Yolkadras: babysitting bodyguards
A Yolkadra is a bodyguard, servant, babysitter or, almost always, all things previously mentioned who is assigned to do these tasks for a noble child.
Yolkadras are a sign of prestige and wealth but more importantly are a necessity due to the fact that most nobles don't have much time for their children and so a consistent parental figure who can be trusted not to harm the child is needed.
It's considered normal for a Yolkadra to be more of a parent to the child they're assigned to than the child's biological parents, and the most powerful noble families and royalty will have multiple Yolkadra per child... it's even normal to deliberately get a male and a female Yolkadra to replicate the child having a present mother and father, although it's more common to just have a female Yolkadra for each child.
It should be noted that noble siblings generally live together, and Yolkadra may be assigned multiple children and even if it's one Yolkadra per child they're still expected to positively interact with and protect their assigned child's siblings.
Most Yolkadras are orphans or illegitimate children (meaning it's fairly common for a Yolkadra to be employed by their parent to take care of their younger half-sibling) taken in by a noble family and allowed to eat at their table while being trained in combat, testing food for poison, cleaning and other essential skills for being a Yolkadra.
"Wait a second, Big Daddy Ultra Sexy Ligma Male Jimothy, how are they undervalued?"
Yolkadra are often treated like dogshit and rarely ever actually paid anything other than the food they eat and accommodation with the nobles. They're often met with punishment for saying "no" to the kids they're assigned to raise, oh gee I wonder why so many nobles act like children well into their adulthood, unless it's getting something that costs money in which case they've got to ask the noble employing them for permission and the money to get it/the thing itself.
If it weren't for the drugs there'd be a lot of instances of them turning on the nobles they work for.
Oh yeah the drugs.
Yup, they're given drugs grown by members of Lamara's organised faith. The effects of some of these drugs is to cause strong parental feelings towards the child they're assigned to, and they're given other drugs to cause similar loyalty to the nobles they work for.
They're literally drugged into being loyal and loving the nobles, and the effects of these drugs are pretty much permanent once taken because the pathways they form in the brain are after only reinforced by time spent with the noble family, even if that time sucks, usually without without the need of further drug use after the first few weeks.
Career
Qualifications
Years of training in being a bodyguard, cleaner and babysitter. Also general handymen/women.
Career Progression
They start out as regular servants being trained in Yolkadra stuff, usually orphans taken out of the Faith-run orphanages or illegitimate children plucked up from the poverty they'd otherwise live in.
Payment & Reimbursement
Hahahahahahahahahahahah
They get food, a roof over their head, drugs and a sense of purpose.
Perception
Purpose
Protectors of and parental figures to noble kids.
Social Status
Working as the Yolkadra is considered shameful if you're a noble. It's somehow a looked down upon profession despite the people running Lamara being mostly raised by Yolkadras.
History
Originated in the times of the Krysa Empire as it was conquering the rest of Lamara. The first was assigned by Monarch Jaligem to his 3 daughters to care for them and protect them with her life, mostly their elite bodyguard but also their servant as he didn't trust that regular servants wouldn't poison his children as his oldest child - he previously had 4 daughters - had been poisoned.
The practice became a tradition and was adopted and expanded upon from there to the current system of pretty much every noble child worth their salt having a Yolkadra.
Operations
Tools
Bodyguard stuff: Knowledge of where all the hidden weapons are (pretty much every noble hallway is an arsenal and a half if you know which floorboards to lift up) and having hidden weapons on them.
Basically they're gonna pull out smoke bombs from their sleeves, throw them on the ground and while you can't see them they're gonna get the mace from the special floorboard.
Their clothes generally also double as armour, often having metal between layers of fabric or having metal integrated into clothing in a way that is less practical for protection than regular armour but still comfortable and aesthetic.
Servant: Cleaning supplies, cooking equipment, etc.
Babysitter: The ability to pull a child out of the way of a horse's kick and other impressive feats.
Workplace
Wherever their assigned child goes, they go, unless specifically ordered not to.
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Alternative Names
Snob sitters, deadly babysitters, and a tonne of others.
Demand
There's about as many of them as there are noble children.
Legality
Drugging commoners into loving your child like it's their own child is 200% fine and dandy so long as they're a commoner.
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