Th Pillars of the Realm

The society of modern Alera resembles that of most western nations. People have access to television, internet, cellphones, etc. Indeed modern technology has gone a long way towards evening out the discrepancies that lay between the upper levels of the citizenry and the commons. The noble citizens of the realm no longer rule by fiat and fist, and although their power is not taken lightly, nor is it any longer held in the fear and dread it was during the centuries after Alera was settled.

Hierarchy of Society

First Lord: In some ways, the First Lord is a modern day Roman Emperor, with executive and legislative powers that mirror that enjoyed by Monarchs in Europe. The First Lord is the head of state as well as the chief executive of the country, has limited legislative powers and the power to veto. He is the supreme commander of the military forces of Alera. His Heirs are designated Princeps (Princes) and Princepessa (Princess), and in the event that the First Lord has more than a single offspring a single Princeps is designated the Princep/pessa Primus a position that marks the royal offspring as the heir-apparent. For the whole history of the Aleran people (recorded in the Codex Alera), both on Earth and Elsewhere, the House of Gaius has ruled and governed over the Aleran peoples.

High Lord: Each of the High Lords (or High Ladies) oversees a large territory that is typically named after the most prominent city it holds. They are responsible for implementing and executing Crown Law, overseeing and dispensing justice, as well as interacting with the Legions under their governance. Each High Lord has control of two full legions of troops which are sustained and paid for out of their own coffers. Crown Law limits each High Lord to a maximum of three Legions. Each High Lord or Lady is also the head of a Great House, a collection of the descendants of the same ancestral bloodline. All of the Great Houses are to some degree interrelated, but the Great Houses trace their generations from a common ancestor which first settled on a given stretch of land.

Lord: The First Lord of the realm typically must approve or sign off on adding new members to the ranks of the nobles, and has final say over whether or not a person may be ennobled. Lords are usually created by the First Lord, but are appointed to serve the High Lord or High Lady who oversees the overall territory that the new Lord’s demesne falls under. Lords are ultimately responsible to their High Lords.

Knights: The rank of Knight is a military honor, a rank in the social hierarchy of Aleran society, and a declaration of raw power. Knights have achieved a level of power within a specific field of furycrafting. Although it’s not uncommon for many citizens or even steadholders to achieve the same level of power as a Knight, they do not gain the honorific "Sir" unless they are appointed to that role by a Lord, High Lord, or the First Lord. Knights are bound to act in a certain manner, which for all intents and purposes is akin to the code of chivalry. Knights are, in modern terms, the special warfare units, or Special Forces of the Aleran military. Employment in security matters, or the Aleran National Police, usually requires Knight level skill in one discipline of furycrafting minimum.

• Knights Aqua - Skilled in the arts of Watercrafting, Knights Aqua are powerful healers, superb spies and infiltrators, and skilled in the use of water crafting for offensive purposes.
• Knights Terra - Skilled in the arts of Earthcrafting, Knights Terra are utilized combat engineers, engineers in general, as manual laborers, and as spearheads for breaking up enemy formations.
• Knights Ignis - Skilled in the arts of Firecrafting, Knights Ignis are utilized as artillery and as support units for Knights Terra or Knights Ferrous. They also have a gift for bolstering morale which can be useful on the battlefield.
• Knights Aeris - Skilled in the arts of Aircrafting, Knights Aeris are typically deployed as scouts, messengers, and as precision strike troops.
• Knights Flora - Skilled in the arts of Woodcrafting, Knights Flora are typically used as land based scouts, archer units, skirmishers, and trackers.
• Knights Ferrous - Skill in the arts of Metalcrafting, Knights Ferrous are swordsmen without peer, and masters of all weapons made of metal, as well as forgers and smiths of great skill. In military engagements they are deployed in small groups or alone. Skilled metalcrafters also serve as singulares, bodyguards for ranking Aleran Citizens or military leadership.
  • Gunslingers - As medieval Europe and the world as a whole developed firearms, metalcrafters with an interest in firearms formed a separate subset of metalcrafters known as Gunslingers. Gunslingers can deal extreme amounts of damage with their weapons, have superb accuracy at extreme distances, and are capable of trick shots and pulling feats that are 'impossible' to the modern understanding of physics. It was suggested by the United States that the assassin who shot John F. Kennedy was actually an Aleran Gunslinger.

Citizens: Citizens are residents of the nation of Alera, who have won the right to be participate in elections and enjoy the full privileges of citizenship and enjoy the protection of the law.

Steadholder: Steadholders oversee and run farms and plantations that produce Aleran crops, as well as manage the herds of livestock and similar resources. These territories are known as Steadholdts. While on the grounds of their Steadholdt they are considered full Citizens and have authority to arbitrate and adjudicate almost all disputes or issues that arise in their domain.

Freemen: The bulk of Aleran society is compromised of the freeman/freewomen, individuals born or naturalized as citizens of Alera, that do not want the full responsibilities of a Citizen or are too weak in furycrafting to qualify.

Freemen/Freewomen in Alera represent the majority of the population. They work, pursue their own individual goals, open and run businesses. While they are considered to be citizens, they are not Citizens. The difference between the two is a matter of responsibility and personal power. A Citizen is entitled to vote in any and all elections, can seek redress from the government, and is obliged to marry in order to foster furycrafting talent. A freeman, or freewoman has neither of those obligations, can marry whomever they please, and generally do as they please.

Slaves: Alera is one of the few nations left on Earth that practices Slavery, although there are laws which limit slavery to criminals or debtors with unpaid debts. Slavery is enforced by means of an item known as a Discipline Collar.

• Discipline Collars - Discipline collars are items which have been furycrafted in a manner that other Magi might recognize as Enchantment. They are a device which enslaves the wearer to the will of the one who places it - a discipline collar causes pleasure and pain within the wearer when complying with or refusing the will of the placer. The pleasure generated by obedience is sexual in nature, and can prove overwhelming, eroding the wearer's will and resolve. The pain that can be created is of any level or intensity and can prove as damaging as the pleasure. Only a furycrafter can make a discipline collar, but anyone thereafter can put it around another person's neck and activate it. Until the collar is active it is a piece of jewelry. The collar is activated by the Master pricking their thumb and pressing the blood into the collar's seal. After blood has been placed on the seal only the person whose blood touched the collar can remove the collar.

Juris Macto & Trials for Citizenship

Juris Macto translated loosely means 'law by the fist', and is a term for sanctioned duels. A Juris Macto is often a serious affair with formal witnesses and seconds, and is a means of settling disputes without recourse to the law. Juris Macto is a fight to the death and is often considered barbaric by other nations, but remains valid in a society where individuals have the innate capacity to wreak havoc on a large scale. Juris Macto permits the resolution of disputes instead of resorting to armies. When a person is challenged in Juris Macto, they have the option to appoint a champion to fight for them and in their name. Whoever calls for the Juris Macto is obliged to fight without the right to appoint a champion.

Trials for citizenship can involve combat as if in a Juris Macto albeit seldom to the death, or a mere demonstration of knowledge and power sufficient to grant the status of a Citizen.

The Great Houses

• The House of Gaius
  • House Colors: Scarlet and Blue
  • House Sigil: Imperial Eagle
  • Current Head of House: Gaius Deccus Marius

The House of Gaius has ruled and governed the Aleran people since they first arrived on Alera, and with the return to Earth this truth has remained. This house, the House Royal, commands the other houses of the Aleran people, and in theory controls the collective furycrafting power of the great houses.

• The House of Antillus
  • House Colors: Sky Blue on Deep Blue
  • Three Scarlet Diagonal Bars
  • Current Head of House: Antillus Flavius

House Antillus has a reputation, born of long example, of producing some of the finest warriors and the most disciplined soldiers. On Alera, House Antillus governed one of the Shieldwall cities, and was engaged in near constant warfare with the bestial Icemen. That legacy lingers with them still to this day, and where the scions of House Antillus go, there is bound to be bloodshed and the need for high quality soldiers and leaders.

• The House of Aquitaine
  • House Colors: Scarlet and Sable
  • House Sigil: Falcon
  • Current Head of House: Aquitaine Lucretia

If House Gaius has a rival, it is found in House Aquitaine. Patient schemers and ruthless manipulators, the House of Aquitaine has a reputation for being the sharks and the wolves in circles of power and powerbrokers par excellence.

• The House of Attica
  • House Colors: Sable and Blue
  • House Sigil: Three Blue Diagonal Bars
  • Current Head of House: Atticus Marsius

House Attica has long been a faithful vassal to the House of Gaius, serving as advisors and supporters to the Crown. They have a gift for making money and use that money to control the flow of goods, to regulate services and to lean on governments.

• The House of Ceres
  • House Colors: Brown and Grey
  • House Sigil: Lion
  • Current Head of House: Cereus Antonidas

The House of Ceres has never cared greatly for the pursuit of power, focusing itself on healing, land cultivation, and livestock and crops in order to help provide for the House and the people beholden to the House.

• The House of Forcia
  • House Colors: Sable and Grey
  • House Sigil: Two Grey Horizontal Bars
  • Current Head of House: Gaius Deccus Marius

The House of Forcia is well regarded for the scholarly aspirations of its members and the in-depth knowledge that the House cultivates and prepares. Scientists (both mundane and furycrafting oriented) and teachers, educators and historians, it is House Forcia which continues to maintain the Codex Alera, the record of the Aleran people which began with the rule of Gaius Primus, and continues down to this very day.

• The House of Kalare
  • House Colors: Grey and Green
  • House Sigil: Serpent
  • Current Head of House: Kalarus Nihilus

House Kalare had ceased to exist for several hundred years after it’s lands and cities were destroyed by the Great Fury Kalus and Gaius Sextus. Over centuries, the land become resettled, made fertile once more and the House and City was reborn. There is something wrong with the people of House Kalare though, some curse that clung to the land and now lingers in the blood and brains of the house. House Kalare has a sinister reputation for sadism and torture, degradation of the spirit and the mental domination of its foes. The House of Kalare is not supportive of the House of Gaius.

• The House of Parcia
  • Scarlet and White
  • House Sigil: 2 Scarlet Snowflakes
  • Current Head of House: Parcius Justus

The House of Parcia is neutral regarding the House of Gaius, but the scions of this house are servants of the law, stewards and shepherds of their fellows and have a knack for investigation, discovery and the processes of law and order.

• The House of Placida
  • House Colors: a vivid, lustrous emerald
  • House Sigil: Twin Bulls
  • Current Head of House: Placidus Attis

The House Placida has an impeccable reputation as a house focused on duties and obligations, in caring for their citizen’s and their members above concerns over politics or personal power. The few souls that have underestimated this house have been somewhat surprised to learn that there is a difference between lack of ambition and the capacity for power and violence.

• The House of Phyrgia
  • House Colors: Glacial Green and White
  • House Sigil: 2 Swords, point down
  • Current Head of House: Phyrgiar Valerius

Alongside House Antillus, there are few other houses which have a reputation for creating soldiers that know the business of soldiering and war. Unlike House Antillus however, House Phyrgia prides itself on the creation of elite soldiers, better accustomed to working in small teams rather than in the legion fashion that dominated so much of Alera’s history. Now on Earth, this reputation for battle remains, and Phyrgian mercenaries command exorbitant prices.

• The House of Rhodes
  • House Colors: Sable and Gold
  • House Sigil: Hornet
  • Current Head of House: Rhodes Decius

The House of Rhodes has a reputation for being stubborn and persistent, as well as creating some of the finest sailors that Alera had ever seen. This legacy continues on Earth, with Rhodesian sailors living, working and enjoying the sea.

• The House of Riva
  • House Colors: Scarlet and Gold
  • House Sigil: A single sword, point up
  • Current Head of House: Rivus Araris

The House of Riva is accustomed to standing on its own feet, stubbornly refusing to yield ground or ideology without fighting to the last man and without taking as much as they can from their enemies. Considered pioneers and explorers, House Riva, furnishes creative thinkers and problem solvers who continually push at boundaries, literal or otherwise.