Kingdom of Gurmanis

Gurmanis is a religious state. The Father and Manis exist above the kingdom’s social structure and bestow the Right to Rule upon the monarch and his or her family. The clergy exist as a separate hierarchy alongside feudalism which is sometimes more or less influenced by the monarch and nobility or vice versa.

One rarely moves between classes. One stays in the class he or she is born into for life. A noble may move within the nobility, but rarely becomes a commoner. The same movement can occur among commoners. Some observations of mobility are:

• A merchant who is a commoner but is successful such that he or she gains wealth equal to that of a noble. The merchant does not change class but encounters more influence through wealth.
• A commoner may become a knight if granted the title by the monarch or a noble.
• An excommunicated person, regardless of class, might be treated as if he or she were a serf, slave, or prisoner, or may be exiled from society entirely.

The royalty of Gurmanis are the top class in feudal society. Owing to the legacy left by the Rhoathian Imperium, the king or queen maintains some aspect of central governance. The royalty dictates laws of the land and can apply them on a national scale. The monarch dictates foreign policy (military, trade, justice system, university education, etc.) despite frontier lords sometimes acting independently. To exercise this central power the monarch has:

• Wealth generated by direct and indirect taxes from lower classes and from lands within the Capital Region and Crown Lands, estates, and forests directly owned by the royalty.
  • Direct: taxes collected by the Royal Forces’ tax collectors
  • Indirect: taxes and dues given by nobles
• A military known as the Royal Forces, an armed force raised and maintained as a professional fighting force used directly by the king.

The monarch grants land to higher nobles (dukes, counts, and barons) in return for taxes, natural resources, and their loyalty. The monarch also permits a number of serfs to the higher nobles to work and maintain the lands given. Nobles who exist in this relationship are called vassals (of the monarch).

Counts and barons are vassals of both the king and their duke and owe the same obligations and loyalties to their duke. Dukes distribute land and serfs to counts and barons who then distribute them among the lower nobility (lords and knights). Lords in turn grant land and serfs to knights. Other vassal duties include:

• Attend the monarch’s court to participate in advising the king or queen on state affairs.
• Host the monarch if he or she should arrive in one’s estate.
• Answer the monarch’s summons to war and bring the agreed upon number of troops, equipment, and provisions (or provide coin instead).
• Apply the laws and word of Manis and of the monarch to all classes below one’s own. Vassals have a duty to administer justice and regulate local trade and production.
• Provide a quota of accused persons to be tried and punished by the Royal Courts each year.

If the vassals meet their duties and obligations they are free to rule and live as they desire, increase their lands, and go to war with other nobles in Gurmanis. A set of laws does exist and all the king’s subjects are meant to follow it, however administration and interpretation of the laws have not always been standardized in Gurmanis.

Higher nobility make up a body known as the Council of Lords. This council meets when the succession of a monarch is uncertain.

In addition to all the obligations the nobility has to their monarch, clergy, and fellow nobles, the monarch levies taxes on them which are paid in goods or money. They include:

• Aids: tax for specific purposes such as funding a war
• Assart Tax: tax taken for the clearing of a forest or uncultivated land
• Dues: land or house tax
• Entry Fine/Relief: inheritance tax for children to take over an estate
• Herbage: tax on use of pasture lands or ownership of pasture lands
• Heriot: death tax commonly paid by surrendering the best good(s) of the deceased
• Leyrwite/Lecherwite: paid by unmarried women over a certain age
• Nordgeld: tax to raise money for defence against Nordri raiders or to pay tribute to them
• Merchet: female marriage tax which the to be wife must pay to marry
• Mortuary: death tax paid to the local church. Commonly the second-best good(s)
• Scutage: tax paid instead of military service
• Tithe: church tax paid for religious services

Serfs are non-nobles who work the lands of a noble and include all farming professions conducted on a noble’s land but may also include skilled professions. Serfs cannot own property and instead rent property on the lord’s land. Many aspects of a serf’s life is determined by their lord including where they may live, how much of what they farm can be kept, who they marry, and others. A serf and his family is to remain in a noble’s service for life and can be hunted and captured if escape is attempted. Serfs have obligations to their lord which include how much taxes to pay, what days and for how long to work, and what type of work is required.

Common buildings on the lord’s land are owned by the lord who can levy a fee or tax. If a serf does not want to pay this fee or tax, he may need to find another at great personal expense. Serfs have little political rights, but are entitled to protection from their lord and are not required to fight in battles unless conscription is demanded by the monarch.

Slaves are uncommon in Gurmanis. In early kingdoms slavery was more common, but has since declined exponentially. It is taboo to openly keep slaves and so most Gurmians engage in slavery as punishment or go abroad to engage in the trade. Slaves are paid property and so their abuse, killing, and assault is discouraged especially for an expensive slave. The church of Manis guides state law in respect to slaves:

• Slaves must obey their masters as strongly as one is expected to serve God.
• Masters can be punished for killing or torturing their slaves, commonly by banning masters from church services.
• Setting a slave free is considered a pious act and is encouraged.
• No Manian can become a slave.
• Slaves work the same fields as serfs and can attend church with serfs.

The lowest class are prisoners. Prisoners are those who have committed crimes and serve a sentence in prisons or work camps, awaiting trial in jails, awaiting execution, or are serving a local punishment such as whipping or the pillory. Prisoners have no rights or freedoms.

Upon being convicted of a crime in the Royal Courts a commoner becomes the responsibility of the monarch. If convicted in a lower court the commoner is the responsibility of the local noble. The monarch operates prisons and a work camp for convicts, local nobles may use local prisons or confine a prisoner within a jail or manor. Becoming a prisoner allows for the use of Juedicar’s Justice and even when one serves their punishment, branding and tattooing singles them out as a convict for life. Nobles may also become prisoners, though it is less common.

After a sentence is served some rights are returned, but all rights are never reinstated. Laws that provide protections to serfs cannot be reclaimed and many do not hire an ex-convict or allow apprenticeships. As a result, most ex-convicts join gangs and illegal guilds, flee to the Freelands or Free Isles, commit more crimes, and are imprisoned again or live as beggars.