Free Land Holder Status

Business Owners, Tradesmen, Homesteaders

Free Land Holders
Called Land Master or Land Mistress, they own the lands that Free Workers use. They cannot legally Bond or Own anyone. They can hold public office, but are usually jobs like local sheriff, mayor at best. It would take quite a lot of Holdings and popularity for a Land Master to become governor or Area Representative.

Free Land Holders are as Membayar, evenly split male/female, and have the most Free Workers raised to their status than any other status-raising class.

About sixty percent of Land Masters are born into their money, they often inherit their family homestead or their profession from one or the other of their parents. FreeLand Holders can become High Holders if they invest wisely enough, without having to go through Ownership or Membayar status before then. Free Land Holders often only Hold just a family homestead or small business, a shop somewhere in the boonies or in a large mall, any actual Land Held qualifies a person for the title. Inheritances can do wonders for Land Masters, especially if they didn't realize they were related to some High Holder or other. With the exception of Third Degree, they are just as likely to have been Bred than not, and in fact even if they were born in a different class, they are often chosen for low Level Breeding by Fourth Degree Breeders. (Unfortunately, however, many innocent LandMasters or Mistresses don't understand exactly how these things work, and manage to create Slaved offspring with those Third Degree Breeders who don't hold much with telling their subjects the laws regarding their Breeding contracts...) Free Land Holders with businesses tend to stay where they are, not traveling much unless it is required.

Free Land Holders' symbol is that of a low rectangle encircled by a large ring, representing a chunk of land. Earthly equivalents include people who own their own homes, but still generally will be working for someone else (a store manager with a house mortgage, for instance).

Often seen as the more mature counterpart to the Free Worker, Land Holders represent the doers and the movers of society, those who have enough talent and time to settle and work, those who may pass on a family business to their heirs. It is only a short step from FreeLand Holder to High Holder or Bonder from here.

Children of Free Workers and Land Holders so greatly resemble each others' Status that it is often hard to tell in a youthful setting who might be the offspring of whom. Only when they go home at night from their school do the differences start to matter. Depending on how old their parents are when they are born, children of Free Holders or Land Masters stand to gain quite a bit more than their 'Worker counterparts. Land Holder children are given a certain emphasis on responsibility that lends them more an edge on their Worker friends. While it is nearly the same test they take at the end of their schooling, the results of a Free Land Holder's child will yield an event which cannot be seen below this Status.

They can Hold Land from the moment they've passed the test.
It is common to see groups of friends attempting to pass their exams together, so they might Hold Land in the same place or pool their resources and give themselves a foot up into the very important working world. Upon testing and passing, the new LandMaster may opt to reserve a Unit of Land in their birth-City's local zone. They may also choose to defer that Unit until they actually need it, a move which more and more young Holders are finding sensible. They might Inherit that garage dad runs, or they might just Inherit his debt. They can choose to pay off a Bond with that Unit or sell it to someone who wants it, taking the money and the title and running. Technically, LandMasters do need to actually Hold a piece of Land, but there are increasing numbers of city bound LandMasters who just don't have the time, or the desire to go out to the boonies and see that plot of nothing they've been handed.

Through the passing of these exams, and the doling out of Units per graduate, the City gains in actual land-area and grows. Each Unit is most often beside the last given out, but in rare cases those who have rural family Holdings might be allowed to Hold near or beside their own Inheritances. Most Land lawyers will support this.
In most if not all other ways, however, the young LandMaster is the same as his Worker counterpart. He cannot necessarily depend on his family to give him a job, if he can't do it he shouldn't be hired!

Most Land Holder families are extremely loyal to one another, however. Given the ability, heirs take over and learn the ropes, then finally take the reins and allow their parents to retire. A house in the suburbs and a small business running out of it are the staple of LandMastery. Some have larger homes and rent out rooms to Workers or Bayaran enhancing or even completely providing their livelihood. Free Land Holders do slightly more of the owning of businesses and the commanding of forces to their tasks. Self-made people, these.

There is nothing preventing a Land Master from selling off their Units and going back to a Worker position, albeit in a much more well-financed way. Sudden re-evaluations of property have also allowed LandMasters to title up quickly. Boom towns, discoveries on the land Held, popularity of that little quaint bed and breakfast hotel they run, any of these things can change a Land Master's life forever.

Land Masters and Membayar are the most common married pairs when two Status are found together. Land Masters and Owners have a more professional relationship than that between them and Membayar, which seems strange considering the Membayar proclivity to business. Many Land Masters Hold small amounts of land which Owners or High Holders want, or use on a regular basis. Steed lands are common sources of immediate income, setting out that High Holder's prize winning Steed to graze can attract not only onlookers and the amount of money it requires to stable a fine Steed, but also the possibility of more Holders looking at your land!

Equally, however, disasters befall Land Masters. Fires can destroy a good portion of a forest, floods can ruin a new foundation, infestations and other problems have wrought the world since inhabitation began! The only positive here is that if things really get bad, they can still sell off that Land and hope for the best. That is an option that Workers just don't have, and most wish they did.

Home grown foods, grown on a plot just outside their homes, crafts and wares made in the back shed, a carriage for the inner city tourists, all these things are found most commonly in Free Land Holders' Status. They have a homey appeal and a serenity which most others do not, High Holders are often too harried, Membayar too uptight, Owners just don't care for that sort of thing... Workers and Bayaran are seemingly scrabbling for their very existence when viewed beside the Land Master. Some businesses have been around for upwards of sixteen generations, without ever needing to retitle or relocate!

When land becomes valuable, the Holder might be able to buy into it early and hope their Holdings skyrocket. The actual value of the land is important, as well as what is happening on it. Holding a piece of swampland by Bilo is okay, holding a narrow stretch of the Cimu Falls is another thing entirely.
When a Land Master's holds get to a certain size or value, they may choose to retitle to High Holder and that allows them to do everything that they do: see the High Holder section. However, it is more common for a Land Master to become a Bonder than anything else. If they need to hire someone permanently, or want to help out some one they know by paying off a debt they can afford, they're into Bonding!

The rules change then, but for the moment, the Land Master can vote and run for local offices, as described in the Holdings section.
Free Land Holders retire mostly in style. More often than not they can afford to let their kids run the family business and keep the money flowing. Some elderly Land Masters without children or living relatives blow it all on a last vacation or some big retirement event, some lose it all on stupid things and frivolous love affairs, or much more rarely to treachery either outside or within the family.
High Holders, Suzerain or Membayar wanting to relieve themselves of the hectic life they have at that Status may lower into Land Mastery, rather like retiring to Florida. It's supposed to be a slower paced lifestyle - but everyone knows your past follows you around like a puppy... With a stick ... of dynamite...

Free Land Holder Game Information
"Internationality is the key to success."
-Mar Ke-beveenia, LandMaster, 'Steed Feed' Pioneer Zerin/Stetil/Nofa

Who Works For You...
Generally, Freeworkers, since you may not legally Bond or Own.

Where You Are...
You can keep many acres wherever you have Holdings, with residences in any you can afford. Usually your Parentage and your Homeland will indicate at least your first Hold is, beyond that the job you hold is a strong determinate.

What You Do...
You own a small business, place to gather, direct money, or hire out services. You also may hold public office. There is nothing stopping a FreeLandHolder from doing the same job they had if they Raised from FreeWorker, for instance a mechanic who does enough work to buy into the garage he works for.
Industrial City works Public Office Farming Hold Office and do something else

Who You May Work For...
You might do Administrative work for High Holders, Owners, Animal Masters or whoever else is Higher than you, and needs your services. Also you might be a contractor or officiator.

How Breeding Has Affected You...
Only about 60% of FreeLandHolders are born into their Status, 61-85% are raised Freeworkers, and the rest are lowered from another Status.
01-35% Natural
36-65% B1
66-75% B2 (B3 is not available to be born into this Status)
76-85% B4
86-95% B5, select 1 mutation
96-100% B6, select two of your mutationsRights of Free Land Holders...

'Holders are entitled, either at the start of their Title or upon legal Status age if born into their Station (that's about 16, or if they can/cannot pass the Status Requirement tests, earlier or later), at least one Holding sector of not less than one Unit in their HomeLand. At the end of each year property value is assessed and profits weighed, and if a certain percentage is reached, another Holding may be granted or purchased. Additional profits over the years may also be held back for future investments, of course, but it is usually easier to gain in wealth by buying into the land. Free Land Holders are not obliged to hire Freeworkers. The 'Family Business' concept is used frequently here. Free Land Holders are the lowest Status to be able to run for public office legally, but the jobs they will be holding will be pretty mundane, 'Sheriff', 'Mayor' at best. 'Holders must vote, it is law. Once a child reaches 20 years of age, they are initiated into the business or General field, and given a Voter Number.

Problems...
You might lose everything if there is a bad harvest, or your business burns down, but you have a lot of money in the bank, don't you?

Lands Held Rates
1d4 Holds 1,2,4

Aynatchavay Singe, Free Land Mistress daugher of Kaytcha and Vanya, in her nice house. Usually there are hoards of kids or party goers there, but she's just cleaned up and has forbidden anyone else to come across her perfectly shiny floor. Digital render by madnow! (obviously!)