The Five Castes

Lampidans are the citizens of Lampide, Onore's city. They are divided into five castes and an Inquisition, and worship both Onore and Ilos.

The Five Castes
When Onore first founded Lampide and formed her people into a coherent society, she separated her people into 5 castes based on their role in life. While jobs occasionally allow castes to overlap, there is very little room for such things. A caste is not set in stone, but it might as well be: once decided, it is very difficult to change unless one becomes an Inquisitor.

Most castes mark themselves through necklaces or some form of clothing, though some choose to tattoo themselves.

Caste members of high ranking are referred to as 'Lords'. Expected to work with every caste, there is little difference between a Lord of one caste and a higher ranking member of your own. Usually Seers, but can also be Housemen, Lightbringers, even Earthmovers.

The Inquisition is technically not a caste, but is often thought of as one.

The Sufferers
"Grieve her? Why? She was a Sufferer. If she died in battle, she died gloriously. If she died of old age, she got to live a long, fruitful life and die peacefully, away from the fighting that so ravaged her. Nay, I shall not be sad. I shall celebrate her life, and hope my end can be as wonderful." -Angela Brighteye, Sufferer Caste

Those whose job it is to fight and wage war so that others live in peace. Subsets include Bluecoats, who keep the peace at home, and Rangers, who patrol the wilderness. Sufferers lead hard, brutal lives without end and are honored by their brethren. Their caste mark is a golden sword, pointing downwards. When their life has ended, they are cremated at dusk, a final ordeal that cleanses their soul of all sin.

Rangers
The Rangers serve as Onore's forward scouts and initial ambassadors. This has been placed underneath Sufferers because Rangers are usually Sufferers, but it's not unheard of for a Houseman or a Seer to join. What's more important is they be at home in the wilderness and be capable of diplomatic relations, because they're going to spend most of their time in both.

Rangers travel in pairs that are different enough that at least one of them will be well-recieved by another culture. Pairs are usually male and female and at least one of them needs to be able to speak multiple languages. They're usually the first group of Onore's people one will meet, so they're friendly and welcoming.

However, they are also Onore's first line of defense. The wild is a dangerous place, and each and every ranger knows how to use where they live to their advantage. To any army, raiders, or bandits within their borders: Chances are, if you have been in a Ranger's territory, he or she is keeping tabs on you. And it's very, very easy to make a rockslide or a stampede look like an accident.

The Earthmovers
"An Earthmover is the bone of the Lampide, and Onore its heart. But I am tired, and broken. Let others come and take my place. I shall welcome the Reaper with open arms - his job is difficult enough."

The labor caste. The man with the hammer, the construction worker, the salesman. Named with honor and expected to be treated with dignity, they are the caste burdened with service that will not end until they are physically incapable. The slightly grand name is a lie - this caste's work is not glorious or lovely. (Also, they don't always move earth). Their caste mark is a cogwheel, with the center shaped to look like a rock. Earthmovers, at the end of their lives, are buried beneath the earth and finally allowed to rest.

The Lightbringers
"I leave this world, knowing it is just a bit brighter than when I came. And that is enough." -Unidentified Priest on his deathbed

Priests, Teachers, Artists, etc. Those who shine light into the darkness, wherever it may be: the artist who brings light into the soul, the priest who illuminates the conscience, the teacher who stokes fires in the intellect, the Hunter who brings a deadly light into the choking mists. Their caste mark is a torch, with an eye drawn into the (hilt?). At the end of their lives, Lightbringers are also cremated at dusk. However, the flame used to cremate them is kept burning until dawn, a symbol of the light they brought into the lives of others.

The Housemen
"It is said that the Housemen rarely grieve at the cremation of their own. The Housemen themselves smile and say that the spirit of their colleague lives on: in writing, in creation, and in memory. Until all three pass, their colleague is not dead, merely resting from his labors." -Raz Cordelaine, Lightbringer Caste

Scientists, Architects, Doctors, etc. Those who follow the path of the cold house and the tarot, who pioneer new and dangerous ways of thinking. Associated with the shadows cast by light, and with clockwork. Their Caste mark is a setting sun, inlain with numerals like a clock. However, most Housemen get the whorling language of the gods tattooed on their skin and only keep the "official" caste mark as a necklace, if at all.

Housemen are the most mysterious and ill-trusted of Onore's castes, even within her own borders. Whispers pass behind their backs of how they feel distant when they speak, how their skin is the cold of the dead. The less kind have taken to calling them 'Iceskins', and many question their loyalty to Onore.

When a Housemen dies, the body is burned, and her ashes placed in an urn, marked with the same markings as the Houseman's tattoos. The urn is placed in her workplace so that he may inspire others, even in death.

The Seers
"A good seer never dies. She's just negotiating with the reaper." -Aurora, Seer Caste

Diplomats, Administrators, Guides. Those entrusted with diplomacy and middle-management, and the intermediary between the other castes. Their job is to make sure everyone is doing their job as efficiently as possible. The symbol for the seers is a simple circle, symbolizing the clarity and serenity needed for such a task. When a Seer has died, they often defer to the funeral custom they found most to their liking while abroad. However, a Seer that deigns for a traditional funeral is placed in a boat and sent off to sea with letters of welcome in their boat, a final journey for diplomacy.

No Caste
There are three major types of people in Lampide's empire that are not technically part of any caste: the Initiates, the Unassigned and the Casteless.

The Initiates
Lampide's expansion efforts often result in the slow assimilation of cultures and peoples rather than outright conquering. Initiates refer to those in Onore's empire that simply have not joined a caste. The term can also be applied to foreigners and diplomats, but generally is only used for Onore's people who have simply not deigned to enforce the caste system in their cities and villages. They have few to no rights within Lampide or villages that have adopted the caste system (effecitvely keeping them from the benefits of life under Onore) but remain safe within their walls.

The Casteless
Truly the scum of Lampidan society. The Casteless are those Lampidans who have so throughouly disgraced themselves in the eyes of Onore that they are forever banished. This punishment is reserved only for the worst and lowest of the low, the worst of the worst, and Inquisitors who abuse their power. Casteless are escorted to Lampidan borders and sent away, never to return. Without any money or means to prove themselves a member of any caste, they are utterly without worth to anyone.

The Unassigned
The Unassigned are natural-born Lampidans who are too young or inexperienced to have had a caste assigned to them (hence the name). This group is almost entirely composed of children of Caste members.