Feran
The Feran race considers it their duty to carry out the Mandate of the Blessed by overseeing the safety and governance of the lesser races.
All of the lesser races are of course dependent on us for their welfare. Without our guidance they would descend into barbarity and perhaps provoke the destruction to return. It is well established, those races and peoples who have not benefited from our beneficence lack even the basic civilities that might mark them as men. They are in constant danger of descending. Were it to be allowed, our land would revert back to the days before the Pact when beasts and wild magic ravaged the earth.
As their betters and protectors it is right that they serve us. We provide them with stability and autonomy. They provide us with the labor and services we require to allow us the freedom to devote our efforts to maintaining their security. It is only just.
As such, the whole of Feran society is oriented toward producing the strongest soldiers in the world, the better to maintain that safety and governance.
All pure-blood Feran males receive a thorough military education, at the end of which they are required to serve at least two years as a soldier. It is only after this term that they are allowed, if they show no aptitude for the rigors of war, to pursue other career paths which might serve the Feran people. A life in the Sciential perhaps, or one of the Guilds.
All pure-blood Feran females are raised with the express purpose of producing the strongest soldiers in the world. Thus their health is carefully guarded and, while it is perfectly acceptable for them to train in the physical rigors of a military life if they so choose--the better to impart said training to their offspring--they are no longer allowed to participate in actual combat. In the past this restriction did not stand, as evidenced by some of the greatest military heroes in Feran history being women, such as General Sabine of House Clemain, the Sword of Eratea. But this is no longer considered acceptable.
The production of children is considered paramount. It is also only after a pure-blood woman has finished bearing children that she is allowed to pursue a career. Once the duty to her blood is fulfilled, all careers outside of the military or political office are open to her.
Culture
Common Etiquette rules
Birth & Baptismal Rites
Coming of Age Rites
On reaching marriageable age Feran boys and girls attain their Ranking. This Rank is determined by intelligence, health, and beauty. The higher the Rank the more ideal the offspring they will produce. Hence marriages are contracted based on the most desirable Rank possible, not wealth. This Ranking also establishes them in society.
Though first peers are more likely to be born to first peers, the Ranking system allows that any pure-blood child has the potential to reach the ultimate heights of society regardless of their parents' station. It is based purely on the individual's physical and mental attributes.
Ideals
Beauty Ideals
Feran girls are raised and educated for the express purpose of producing as many healthy pure-blood offspring as possible. They are given specific diets, and restricted from anything that is believed to diminish childbearing capacity. Only after a woman has completed the "duty to her blood" and provided the required number of children, or left her childbearing years, is she allowed to indulge in such laxness as eating and drinking at her pleasure.
Like the military education of the boys, the health and education of the pure-blood girls is maintained at the expense of the state until their marriage. They are examined monthly by official doctors, and regularly given beauty and health treatments at state-run spas. Even the poorest pure-blood girl receives these treatments.
Thus the highest beauty ideal in Feran society is a woman likely to produce strong, well-formed soldiers of the Blessing.
Courtship Ideals
There is very little romance involved in Feran marriages. It is merely a contract between two parties designed to provide political or financial benefit and, most importantly of all, to produce fit and whole offspring who can carry on the Mandate of the Blessed.
Marriage is not a requirement. It is of course ideal, but it is accepted that not all are suited to such an arrangement. In such cases other, more temporary arrangements are often made. For regardless of one’s temperament toward marriage, children are a requirement. Every pure-blood man and woman has a duty to produce at least one child who passes the Edict and lives to their second year. There is, at this time, no means by which to censure any who refuse, but it is something the High Synod has been considering.The greatest consideration is that of Rank. In society, a first peer receives more honor and respect than any other Rank regardless of wealth or age. Even poor first peers are eagerly sought as spouses. A family with a child of lower Rank but sufficient wealth to be tempting will often angle to contract with a first peer that they might draw some political power into the family bloodline. If there are no monetary inducements or other pressures coming to bear, a first peer will most often marry another first peer, or at the least, a second peer.
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