The Midnight Throne.
The Midnight Throne is a name for the Kasidian Empire north of Esperanza. It is mostly islands linked together by the Midnight Throne, which is the actual name for The Powers That Be. It is a mostly caste driven system, with many sub castes. There are four main castes. The Military, the Nobility, the Philosophers, and the Laborer. Movement between castes is always possible. It's not stuck in one position. An example is a member of the Military caste retiring to the Philosopher or Noble caste. Or potentially the Labor caste if they so desire.
The Nobility is the smallest class, and determines national laws, as well as govern taxes, make sure laws are upheld, etc. They, however are more voted in via popular vote of their governed territories, and the only real non-moving power is the Emperor's family. The Emperor is chosen on who has the strongest champion, closely tying the Military and Emperor together. However, with the rise of the Crusader and Warden factions, that has changed.
The Philosopher caste is basically the ethicists, morally righteous, etc. The Philosopher caste isn't so much the moral heart of the Midnight Throne, but also includes artisans and authors, etc. The debate between Crusader and Warden factions is most extreme here, and the latest Emperor comes from the Philosopher and Nobility family Tuvaids. They are hard-core Crusaders, and indoctrinated the Military caste in Crusader ideology. Half of the Mages are in the Philosopher class, and are the only other caste to contribute to military affairs. Most developments in technology have happened because of half-mad Philosophers messing with stuff.
The Military caste is just what it sounds like. The military. The military has three main branches of service. They are the Aerial Calvary, Navy, and Infantry. The Aerial Calvary is wyvern and drake based troops. This is where Auren got the idea for Shiro's Wyverns. The wyverns will act as heavy calvary, while Drakes transport squads of men into combat. This is teamed with the anvil of the Infantry, which are based around heavy armor and siege warfare. The Navy moves masses of the Infantry, carries supplies, and does most of the logistics, though they are competent in their own right with ship to ship warfare. Mages are distrubted equally between the three branches, and are assigned on an 'as needed' basis.
The Laborer class are the farmers, merchants, blacksmiths, and common professions that are required for the Midnight Throne to exist. Basically, they make Civilization go.
The fifth and final caste is the Slave caste. Criminals, captured attackers, townspeople captured all go here. While all slaves are doomed to working to the end of their days, they do have basic rights, such as food, shelter, and clothing. They may also report abuse by their masters, and if they have the marks to prove it, there are usually heavy penalties associated. In short, a happy slave populace, is one that doesn't revolt. There is also no moving out of the Slave Caste.
Politics of the Midnight Throne.
There are two main political viewpoints in the Midnight Throne, and recent events have transpired to move the Midnight Throne into action against Esperanza.
The Warden faction has always believed that the Midnight Throne should only seek to protect itself, and when the time comes, send scouts into Esperanza, and judge them of their civilized behavior. If Esperanza proved to be civilized, then the Midnight Throne would leave them alone. They also judged that War with Esperanza would be a waste of manpower, and while the booty and slaves would be worth it, you could either make an enemy that could potentially come up north and capture some of the islands. That, would be bad. The events of the last seventy five years have crashed the Warden's hold on power, starting with the civil war that put the Crusaders in power.
The Crusaders have gained massive power due to the effects of the various wars against Laos. Mainly, they have used the events as a demagogue, whipping the populace into a frenzy, with “The Esperanzans can no longer left alone. They are barbarians, and play with forces that should not be trifled with. In fact, under our care, we can civilize them.” The effects of the various wars against Laos affected the Midnight throne with demon attacks, failed growing seasons, etc
Thus, the Military juggernaut of the Midnight Throne has been launched against Esperanza. It has taken forty years of preperation, to build the ships required, to get the weapons and armor produced, and to raise the military population to the required numbers.
Forty years have been passed, and on the anniversary of Laos' defeat...
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