Optimate
The secondary socio-economic rank of Orendaria, Optimates must demonstrate an income of a minimum of 2,000 gold per month. They are the highest social rank based on wealth, with significant rights, priviledges and access above those of the Delabi masses, but are not members of the nobility and remain beneath the Exultants in power and influence.
Qualifications
Profligate and consistent wealth in gold, which can be audited at any time by an Exultant. Assets alone such as property, ships, inventory, or fine arts are generally not the key qualification; rather, the person must be able to demonstrate that they have 2,000 in active monthly income. Additionally, the person may not be elevated from the ranks of Squalus (exile, homeless, etc) to Optimate in a single move, but must instead first show the minimum income of 30 gold per month to qualify as a Delabi, for a minimum of one year.
Requirements
In theory, any member of any sentient race/species may be elevated to Optimate status; however the native Thri-Kreen and Lizardfolk have only Squalus status in the city of Orendarium, and are technically not allowed to own property inside the city or employ any type of workers other than other Squalus. Visitors of those species from other places/planes might theoretically be accepted, but prejudices are strong and without an Exultant patron it's unlikely they would be taken seriously enough to register their petition successfully. At least one Exultant must officially approve any petition, so most would-be optimates have an Exultant patron looking out for their interests (while of course, looking out for their own interests first). The Sisters of Regrettable Fortune hold quasi-Exultant status, however, and will support petitions from those they favor who meet the financial qualifications through their own Exultant supporters.
Appointment
An official petition for elevation to Optimate must be filed in the Lower Court along with proof of consistent 2,000 gold monthly income, which can take a number of forms. Generally this process is a mere formality and unopposed as long as at least one Exultant has approved the petition, but Exultants can object, and can also demand an audit for proof of income at any time. However if the court does determine that the monthly minimum has been met, one of the few limits of Exultant power is that they cannot strip an Optimate who meets the financial requirement of their status without proof of an additional high crime. The King may do so at his leisure, but such things would rarely if ever be elevated to his notice.
Duties
In the social contract of the city and the Realm, the Optimate class is the source of commercial innovation and economic success. They are expected to be ambitious, but fair, dedicated to the defense of family and civic loyalty, political stability, and the Avetist ideals. Unlike Exultants whose occupation and attentions are presumed to be mostly political and naturally slowed by their royal bloodline, and whose wealth is assumed to be static rather than wildly fluctuating, Optimates are expected to drive the economic engine of the realm not simply by employing servants and guards but by creating and managing businesses and enterprising activities like explorations, colonization, and resource development across the realm.
Benefits
Optimates priomarily enjoy protection from the masses, as Delabi make up about 80% of the city. A Delabi cannot bring a case individually against an Optimate, and regardless of the crime or conviction, the penalty cannot be higher than a fine - no beatings, no exile, and certainly no executions unless the case also involves an Optimate. But an Optimate is presumed to be innocent and a Delabi guilty in any case brought before the court by an Optimate. As the Delabi are also the primary working class, from scullery maids to architects and physicians, this permits and even encourages some degree of entrepreneurial overzealousness. At the same time, however, that garbage man an Optimate beats in the street may be employed by an Exultant, a mistake which could cost an Optimate their lives, and the fear of which keeps most Optimates in line towards others. Towards their own employees, they may be less kind. But Orendarium also takes freedom of employment quite seriously - Exultants know this helps limit the power of the Optimate class. So while it may be bad, it's not as bad as it could be by any means.
Grounds for Removal/Dismissal
A variety of misfortunes can lead to the loss of the rank, beginning with the inability to maintain a monthly income of 2000 gold. In addition to the obvious loss of income due to illness, financial disaster or bad dealings, other avenues also exist. Children of Optimates may only enjoy in their parents reflected status until age 20, at which point they become Delabi if unable to prove their income meets the standard; and if one or the other spouse cannot maintain the rank on their own after a divorce, they too will be demoted to Delabi. Penalties in criminal cases or judgements in civil cases against another Optimate or an Exultant may include the temporary or permanent loss of the rank, even if the income remains. And a person can, in rare cases, petition for removal from the class, as happened in protest after the reprisals of the insurrection of 26 years ago. More than 40 individuals willingly left the ranks in protest, creating losses in tens of thousands for the city's tax cofferes and eventually leading to an edict by the King overturning the worst of the Exultant-led punishments, which had turned into an inquisition. The king reinstated several of these Optimates personally - though not before a number of them had been executed in the inquisition as well.
Form of Address
Sir or Madam
Equates to
Baron, in cases where the Baron is not considered true nobility. An Aristocrat, Merchant Lord, or Trust Fund Kid. The upper class, except that there's a class even more upper than they are. 2000 per month in gold is the equivalent of about $170,000 in USD.
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