Earth Kingdom Feudal System

While being less rigid and intense than the Fire Nation's feudal system, the Earth Kingdom still had a robust society which separated nobles and royals from commoners.

## Royals

The royal family includes these ranks.

**Earth King/Queen:** This was the monarch and official ruler of the Earth Kingdom.

**Earth Prince/Princess:** Next in line after the direct monarchs were the sons and daughters of said monarchs. The Earth Kingdom was not known to have sparked as much competition between siblings but it depended largely on how their parents acted and viewed their success.

## Nobles

**Duke/Duchess:** Often the 1st or 2nd cousins of the royals. These were the highest ranking nobles. Dukes had authority over provinces which were groups of counties.

**Marquesses:** People with this title-controlled counties which consisted of several cities.

**Counts/Countesses:** Counts ruled over cities with the exception of mega cities like Ba Sing Se where they ruled over large districts within those cities.

**Viscounts/Viscountesses:** Viscounts were the assistants of counts or ruled over districts within cities. They controlled small districts in mega cities, for much of the Earth Kingdom's history Ba Sing Se was the only mega city.

Notable viscounts: Toph

**Barons/Baronesses:** The most common noble title. Barons were landlords or controlled specific high demand services. This included bank owners, store supplies, people who owned circuses, library owners, and hospital owners.

## Commoners

This included these classes:

**Specialists:** This is the equivalent of and is a synonym for artisans. These are individuals who had specific trades such as blacksmithing, plumbing, construction, carriage repair, doctors, and welding. This even includes inventors. Specialists were valued more in the Earth Kingdom's society than even soldiers.

**Respected Artists:** Well-known writers, musicians, and poets. There were plenty of artists that were not established and were seen as less than peasants. This is separate from the Fire Nation where people who worked on art in public without government approval were directly fined and imprisoned after three finings. Artists were valued for enriching the Earth Kingdom's culture.

**Soldiers:** Earth Kingdom soldiers had a moderate standing in the Earth Kingdom's society. They were respected more than peasants and service workers, putting them in a higher position than most but they were not at the top of the commoner hierarchy. This is a position that is voluntary unlike the others and presents a chance for peasants and service workers to move up. Unlike in the Fire Nation, a soldier can work their way up from a peasant to a general making them high-class. This made the military the best resource for moving up in society but due to strict standards and a lack of a societal desire to risk one's life in the battlefield (when compared to the Fire Nation or Water Tribe), this was an underutilized tool.

**Service workers:** People who work in specific service industries such as janitors, barbers, butlers, carriage drivers, nurses, and gardeners. This makes up the second largest percentage of commoners.

Known service workers class characters: Tyson

**Peasants:** Farmers and the poorest of the commoners who typically paid rent to barons. This is the large group of commoners.

Known peasant class characters: Morianna, Gambo

## Breaking down feudalism

Feudalism was not as big of a problem in the Earth Kingdom as the Fire Nation and was beginning to decline during the Hundred Year War however it worse in larger cities like Ba Sing Se where the disparity of wealth between commoners and nobles/royals was immense. Similar measures were taken as what happened in the Fire Nation where nobles were not supposed to get direct preference over jobs but this did not outright stop the practice of nepotism which was often only enforced with by annual fines that elites could easily afford. The government began making new specific opportunities to make it easier for commoners to compete with nobles or to at least have a more chance of succeeding in life.

Division within the Earth Kingdom after the Hundred Year War and some new leaders like Kuvira eventually reduced the unfair control that many royals and nobles had over different areas in society.