed to possess a direct line to the godly domains (whether this is true in practice or not). They can be consulted in times of major dilemma by herd members or even by the leaders of the herd themselves in major emergencies. Many will station themselves at different festivities and celebrations to earn a little more at times when tourism is high.
Rank Sub-ranks:
Oracle
Soothsayers focused on direct communion with the gods through meditation, prayer and pursuit of divine lore. Will focus on the larger picture of events in the world and on a herd-wide level.
Requirements:
—
Mystic
Soothsayers focused on more minor divination through the forms of tarot, bone tossing, and other methods on a more individual consultant basis.
Requirements:
—
Apprentice
While the herd believes in providing a rounded education to the young, for those that know which path in life they desire to take before the age of five, apprenticeships can be available. Providing phae with a chance to learn the basics of their chosen career, working under an experienced phae. Often, there is no payment – and when there is it is pitiful – but the experience gained is a prize in itself.
Requirements:
Age 3+ years.
Emissary
Phae who choose to live among other herds, but still claim loyalty to Dawnspire. They will often report back on the political goings on of the other herds to the Steward of Erudition.
Requirements:
Age 10+
Advanced level in two physical or mental stats
Special Positions
Primary
The leader of the herd. The primary is voted on by the whole herd, with each House able to nominate a member for the election. Elections place over a season – half for campaigning, and the other for votes to be made. These take place every 3 years. Campaigns tend to be extravagant shows of wealth and influence, with discussion of how they would increase prosperity for the herd as a whole.
It is not uncommon for a successful leader to remain the primary for several terms. In the past, one primary led for 27 years – fooling the herd into believing that he was bringing greatness while squandering herd resources which led to a law being passed in regard to a maximum term of 9 years.
In the uncommon event that a primary dies while still leader, the whole herd enters a period of transition. This is a huge celebration of the primary’s life and achievements, and in general an excuse to have a party. The election cycle will begin after this period of transition, which usually takes two seasons although this can vary depending on the popularity of the primary.
Requirements:
Age 15+ years.
Master in 2 stats.
Current position holder:
NPC Superior Alykhan
Regent
The lead mate of the Primary and second in command of the herd. The Regent is expected to monitor and lead the delegates to the other herds, so their political power and position is of great significance. Regents are expected to be of noble or regal origins. Only in exceptional circumstances will the Regent ever be allowed to be replaced during a primary’s Reign.
Requirements:
Age 10+ years.
Noble or Regal origins.
Mate of the Primary.
Biologically unrelated to the Primary.
Current position holder:
NPC Superior Serapha
Regent Consort
Any other mates the Primary might take. Politically, consorts have little real power, and only have influence when the Primary allows themself to be influenced. Regent consorts can come from any class. A primary may have up to 5 official regent consorts and they can only be replaced when a previous consort dies or with a grounded reason from the Primary (in game e.g; no longer get along, temporary break, fell out of love; ooc example; player becomes inactive). Only regent consorts that are with the primary at the time of a new election will gain the Superior class if a new primary wins. Previous consorts that lose the rank prior to this will return to the class they held before becoming a consort.
Requirements:
Age 5+ years.
Biologically unrelated to the Primary.
Current position holder:
NPCs.
Stewards
Four Stewards oversee the different subclasses of citizens that live on the Desert Isle. Stewards can come from any class, though the upperclasses may have a bit of an advantage over lower classes. They are often stationed in different areas of the citadel (such as the Steward of Magicka overseeing the Imperium with the Steward of Erudition, and the Steward of Militia often being found at the Garrison) but are always expected to report back to the Palace at the end of every week. Sometimes, it is required for the Stewards to accompany the Primary and their family to state trips to other herds. These three stewards oversee:
Steward of Magicka
Requirements:
Age 15+ years.
Master in 1 Magic
Current Steward of Magicka:
Noble Quorra
Steward of Trade
Requirements:
Age 15+ years.
Previously have reached the Magnate Rank.
Current Steward of Trade:
Regal Ophir
Steward of Militia
Requirements:
Age 15+ years.
Master in 1 Physical Skill
Current Steward of Militia:
Desertfolk Tema
Steward of Erudition
Requirements:
Age 15+ years
Previously have held a Keeper subrank.
Current Steward of Erudition:
Regal Yael
Imperial Enchanters
These individuals act as personal Magicians to the Primary and their family, catering to their protection and other tasks. At times they are also the first to be called on in matters of herd wide safety that needs a certain type of magic to fix a problem. They are expected to be highly skilled in magic and combat. Offensive and defensive magics are favoured and there may be 5 Imperial Enchanters at any one time.
Requirements:
Age 10+ years.
Master in 1 magical AND 1 physical stat.
Current position holder:
None
How to Apply for or Challenge a Special Position
In the event that a special position holder becomes inactive, are deemed unsuitable for leadership, die, or come to the end of their term(s), their position is open to be challenged!
Primary – Members of each noble house must fill out a form putting forward their candidate and the majority vote for each house will become a candidate up for election. Hereafter follows the campaigning where each election candidate must post a minimum of 1 RP presenting their future plans to the herd/their acts of trying to win over the herd. After this, the whole herd will vote for a candidate through a google form and the mods will review the votes and take into account the character’s reputation at the time of the election.
Stewards are selected by the Primary at the start of their term, however are open for challenge during the term of the Primary if the applicant makes a strong enough case and the steward is inactive. The current Steward has the opportunity to defend their position in the event of a challenge and the outcome will be put to a mod vote with input from the Primary, weighing the strengths and weaknesses of each application and considering the character’s eligibility as a whole. At the start of each primary’s term, a form will be open for phae to apply for steward. In case of challenge during inactivity, the player must fill out the form and note the group to confirm the challenge.
Imperial Enchanters typically keep their position with change in primary but may be removed from their position if they become inactive, in which case they will be open for challenges and the primary will vote on a candidate along with the mod team. Players must fill out the form to challenge an inactive position and note the group to confirm their submission.
Regent and Regent consorts are open for challenge if they have been inactive for more than 4 months, whereby a primary will put forward a new candidate to fill the position.
See the Special Positions webpage to view current leaders’ activity levels, to find out if any special positions are open, and to read on the process of initiating a special positions challenge.