In the caliphate of Azithan, known to its neighbors as the Necromancer Kingdom ...

In the caliphate of Azithan, known to its neighbors as the Necromancer Kingdom ...

Class distinctions are relevant, as they are in any premodern nation.

At the top is the Royal Family, those direct line descendents of The Prophet. With each generation, the House of Lords and the Skull of the Most Ancient Prophet, as interpreted by the High Priest assists the head of the Royal Family in deciding which child ascends. The rest take positions within the House of Lords, as Dukes. There are so few royals they are a statistical unlikelihood; safely ignorable.

There are the Lords, with titles like Duke, Count, and Baron. They own land and provide expertise. If you can create lifeless without the use of divine energy, you are always offered a seat as a Lord. In exchange for position as a Lord, there is a tacit promise not to overthrow the government. Effectively, this ensures very powerful individuals have a reason to see the Caliphate continue. To be clear, Duke > Count > Baron.

Powerful generals, heads of trades guild, and others are often offered a peership as a Baron.

They form the House of Lords, which has vastly little political power. Maybe one person in a thousand is a noble. They exercise local power over their lands, but not a lot of influence over the body politic. They often have a Priest assigned to help guide their decisions.

Then, there's the priests. At 2% of the population, they form the bulk of the political power. The House of Priests (the lower house from the House of Lords) has the majority of the political power; the head of state is always from the House of Priests.

A priests congregation is their bedrock; lose that, and you lose much political power. Priests often vie for believers, as having more believers behind you means you have more votes in the House.

There are different levels within the priesthood, of course. Information does not propagate as fast as it does for us; the local priests have a great deal of latitude, and the local governors even more.

The Paladins, military leaders, and civil engineers fall somewhere within the priesthood; above a local priest, below a regional governor.

Working for the priests are the Deacons, lay ministers of the church. They help tend to the Faithful during the week; bringing bread and soup to the sick, tending the Lifeless, etc. The work the Church needs that is not best filled by priests nor Lifeless.

The Faithful without direct positions in the Hierarchy make up 75% of the population or more. For them, there is freedom; they can work as they wish, live as they wish. Simply for going to church, they are provided sufficient wealth to live simply, and the rest is free will. They are merchants and bankers, murderhoboes and cobblers. Architects and engineers, tailors and spies.

Lastly, are the Faithless. Perhaps 20% of the population is not of The Faith of the Caliph. There is freedom of religion in the Caliphate, but that doesn't mean you get to participate in government or be relevant to politics. It is easy to join the Church, and they are always looking for Faithful.

Questions and comments are, as always, sought after. Is this too much like the UK? Or, is it obvious that I don't understand power and government?