About Alfeari

Alfeari is the name of a land, kingdom, and country. It is the largest area of the continent of Rishongi. It is the central portion of the Alfearite Empire and, within the empire, the Kingdom of Alfeari. Therefore, Alfeari would be the equivilant of England within Great Britain and the United Kingdom on the British Isles.
The ruler of the Kingdom and Empire both is the Queen of Alfeari. The current rulership is a matriarchal dynasty controlled by the House Vandivel. Historically, other dynasties have been patriarchal and, most recently, extremely discriminatory to women and non-Alfearites. Given that the empire is made up of no less than four major ethnicities, this was problematic.
The ruling class is non-exclusive. That is, moving from commoner to nobility is common. Nobility raise commoners in marriage often, and blood is not important to the overall culture of Alfeari. There are individuals who are exceptions to this. The nobility often, but not exclusively, engages the services of Witches, a group of (mostly) women who use magic for various purposes.
The nobility engage in the Maneuvering, a complex social dance of power and status. It combines money, reputation, public perception, and more into a play for influence. The current ruling house (Vandivel) has a lot of status due to the popular social programs enacted over the years by the various queens.
A major aspect of the Maneuvering is Assassins and assassinations. Assassins create waves in public perception and power vacuums by removing people from positions of status and influence. Assassinations can also be blamed on other houses to shed negative light on them. Assassins only target nobles, work primarily for nobles, and only target those who have been Acknowledged in their House and/or title.
As a note, due to the heavy push for equality during the Vandivel Dynasty, women are considered equal, sex workers are respected and protected from non-consenual activities, same-sex and trans people are openly accepted by most (there are still some who have issues with those groups), and all ethnicities are given equal respect (again, there are individuals who have biases).
The other sections of the Alfearite Empire are the Far Reaches, the Coral Isles, and the mysterious Shang Wilderness, which includes the Shonga Jungles. The Jungle people, the Kong'sha Tribes, are a highly tribal people who live in treetop villages with extraordinary technologies and nature magic.