When you look at the equipment section of the premade archetypes’ Character Sheets, you will notice that most of them come with documents – this exact Passport pictured below.
This one simple paper is the primary tool by which the Asteanic high nobility controls its population.
Documents are needed for crossing borders (sometimes even for entering a city), engaging in any business activities, and occasionally, they must be shown to a samurai who suspects the person in something or just wants to know who they are.
Obtaining Documents
Documents are issued by samurai. The document templates are printed using a printing press. Although not every village samurai has the authority to issue documents, generally, there is a deputy magistrate samurai in every larger settlement whose job is to issue new documents. Usually, the rulers (or the samurai independently) charge around 10 SD as a document issuance fee.
People without documents are in a precarious situation, as without proof of their caste and rights, they are vulnerable to the whims of the samurai, who may suspect them of the worst.
Overview of the Caste System
Today’s Asteanic society is based on a rigid caste system, crucial for the survival of the ruling castes who use its restrictions to control the population. Strict boundaries precisely define what one can do or where one can go.
Only the old high aristocrats belonging to Asteanic House Bloodline, the patrician caste, and the high priests of the Temple of the Divine Ocean are free from these restrictions, all of whom meticulously enforce these boundaries with the help of their samurai.
The old high aristocracy’s interests lie in keeping society as static and thus as safe for them as possible. However, some concessions have already been made: new inventions have led to the creation of manufactures, and some crafts have slipped from the hands of old craft syndicates to nouveau rich productors caste. Similarly, the high nobility is being challenged by nouveau rich licensed merchants caste whose purchased rights to trade on the Ocean and compete for markets bring them fabulous riches without having to spend money on maintaining the state apparatus.
While there appears to be a movement towards improvement, a darker side reveals the exploitation of peasant tenants turned into serfs to replace slaves who are hard to get without the huge empire supporting the slave system. The numerous caste of samurai-bureaucrats monitors, keeps records, and collects taxes for the rulers caste
The advent of printing technology has expanded bureaucracy, becoming a tool for enforcing the caste system while illiteracy persists among lower castes.
The entire Asteanic society is divided into castes, each with clearly defined rights (privileges) and obligations. Although most people remain in the same caste from birth to death, moving between castes is neither forbidden nor impossible in the Asteanic World. In fact, for those who accumulate significant wealth, it is relatively straightforward, as one can essentially buy their way into most castes. Additionally, a person can belong to multiple castes simultaneously. For example, someone born into the caste of freemen can purchase a licence to join the caste of licensed wizards, thus gaining the right to practise magic.
Castes can be hereditary or non-hereditary.
Non-hereditary castes include licensed wizards, licensed merchants, and priests. Membership in these castes does not extend to the individual’s descendants, as their children may not follow the same profession. For instance, a wizard’s children are not automatically wizards, and a priest’s children are not necessarily priests. Individuals in non-hereditary castes always belong to a hereditary caste as well, usually the one they were born into.
Hereditary castes membership extends to the entire family and descendants, even if the individual buys their way into the caste or changes caste through other means.
Examples of some of the castes:
