Suzerain Status

The best of both worlds

Suzerain
Combining the financial abilities of Membayar and the social upbringing of Owners, and referred to as Suzeraan for men and Suzerinne if female. This Status may refer to anyone who had been in either Membayar or Owner status and does not have enough Land held to Retitle to High Holder (or does not desire to do so). Technically this is merely an extension of the Holdings of either class below it (Owner and Membayar), with the exception that the Holding Rates double for this combined Class. (Refer to those for more information.) However, since most Suzerain are Membayar who have gone up to Ownership and kept their business sense about them, the pervasive attitudes are different than either 'pure' Status. They are cunning, most often with a flair for drama, equal numbers of them are in Steeds as in Banking, as well as fashion and some of the higher demand professions such as spying and business Law. Only after the year 1019 is this Status available at all, and it is not until around 10400 when they exist in numbers which warrant being "Born Into" the class.

They have their own symbol which combines the Membayar Circle/Pip with the Owner's grouping of 'Slave' Circles. More than half Suzerain are male. The only examples of Suzerain types on Earth might be free-wheeling filthy rich adventurers - Lara Croft of Tomb Raider fame, if she were real, might be a Suzerain. Someone with money, but who also loves to work to actually get it.

Combining the business aspect of Membayar with the steady servants of Ownership, Suzerain have canny minds, and while they do not live quite as for the moment as Lords, neither do they always stop when they have achieved a complacent plateau. Always striving, the Suzerain rival High Holders in their sharp deals. Only after the year 10400 is this Status actually available as one to be born into, before then it had to be bought into and was not as popular.

In the beginning, they were Membayar who needed to invest in a Slave or two. Or Owners who discovered a talent for locating their Bonds into the right agencies. Some High Holders who dropped a bit out of the huge numbers and into the more manageable ones of the Suzerain say that this Status is a beautiful thing.

Nowadays, there are more and more Suzerain who are heavily into land management, transportation, and construction. Steeding and large events organization are fields dominated by Suzerain. Explorers, those who have large and mostly unmanaged lands Held, and a scant few politicians and artistes round out the jobs which most Suzerain choose.

Being born into this Status is a complex thing. It started not so very long ago, with the artificial births of Music and Lyric, offspring made by Vanya Sengihr for his "close personal friends" Lord Micri and Master Palos of "a Lord, Two Bonders and Their Mistress". Neither child could be said to be "born" to their parents, they were fully spliced at 6th degree. The legal argument of which Status they might be born to immediately started off among Breeders, who took it to their favorite politicians. Shortly, the word spread, and soon enough the laws were passed that allow Suzerain children choose to be Suzerain rather than one of their parents' Status. Time was, the child was most often given the tests for their higher Status parent.

The Status is still the second smallest of the bunch, after the elite High Owner, and barely before the Animal Master.
The testing for Suzerain can be done at any time and by anyone qualified (of any Status Membayar and above) and usually is a more biting and math-oriented one like the Membayr exam. If a child is born to Suzerain parents, they may take the exam up to three years later than other Status (around age 14 or 15 rather than 11) because of its complexity. The Status itself offers quite a lot of leeway for the number of Slaves and Bayaran that the lower Status cannot use, while it does not automatically put the individual into the political world as High Holder Status does because of the size of their land Holds.

The Will reading of a Suzerain is much more sedate than Owners', and with more at stake than the Membayar side of the family.

In most respects, Suzerain and their activities resemble more high-flying Membayar than uncannily businesslike Owners. The lines are blurring and soon the Suzerain Status will be recognized in and of itself rather than because they are unusual examples of retitling.

"We like to think of it as the best of both worlds...That isn't it, of course."
-Talin Shaiara, Suzerinne, Banker, Tana/Difar/J'ren

This class is a catch-all for Membayar who have raised to Owner Status without changing their jobs, and Owners who decide to go into normally Membayar-dominated fields. It is an equal chance for either, roll as original Status. No one is normally born into this category until after the year 10400. Children of Suzerain before then have the higher of their parents' original Status and the privileges as such.

The number of Bayaran is double normal, because the Owner Status increases net worth and credit may be extended farther than Membayar's. The Owned value leaps because most often those who find themselves shifting Status into Suzerain from Membayar alone have just gained several Permanent Bonds, and they need the ability to Own (without the social restrictions Owners tend to bear).

Problems...
Well, for previous Owners, it could be losing face socially if they've never been to Membayar Law meetings, for previous Membayar the sudden Ownings may unnerve them...

"It? It's that we can Bond and Own twice what we could with the single Status, of course."
- Autev Akur, Suzeraan, Steed Broker, Tana/Imaa/Ble'an

If using a time line after 10400 use this chart below which combines Membayar and Owner stats.

Lands Held Rates Bond Own
1d20 Holds 1-4 1d20/year 1d20/year