Noble

They herald us as heroes, for we arrived in this world thanks to our mother's insatiable lusts. Ever since we saw the light of the world, we were cherished and praised at every corner. Private lessons. The best teachers. Meetings with famous celebrities. Many would kill to be us.
- Yes. But that's not what I asked...
Of course not but please, let me finish. Me and my brother have survived for as long as we have because we feigned ignorance. We played along. We never brought up any plans of her conspiracy to anyone because if our mother knew we had even the slightest idea of what she was planning, it would be us who would be found dead in the river this morning.
— Excerpt from the fictional novel "Flamerose Diaries"

Career

Qualifications

Who can qualify as a Noble differs from race to race, but generally a great wealth is the easiest and surest way to obtain nobility. Other means may include inheritance, qualification, great heroic deeds or befriending an existing noble.

Career Progression

Technically speaking, all nobles are equally noble, yet the worth of every noble is measured by the amount of power and gems they can exercise

Payment & Reimbursement

It is impossible to measure exactly, for most nobles own organizations or individuals who work for them and give them a part of their profits. Some nobles may live for months without a steady income, others need a special room just to store all their treasures.

Other Benefits

Basic three principles of being a noble apply as both a benefit and a curse: Respect, Fear and Resentment. Everyone wishes to be as wealthy as they are. Everyone fears what they can do to them if they anger them. And everyone hates them for their wealth and power. These three principles are commonly utilized when they negotiate and allows them to gain political power over certain aspects of tribe's management or in some cases, even full control.

Perception

Purpose

Nobles are an elite class of dragons or gryphons who through the means of their wealth or power achieved nobility and control over a part of a city's or organization's production. In most cases, Noble's are directly responsible for investing their wealth into areas they deem fit for further development - be it research, expeditions, tools, warfare, political favors or illicit activities

Social Status

Nobles are the top of the hierarchy. Amongst Air dragons, only female Nobles may hope to become tribe leaders or queens and amongst Jungle dragons, Nobles are effectively governing the tribe's activities between each other similar to how gangs operate. Amongst the other races, nobles play a more secluded role away from the governing side and are generally businessmen or advisors to their tribe leaders.

Demographics

<1%

History

To search for the roots of Nobility, one has to look far back into the history. The first noble Dragons and Gryphons were established during the Era of Strife, when war between Kateraks and The Ancients escalated further and both leading species produced numerous heroes and war veterans who were consequently rewarded with such a title for bravery and battle prowess. Back then, it had little to do with wealth, although these individuals carried with them fame and eventually started utilizing special ornaments to further distinguish themselves from their peers, striking fear into the hearts of enemies and inspiring bravery and confidence in their allies.

Age of Loneliness

After the Cataclysm, most of the warring has temporarily died down, and the remaining war heroes were looked up upon to lead the rest of them. Thus, draconic and gryphon population separated into smaller tribes, each following their own commander but Sun Dragons and their thirst for conflict fueled by lifetimes lived in war lead them soon into yet another war, yet this time, instead of battling their age-long enemies, gryphons, they battled Moon dragons. The leaders amongst Sun Dragons united, blaming the other dragons for the disappearance of their masters and eventually leading them to victory and enslavement of what remained of the defeated Moon dragons.

Ruling power

The Age of Darkness was marked with Sun Dragons dominance and noble houses ingrained themselves firmly in the governing side over all of dragonkind. A kingdom was formed, with a singular King and numerous advisors, all Nobles to preside over matters of their tribes. Yet their past glorious victories were slowly forgotten, many of them were born into luxury and exercised their power for their own selfish goals rather than prosperity of their tribes - which started to include more Servants and Slaves born from the union between the fading Moon dragons than actual Sun Dragons.

Two uprisings

The second uprising in 217-219 AA eventually lead to dismantling the firm hands of nobility over the matters of all tribes and meant ultimate freedom to all newlyborn species of Dragons. Each species chose their own leaders, and those oftentimes were from the common populace, but as time passed on and influence was garnered, new dragons rich enough to be nobles garnered fame and prosperity to establish themselves well. Generally, the oldest noble lines have the simplest crest designs and prominently feature spears and other motifs positioned above the Sun, as a mark of their triumph over Sun Dragons.

Operations

Provided Services

In some areas, nobles may represent the matters of commoners to tribe leaders or in councils with other noble houses. These services generally fall down upon lesser noble houses or to nobles who seek to further their own goal - such as a noble who owns a Courier organization may represent issues travellers and Couriers face within their sphere of influence.

Dangers & Hazards

Being a noble carries with it the risk of being singled out as a very prospective target to ambush, kindap or steal from, and so it is extremely dangerous to traverse open lands outside of their sphere of influence without an armed escort.

Alternative Names

Prince, Princess, Lord, Lady, Blessed one, Advisor, Diplomat

Type

Political

Legality

To be acknowledged a noble officially, one has to gain the official seals of approval from several other Noble families. The amount of noble families required varies and may involve less if one can obtain a seal from a particularly powerful Noble family. Of course, this also requires a particularly great sum of gems or possibly a debt or favor that will eventually have to be repaid to those noble houses. As a part of this process, a noble will also need to create their own crest that has to be original and will symbolize their family in legal or warfare matters. While it is not required for Nobles to tattoo their own crest onto their bodies, many opt to do so, or at least wear a piece of jewelry or vanity item that carries their symbol for recognition.

Famous in the Field