Caste System

The People of the Trident divide themselves into three castes: Blood, Sand, and Sea. All families that swear allegiance to the Regent of the Sea Mother are bound into one of these three strict social groups.

It should be noted, first, that these castes are not considered (and do not consider themselves to be) in any sort of hierarchy. Blood does not rule sea, sea does not rule sand. Instead, they are as the three points of the trident. Equal, but unyielding. Those that rule the Free Cities of the Trident are drawn from all three castes, as Councillors, Judges, and even the Regent themselves rule in the name of the Mother of Waves, not their caste.

The Blood Caste
The Blood Caste is a warrior caste, composed of those that train for war and guard the Free Cities against their enemies. The sons and daughters of Blood families are mercenaries, soldiers, marines... any occupation of bloodshed falls to those of the Blood caste.

Families bound to the Caste often trace their lineage back to the early days of the Free Cities and to the heroes that have since passed into legend. Houses often ascribe religious significance to their own personal styles of combat, "Ways of the Blood," and Trident religion teaches that these arts were taught to mankind by the Mother of Waves herself.

While most houses of the Blood Caste prize their honor above all else, others have taken a darker path. Notorious thieves guilds, pirates, cutthroats and raiders all call the Blood caste home. While murder is a capital offense in the Free Cities, violence is taken more as a matter-of-course, and a member of the Blood caste can make quite the fortune by maiming or brutalizing their enemies into submission.

It should also be noted that some Blood houses make their way through commerce, namely in the trade of weaponry. Given precepts against other castes producing or even handling a blade or a bow, it falls to members of the Blood caste to be the smiths and bowyers of the Trident.

The Sand Caste
The Sand Caste, colloquially referred to as "Sanders", are the merchant caste of the Trident. They fill in roles both as buyer and seller of goods but also as producer, as well. Powerful Sand houses control the bazaars, farms, timber-yards, mines, and mills of the Free Cities. Of the three castes, houses of the Sand Caste are arguably the most dependent on allies in the other two castes, as without a Blood family to guard their wares or a Sea house to transport their goods, most Sand houses would quickly fall into ruin.

Because of this, Sand houses tend to make lasting and enduring compacts with other families, and perhaps best illustrate the interconnectedness within the castes. For while different houses may compete within their own individual caste, they are by their very nature deeply linked to the houses of other Castes.

The Sea Caste
The Sea Caste is composed of the sailors, captains, fishermen and dock-hands that control the maritime trade of the Free Cities. The Sea carries a deep religious and symbolic significance to all who worship the Mother of Waves, but it is the sailors of the Sea caste that take the most direct hand in the often holy duties associated with the ocean.

The sailors are the most insular of the castes, often eschewing many of the customs and traditions of their port-borne brethren. Some Sea families can spend years or even decades away from the Free Cities, and it is this absence that leads to their relative cliquishness. Still, members of the Sea Caste often have deep alliances to Blood and Sand caste houses, as trade and bloodshed are both mainstays of the sailor's life.