Tindremene

Biography
The Tindremenes are renowned for their history as conquerors. Before the Conflux the Tindremic Empire dominated large parts of the known world, with outposts in each and every corner of the realm. Those days of glory are over, but the Tindremenes still regard themselves as the finest and most advanced civilization in the world.

Caste System
The Tindremic society uses a complicated caste-system that applies to every man and woman being born or assimilated into the empire, and most people belong to one of the Plebeian castes, meaning workers and crafters etc. At least amongst themselves, the higher castes only consider those with a genuine bloodline to be real Tindremenes. This bloodline, which is claimed to have run in the Tindremic race since they parted from the pre-Sidoian civilization, has to be inherited by having at least one parent who is a part of the Plebeian caste or higher, or by presenting a documented proper ancestry for evaluation.

It falls upon all respectable Tindremenes of Plebeian caste or higher to give their children one or more years of education, often administered by a hired scholar, and the empire has a high degree of literacy. Most Plebeians are also given basic military training, some joining the army for a few years before returning to society.

In old times, only those with a true bloodline were considered genuine Tindremenes, meaning that they had the right to belong to the Plebeian caste. This bloodline, which is claimed to have run in the Tindremic race since they parted from the pre-Sidoian civilization, had to be inherited by having at least one parent who was a part of the Plebeian caste or higher, or by presenting a proper pedigree for evaluation. Although this system has been generally abandoned since the Conflux and the confusion following it, it is still practiced by many in the Theurgy and Nobilitas castes.

Today a caste is not always inherited but can rather be assigned at random by various groups who possess power in the society, and what once was a clear system has degenerated into a jumble of symbols, where no one really keeps track of what stands for what. The caste mark is still said to signify plenty of information concerning the bearer to an observant beholder, such as family, social class, political influence and power, profession, assets and even sexual disposition. However, most Tindremenes only have knowledge concerning a small set of caste marks belonging to nearby families or people in one’s close proximity, as well as the most important marks belonging to the higher castes. To not be able to recognize a mark is however never shown outwards since it’s regarded as one’s duty and relates to one’s honour to show others a proper amount of respect depending on their specific caste. The “proper amount of respect” could be anything ranging from contempt to courteously fawning.

Society
The few historical annals that remains in the world after the Conflux all tell the tale of The Tindremic Empire, the writing is always grand and pompous regardless if the writing is positive or negative. The reputation of the Tindremenes as colonizers, conquerors or liberators is something that still lives on in all great civilizations in the known world and as a testimony to all this stands the grand Tindrem, the largest city of the modern age. Many things have come to pass since the Conflux, and although Tindrem escaped the catastrophe with minor damages only fragments of the complex caste system, technology and armies of thousands remain of the old and proud empire.