Draconic Rule in Roulonne

> "*The greatest weapon we can use against the Dragons is unity. Divide and rule, that is their strategy - they want us to hate and fear each other, they want us to come grovelling to them for protection from dangers that they themselves created. The only way we can possibly hope to free ourselves is to come together as brothers and show the Dragons that their tricks shall work no longer.*"
> ― King Royard III
>
>

The period of Draconic rule over Roulonne lasted for approximately 350-400 years until the Glorious Rebellion of King Royard III, when Human domination was re-established. During this period, Roulonne was subject to the strict race-based caste system that had governed Draconic society since time immemorial, and which to some extent continues to define their society to the modern day. Draconic rule in Roulonne is often regarded in both popular and academic circles as the single most brutal and tyrannical form of government to have ever existed in Inecuria, and it ranks amongst the most tyrannical political systems in world history.

The origins of the Draconic caste system remain debated by historians. It existed within the Draconic population long before it was expanded to include the *Kiisana* (non-Dragons, literally "little people"), but the fundamental question of origin will likely forever go unanswered - that is, whether the stark racial differences in Dragons led to the development of separation into castes or whether the establishment of castes caused the races to become so different from each other. There is ultimately no solid evidence to prove either answer, and likely never will be.

Unlike many other caste systems found both in Inecuria and across the world - such as the system practiced by Cisens or some variants of the Hindu caste system - the Draconic castes were unquestionably ranked by superiority and authority. In most cases, castes had little authority over the caste immediately beneath them, but had significant or even near-absolute power over those further down. The highest caste, the Goldscale Dragons, could not legally be disobeyed or even questioned by most of the other castes, whereas the lowest caste, the Orcs, are regarded by most historians as easily equalling the Helots of Sparta as the worst-treated slaves in world history.

## Dragons

The Dragons legally established themselves as the superiors of the *Kiisana* in every way. Dragons were the only truly free members of Draconic society, as all *Kiisana* were legally classified as slaves either owned by individuals or collectively by the Goldscale caste.

### Goldscales

The large, powerful and long-lived Goldscales were considered aristocrats of superior blood, and so they were the supreme rulers of all things Draconic. They led the military, the civil government, the courts and the priesthood, and monarchs could only come from the Goldscale race - an aspect of the caste system that remains in force to this day.

Adult Goldscales could not be disobeyed by any inferior caste, so long as their request was legal; they could not order a free Dragon to do something that would violate their dignity or bodily autonomy, such as forfeiting their personal property or committing suicide. The only inferior castes who were allowed to truly debate them were Redscales and Pinkscales; a Greyscale or *Kiisana* questioning a Goldscale's judgement could be seen as treasonous.

Goldscales were not themselves immune from prosecution, but convicting them of any crime was difficult because the Draconic caste system only allowed for an individual to be prosecuted by someone of the same or higher rank - meaning that only a Goldscale could bring another Goldscale to court. Someone of lower rank who wanted to try and bring a Goldscale to judgement had to find another Goldscale willing to sue on their behalf - which Goldscales were not often inclined to do.

Any slaves in Draconica - meaning all *Kiisana* - which were not the property of a specific individual were instead state-owned, specifically meaning they were collectively owned by the Goldscale caste. Goldscales therefore held ultimate authority in the treatment and assignment of state-owned slaves, and were able to override the judgement of lower castes assigned as slave managers - though this was rare in practice, since Goldscales understood the obvious havoc that could be caused by needlessly meddling with appointed offices.

### Pinkscales

The white-and-purple Pinkscales were second in authority. They were superior to Redscales in all civil matters, but not military ones - Redscales who commanded armies typically outranked Pinkscales, and Pinkscales who were attached to an army were almost always subordinates of Redscales.

Pinkscales were chiefly governors, administrators, judges and priests, and were responsible for maintaining relations and communications between Dragons and *Kiisana*. Pinkscales were often appointed to manage state-owned slaves - a duty they sometimes shared with Redscales, though Pinkscales were normally entrusted with more complex and far-reaching slave-run operations, whereas Redscales were usually only assigned to manage slaves performing basic manual labour.

The difference in duties sometimes led to friction with the militaristic Redscale caste, as some Redscales considered them a race of weak, pretentious and soft-hearted intellectuals who knew nothing of the real dirty work it took to maintain an empire. Some Pinkscales, in turn, considered the Redscales savage brutes who could only prosper under the direction of pink and golden scales.

Despite being the second-least populous caste, these were the Dragons that *Kiisana* interacted with the most, and for most inhabitants of Roulonne they would have been the only Dragons they ever saw. This made them widely hated amongst many *Kiisana*, as they were the face of Draconic tyranny - but their interactions with the oppressed under-castes made the Pinkscales the most sympathetic and understanding of the Dragons towards *Kiisana* and led to their reputation making a sudden about face as they defected to King Royard en masse during his Glorious Rebellion.

### Redscales

The Redscales were technically ranked below the Pinkscales, but as mentioned earlier, almost always outranked them in military matters due to Redscales often taking up roles as military officers and commanders and as elite warriors.

The primary occupation of the Redscale caste was war and enforcing Draconic law and authority, though they also fulfilled low-ranking civil duties such as managing state-owned slaves. When Redscales were appointed as governors, it was always to rebellious or frontier territories that required military experience and a harsher touch than Pinkscales were usually willing to use.

A common saying amongst many peoples of Roulonne was that the presence of a Redscale meant you were either to "serve or burn"; since Redscales were usually involved with the military in some way, seeing them either meant being part of their army or being slaughtered by them. Redscales were the most feared and dreaded caste of Dragons amongst the *Kiisana*, being the face of the Draconic military machine.

### Greyscales

Though unquestionably free individuals and not slaves, Greyscales were compelled into the lowest ranks of Dragon society. Any roles of authority they were entrusted with were always minor - in general, they were tasked to deal with all the menial tedium that the upper castes could not be bothered with.

Greyscales were common soldiers, hunters, gatherers, farmers, labourers and servants. Their position is often equated with that of peasants, though some historians have argued that a more accurate equivalent is serfdom. Though they were the most populous Dragons, they mostly did not leave Draconica itself unless on military campaign, meaning they were rarely or never seen by the majority of *Kiisana*.

## Kiisana

*Kiisana* (non-Dragons) made up the overwhelming majority of Roulonne's population during the period of Draconic rule; Dragons always had been a miniscule minority of the country, and still are to this day.

As mentioned, all *Kiisana* were classed as slaves; if not the property of an individual, then the property of the state - specifically meaning the Goldscale caste. *Kiisana* could be owned by Dragons, but the majority of slaves who were personal property rather than state property belonged to other *Kiisana*, since a *Kiisana* could own as a slave anyone of the same or lower caste. There were many restrictions on how a slave of the same caste could be treated, but both Dragons and *Kiisana* had almost unlimited authority over a slave of a lower caste.

No *Kiisana* were truly free, though they did have varying degrees of how free (or unfree) they were, depending on the rank of their caste and any special privileges they might have been granted as individuals or as families. As a general rule, *Kiisana* aristocrats that co-operated with Dragons were given privileges that made them, as some historians have described, "almost free"; they could not be compelled in the same way true slaves could, and while clearly not equals with Dragons, they were generally treated by Dragons - especially Pinkscales - as free, if subservient, people.

### State-owned vs Personally owned

Slaves owned by the state were technically the property of the Goldscale caste, but in practice they answered to the local Draconic governor. To what extent the governor made use of their status as state-owned slaves varied significantly between castes; Humans and Elfkin were allowed to live mostly-freely as peasants outside of emergencies, whereas Orcs were tightly controlled and were assigned to specific operations overseen by a manager appointed by the governor. This usually meant resource extraction or menial manufacturing, such as farming, mining logging or fishing, or the production of necessities such as textiles, arrows, arms or armour.

Personally owned slaves were assigned to whatever duty their master saw fit, which may have included large business operations but also frequently meant serving as a house slave. Though Goldscales still held ultimate authority over personally owned slaves, the state was restricted both by law and by obvious practicality in how much it could interfere with the personal property of a slave-master.

State-owned slaves could become owned by an individual through varying means. The most simple and common way was for them to be purchased; a *Kiisana* could initiate an offer to purchase slaves from the state, but the state would also regularly auction off state-owned slaves to raise funds or to dispose of slaves that had no use in state operations. Slaves would also sometimes be granted to *Kiisana* officers as their share of plunder when serving in the army, and a gift of slaves was a common way to reward high-status *Kiisana* for co-operation and subservience.

Personally owned slaves could become state-owned by simply being released from the service of their master; this was often colloquially referred to as "freeing" the slave, though of course they were not actually made free (especially in the case of Orcs). If the state had an urgent need to acquire more slaves, it would make offers to purchase slaves from masters - though these "offers" were generally understood to be demands and were very rarely resisted, despite the state usually buying slaves at below their market value.

A slave would also transition from personally owned to state owned if their master died without a will. Inheritance under Draconic rule mostly operated off the ancient Roulonnais principle that property was equally split between the eligible heirs (meaning sons, unless there were no male heirs) unless dictated otherwise by a will, but slaves specifically had to be passed onto heirs in a will or else they would go to the state.

### Benevolent Masters

Since it was impossible for a *Kiisana* to be truly free - especially so for the Orcs, the lowest caste - it was often the case that they found greatest freedom when they were personally owned by a master that desired for them to live freely. This led to a rare phenomenon of so-called "benevolent slavers", who purchased slaves in order to let them live freely. Slaves owned by "benevolent masters" were known as *Castevours*, lit. "free-slaves".

This was most frequently the case with Orcs, the least free of the *Kiisana*, whose only hope for a remotely free life was to be owned by a kind master; Humans and Elfkin generally did not suffer this to the same extent since the vast majority of them lived as peasants whose status as state-owned slaves had no meaningful impact on their daily life. This was a highly tenuous state of existence for an Orc, since they relied entirely upon the fickle goodwill of their master to live a normal life, and there was no guarantee that their master's heir(s) would continue the same treatment.

Perhaps the most famous and respected benevolent master was the only Dragon to fulfil this role, Akeras Kiyanax, who permitted the Orcs under his ownership to live as free men and women, and who went on to protect many Orcs and guide them to safety in the Ruawi Genocide.

### Elfkin

The highest-ranking *Kiisana* were the Elfkin. Though some Dragons appear to have considered there to be ranks within the Elfkin - most frequently considering Elves the lowest, Vampires above them, and Black Elves at the top - legally speaking all Elfkin were equals within this caste. Dragons considered them the mightiest and most respectable *Kiisana* due to their long lives and magical abilities, and some Dragons through history - mostly Pinkscales - did suggest to the Goldscales that Elfkin should be made into free citizens, though these suggestions were always immediately shut down and ridiculed.

There were a great many powers that a Draconic governor theoretically held over Elfkin, though in practice it was extremely rare for Elfkin to actually be treated as slaves; they were usually only compelled in times of emergency. This was not only due to the heightened respect Dragons had for Elfkin compared to other *Kiisana*, but was also due to the practical concerns of keeping a magically powerful population passive and subservient. The Dragons knew that of all the *Kiisana*, the Elfkin had the greatest ability to fight back if mistreated, and the widespread religious opposition to their caste system amongst Elfkin made it especially important to keep them satisfied.

Being the highest-ranked *Kiisana*, Elfkin were able to own Orcs, Humans and other Elfkin as slaves, though very few actually did so. The few Elves who lived in Roulonne were descendants of Saverian colonists, who fiercely abhorred slavery as their Elvetan religion taught that it was an abominable sin on the same level as rape or the murder of one's kin. Likewise, the Black Elves - though following a different, mutated form of Elveta - also believed slavery to be evil, though they were more willing to engage with the system of slavery in order to act as "benevolent masters", owning slaves - specifically Orcs - in order to let them live freely.

#### Vampires

Roulonnais Vampires, who were not Elvetan, had no particular aversion to slavery and were in fact prolific slavers. Since they were largely nobles, they often made use of slaves in extraction and production enterprises, or used them as house-slaves. These slaves were almost entirely Human and Orcish, since Vampires felt great discomfort at the idea of enslaving other Elfkin.

However, a particularly notorious Vampiric use of slaves was as a supply of food; they would be regularly drained of blood to fill Vampiric cups, and they would often be slaughtered in middle age for their flesh to be eaten. The Vampiric reliance on slaves to feed themselves predated Draconic rule and was extremely useful for them both as a matter of convenience and to maintain good relations with the Humans they lived alongside and ruled over; historians usually point to this as the reason why Roulonnais Vampires were highly integrated into the civilisation of their neighbours and were respected as equals by Humans, compared to Nesarian Vampires who took centuries to shake off their perception as voracious parasites.

Though they had no moral or religious opposition to slavery, Vampires still strongly regulated themselves when it came to treatment of slaves. They punished the rape of a slave with death, the same as they would punish the rape of a free person, and only allowed corporal punishment as a response to a refusal to obey orders or attempting to escape; simply performing below expectations or making mistakes could not be punished with violence. They also made a clear distinction between "serving slaves" and "feeding slaves"; slaves who had been assigned to work could not be drunk from, and slaves who had been assigned to provide blood could not be made to work - they merely had to keep themselves fit and healthy. The butchering of a slave that was past their usefulness also had to be as painless as possible, and was performed under anaesthesia when possible.

### Humans

By far the most numerous caste in the whole hierarchy, Humans experienced variable treatment across the Draconic realm, and how free they could live was mostly down to the whims of their local Dragon governor. They could technically be compelled to work in a state operation against their will, but this was rare in practice, and was mostly confined to conscription in times of crisis; for the most part, the system of manorialism that predated Draconic rule persisted.

When it came to Draconic involvement in their daily life, the main area that affected Humans was marriage. Whilst not every Human marriage had to be actively approved, Dragons could choose to veto a marriage and prevent it from occurring - in practice a rare event which actually mostly affected the nobility and not the common populace, as the Dragons were keenly interested in keeping the Human aristocracy fragmented and did not want marriages and inheritance to consolidate the power of individual dynasties.

Humans could own Orcs or other Humans as slaves. Most Human masters owned Orcs because they could have far more authority over this lower caste, whereas Human slaves could not be compelled by other Humans to perform duties that "violated their dignity" - a term which was mostly a euphemism for rape, but generally referred to anything considered humiliating or denigrating. Human slaves usually dealt with more complex work - such as high-skill artisanal labour or education - and more basic manual labour was left to Orcs.

### Orcs

Under the Draconic caste system, Orcs could not be mistaken for anything other than the lowest caste. Whether they were owned by a master or by the state, there were almost no restrictions on the treatment of an Orc; the only act that was truly off-limits was murder, but it was very difficult for a master to actually be convicted of murdering their slave - both because the case had to be brought to court by a Human (or someone of higher rank) in the first place, and because it was easy for masters to manufacture justifications for murdering their slaves.

Whereas Humans and Elfkin owned by the state were only rarely compelled to fulfil their duties as slaves, it was extremely rare for an Orc to fall through the gaps of Draconic administration and be allowed to live as a normal peasant. State-owned Orcs were always organised into operations, making it easy to track their population, and meaning that every single Orc did truly live as a slave.

State-owned Orcs could not marry without the consent of their manager, and it was rare that the manager would actually take the affections of the Orcs into consideration; they were mainly concerned with ensuring good physical characteristics, and would only approve a union if they thought the children would be productive. Since Orcs were the only slaves who could be compelled by the state to have sex against their will, there were also breeding programs of Orcish slaves that forced slaves from "healthy and obedient" bloodlines to breed with each other to produce strong new slaves. These breeding operations usually had to intoxicate both the men and women with alcohol or other drugs to get them to perform the acts, since sober Orcish men would usually refuse to rape their women.

This same law also meant that the vast majority of sex slaves were Orcs, and most brothels were staffed by Orcish women; not only was there simply a large supply of enslaved Orcish women to be prostitutes, but the inability of Humans to get Orcs pregnant and the difficulty of transmitting diseases between Humans and Orcs meant that there were far fewer complications involved. The widespread supply of prostitutes eventually led to many Asarebian priests shifting their opinions on slavery to condemning it, though this was not truly out of compassion for the enslaved women but rather moral panic over such prolific lustful indulgence.

There were no restrictions on how Orcs could be punished for disobedience, whether real or imagined. Orcs often suffered agonising punishments for failures or mistakes, and underwent horrific, torturous public executions in response to attempts to rebel or escape. This rose to a brutal crescendo in the Ruawi Genocide, when an attempt by the state to punish the Orcish population as a whole for a recent string of rebellions quickly got out of hand and resulted in the mass slaughter of Orcs.