Social Circles of the Sand Kingdoms

The Sand Kingdoms, despite their volatile nature and constant changes, keep a consistent societal structure known as "The Circles". While the specifics might change over time and from city to city, the overall structure remains constant, as well as a number of laws:
• Members of the 8th Circle can't become part of the 7th Circle except on extremely rare cases.
• Members of the 3rd, 2nd and 1st Circle can’t be demoted to the 8th Circle unless a Council of members of it's same Circle and superior Circles decide so on public forum. They can, however, be demoted to the 7th Circle.

As it stands, the Circles are:
• 8th Circle: Split into three main groups, it includes slaves, pariahs and foreigners. It also includes direct descendants of pariahs and foreigners.
• 7th Circle: It includes most citizens. A "citizen" is understood as someone born in the Sand Kingdoms which is not the child of a pariah or foreigners. If a child of a foreigner or pariah has a child, that infant is promoted to citizen when they reach adulthood (Depending on their race). If a child is born within the Sand Kingdoms from a local and a foreigner, it is considered a citizen. If they are born anywhere else, they are considered foreigners. If the child of two locals is born elsewhere and hasn't reached adulthood within the Sand Kingdoms in the house of a citizen, it is also considered a foreigner. Citizens can trade, own property and join the military. Any citizen can also have up to one slave to their name. A citizen can pay the state to free a slave (Or marry them), turning them into citizens.
• 6th Circle: The military is the next Circle immediate to citizenship. Since any citizen can join the army, a minimum of 5 years of service are required before officials can appeal to promote a citizen. Higher ranks within the military give power over other members of the 6th Circle. Military Instructors of note can reach the 2nd Circle, and Generals and Admirals can reach the 3rd Circle.
• 5th Circle: The merchants are included in this circle. Merchants are understood as those who participate in trade that exceeds a set amount of gold (Which varies from region to region). They must also own trade-related property, like a trade post, a ship or a workshop. Merchants must pay higher taxes than other members of the society, but in turn get tax exceptions on luxury and propietary goods. Merchants also have an increased limit of maximum number of slaves they can legally own. The number varies from city to city, and wherever the number is greater, so is the amount of brothels. Merchants can buy a 3rd Circle membership through several tributes and tithes to the state.
• 4th Circle: The clergy has a relative high place in the eschelons of this society. While any citizen can enroll in temple work, several years of service, as well as recommendations from priests are required to properly be considered part of this Circle. The clergy does not only connect citizens with the gods, but also with the upper Circles. Whenever new laws or events are planned by the 3rd Circle, for instance, it is the work of the clergy to notify the citizenship. High Priests can reach the 3rd Circle after long and exalted service.
• 3rd Circle: Noblemen and politicians are the other type of people whose status is hereditary (Together with pariahs, slaves and foreigners). A few noblemen have reached where they are from climbing up from lower circles, though. Members of the 3rd Circle debate laws and edicts. They also coordinate war efforts and trade routes. Every town and city has generally a few noblemen with so much power over the rest they esentially rule their respective territories. These people are often called "sheiks". Whenever a sheik becomes too powerful, however, a bloody revolution follows through, where the rebelling members redistribute the power among themselves until the cycle repeats a few centuries or decades down the line. The Sand Kingdoms have kept this self-regulating system running for millenia.
• 2nd Circle: The Circle of sages and professors, the high respect afforded to these men and women makes them extremely powerful. To become a part of such elite, one has to study the sciences and philosophy for decades and after a number of relevant works or discoveries are made, individuals might be asked to join this Circle. Despite it's exclusivity, this system has led the Sand Kingdoms to the forefront of the fields of mathematics, medicine, chemistry, engineering, physics, mechanics and architecture. Art is also of high esteem (Although not as much as in Iskolos or Byzantia) and exceptional painters, writers, poets, sculptors and other artists can also be elevated to this circle. Military instructors of note and fame can also, albeit rarely, join this Circle.
•1st Circle "Never anger a wizard" is a common phrase in the Sand Kingdoms, and the best way they've found to make that clear is by granting them top Circle. Anyone with enough money and talent can study magic, but few will fully graduate. Those that do must go under years and years of tribulation, testing and careful observation before being invited into the Circle. Even in cities where wizards are counted in the hundreds, the number allowed into this Circle barely breaks the two-digits marker. This Circle has a parallell, known as the Order of Astralites. These are wizards with special aptitudes trained in unique ways, with the objective of keeping other mages in check. They also hunt dangerous spellcasting criminals, curate libraries of esoteric knowledge and keepsake powerful relics.
Many controversies surround the Order of Astralites, as they profess to be above the corruption of normal mages, while wielding secret magic. However, no one truly dares to bring the issue up with them.