So, I was thinking of a Dark Sun society in which there was a strict caste system in place.
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Humans: They form the aristocratic & merchant classes.
Half-Giants: They serve as warriors who fight wars.
Muls: They do the heavy labor.
Dwarfs: They farm the fields and work outside the City-State.
Elves, Thri-kreen, Pterrans etc.: Have no place in society.
I imaging a city-state, with walled sections inside dividing up the society. I see a sorcerer king, a true socerer king, not an immortal dragon, but a powerful psychic, that a century or two ago destroyed his rivals and is the most powerful psychic in the city that uses his psychic powers to stay alive and be a sort of immortal. He's always searching for those with powerful pscionics, as they are potential rivals to his power. I see the SK in his own walled section, in the center of the city. Then a walled section for the human nobility and merchants. Then, a walled section for the Muls who maintain the city and perhaps spaces for others.
Intellectual pursuits is the only thing a human could do. He couldn't fight, half-giants are better at it than he. He can't be a laborer, Muls excel. The only thing he can do is paint, or sing or something like that. He couldn't even be a bandit, elves are better than he is...
There are probably other city-states with the same caste system and they ocasionally war.
Thoughts?
I can only see this working in Gulg or one of the unstated or unknown C-S (or large village). Balic, Nibeney, Urik, and Tyr all seem to have some other arangement that mixes those clean lines of a caste, Raam is simple too chaotic for such formalities, and Draj, my opinion, if it bleeds and is local it's all good.
With the dwarves, don't forget they also make good craftsmen.
I can only see this working in Gulg or one of the unstated or unknown C-S (or large village). Balic, Nibeney, Urik, and Tyr all seem to have some other arangement that mixes those clean lines of a caste, Raam is simple too chaotic for such formalities, and Draj, my opinion, if it bleeds and is local it's all good.
With the dwarves, don't forget they also make good craftsmen.
Oh, this will be in another region; a region so far away, the Tyr Region, the Dragon and even the tales of the Green Age, are not known. It's more of a classic, 2nd Edition, first box set type of game, but with a caste system.
I've been thinking it may not even been on Athas, but perhaps a on a tidally locked world with a red star, in which there's always day and the sun never moves or on perhaps, a triple star system like 26 Draconis or Alpha Centauri.
Oh, this will be in another region
"The Other Edge of Athas" or something added to your Sundra Region?
a tidally locked world with a red star, in which there's always day and the sun never moves
That would bring a whole new level to "This Sucks", the Trinary sounds too Scifi.
a tidally locked world with a red star, in which there's always day and the sun never
That would be The Worlds of Arkadi. An english translation of a french comic book. Caza is the artist. Very Dark Sun-ish.
"The Other Edge of Athas" or something added to your Sundra Region?
a tidally locked world with a red star, in which there's always day and the sun never movesThat would bring a whole new level to "This Sucks", the Trinary sounds too Scifi.
It would be a whole different region, apart from Sundra.
With Celestia, I've run tests with planets in a triple star system such as 26 Draconis and Alpha Centauri (they're very similar systems, with two yellow stars and one red dwarf. The yellow stars orbit close, like the sun and Saturn and the red dwarf orbits far away.)
If you have a world around Proxima Centauri, the red dwarf of the Alpha Centauri system, Alpha Centuari A & B would be visible during the day time. Those stars would appear as a blur, and they'd move across the sky as the planet rotates in it's week long year or something to that matter. A planet orbiting Alpha Centauri A, would see Alpha centauri B as a bright star, brighter than a full moon here on Earth. Likewise for a planet orbiting Alpha Centauri B. 26 Draconis is much the same way save the Red Dwarf is closer and brighter.
The problem with a Red Dwarf world is that time stands still. There's no measure of it by days. It never gets dark. Were there's a mountain, no grass grows there. Not enough light...
And not to mentions red stars are low light enough that plants have to be black in order to absorb sunlight...
That would be The Words of Arkadi. An english translation of a french comic book. Caza is the artist. Very Dark Sun-ish.
I checked out a few images from LE MONDE D'ARKADI. Kind of reminds me of Heavy Metal 2000.
Thanks for pointing out Caza. Will try and check his stuff out next time I'm on the other side of the Channel! It looks indeed very Dark Sun from a first impression...
Mutated creatures that live in the deserts wear hollowed out insect parts as armor. Awesome!
One of my favorite comic.
You're forgetting the nobility and templars. I suppose that merchant houses are important but the nobility of the city-states are the highest caste. And the highest templar are ranked up there.
Eh...I don't buy it. It's too simplistic. Half-Giants in previous editions could lift way more than most Muls...so they'd be great for heavy labor... as someone mentioned dwarves are great artisans so they'd be merchants too.
The problem with a racial caste system is it's just based on stereotypes.
You're forgetting the nobility and templars. I suppose that merchant houses are important but the nobility of the city-states are the highest caste. And the highest templar are ranked up there.
I kind of included templars in the aristocrat caste. I can see the templars being an important position and a dangerous one. The closer you are to the SK, the greater the danger has he might discover your desires and your powers.
Mutated creatures that live in the deserts wear hollowed out insect parts as armor. Awesome!
One of my favorite comic.
What else are you going to do with dead Thri-Kreen.
There's another comic book out there, called "Race of Scorpions" it's made by an Argentine, but published by Dark Horse. I have it somewhere. It's about a future Earth in which most of the water is gone. It also has a neat method of execution called, "Planting", in which a person is buried in to the sand up to his neck and left for dead.
Eh...I don't buy it. It's too simplistic. Half-Giants in previous editions could lift way more than most Muls...so they'd be great for heavy labor... as someone mentioned dwarves are great artisans so they'd be merchants too.
The problem with a racial caste system is it's just based on stereotypes.
I thought of that too. I suppose failed warriors can be caste into the laborer class?
Perhaps gifted dwarves can leave the fields to work as artisans.
Also, there might be slave villages in which those that did not want to live in the caste system dwell, away from the city.
My inspiration for this, was a futurist paper about how in 1000 years from now, there might be a fit human caste and a servile dwarf like caste that serves the human caste. Then I borrowed a bit from H.G. Well's Time Machine.
If I do create this world, it's going to be a lot drier. Water is only available at altitude. Perhaps I shall make a rain shadow desert and a forest ridge, this one bordered by a small sea.
Or perhaps in the rim of a giant impact crater in which the walls form mountains high enough to collect moisture that flows into the crater as a river...