The other great influence that keeps Kod a major part of Makadan culture is the closeness of the Krikis Hivelands Since the Chitin Wars, Makadan have born the brunt of the Krikis invasions Thus, martial prowess and a focus on honing themselves to sharp edges keeps the Makadan peoples united and strong despite the closeness and power of a nigh-overwhelming enemy What surprises most about Kod is that no one outside a Makadan tribe knows of it, nor can any lore be found about it Orally taught and constantly recited and memorized, Kod cannot be traced back to any one teacher or example or incident What triggered Kod’s origins shall remain as unknown as the number of sands in a dune Those who know Kod know how to keep secrets just as they know how to keep ahead of those who would oppose them One with a loose tongue should expect to be blinded like a difficult thakal! Ranks & Types The most well known quote about Makadan society comes from the anonymously written Of the Khitan Tribes and Their Mores, a two-centuries-old tome in Wani Chereet’s Great Library of Atsrath “What the Kral command, the Makadan without hesitation What the Sovetnik demand, the Makadan deliver without delay What the Pobornik preach, the Makadan believe without doubt ” As noted, Makadan society breaks along four stratified roles: leaders, administrators, overseers, and all others • Kral: “Those who rule.” They are Makadan sociopolitical elites and leaders, what other cultures might call noble families or major landholders Kral is also used as a title for any singular ruler of a settlement or its surrounding environs The Bokata are highborn Kral youth who are given critical warrior training from birth, known by their dark green cloaks and long spears • Sovetnik: “Those who guide and shape.” They are the administrators and counselors and those who have established their worth and strengths above others, rising above their birth stations to high regard and status This social rank usually encompasses those at the right hands of others in power— the long established ones who “actually the hard work for rulers.” Thus, those in command of settlement functions, army divisions, or even those in command of caravans or city subsections Of slight social superiority over Pobornik (below), Sovetnik handle the secular, everyday business of rulership Thus, their control over resources and the like give them more obvious power and status While most 52 military fall under the Pobornik rank, this class opens to the Ahapst military leaders (those who control a settlement’s troops), as most answering directly to a Kral are often of the same social status • Pobornik: “Those who watch and defend.” The overseers are a social role and class on a constant lookout for tribal purity, conducted personally or through spies and informants Central to Makadan culture are the Sebnikots, Shadazim priests whose brutal knife rituals expose their own skulls and who advocate Makadan supremacy over all humans They believe their scarification and skull exposure opens their minds and souls to the universe and those powers that speak for it, be they animalistic gods or simply those who “know” more than others Some are also Shadazim, Trakeen, Sarhaks, or Kuad Ahir Often a quartet of Sebnikots encompasses the roles of advisor, healer, sage, and seer for a particular Kral leader, though some rare Sebnikots can take on two or more such roles in a diminished settlement with no other available help The majority of non-Sebrikot Shadazim and Trakeen (and the rare sarhaks or psychics) fall under this social category, but only if they use their gifts and powers to benefit only the Makadan and no others Any who not use all their strength and gifts for the tribe are deemed traitors by those Makadans who follow Kod; said traitors spend their lives on the run from warriors seeking to take them back to their proper places or exterminate them for failing to help keep the tribe strong This social class is the highest to which most military can aspire, though some officers become Sovetnik if their skills helped put certain leaders in place and gain appropriate marriages accordingly for their aid Makadan military ranks are limited by the reduced sizes of settlements, thus losing many ranks and divisions due to smaller troop sizes Now, the always-higher-classed Ahapsht (barons) commands all military forces through his Opshto (knights) each of whom controls and leads two or more Ranpalt (“fifty-hands”) of warriors (which, despite the translation, range between 50 and 150 troops, depending on the settlement) Immediately beneath and reporting to the Opshto are the Kapetan, who may not always be troop leaders but overseers of supplies, resources, and the everyday minutia to keep an army viable If they command troops directly, they ride at the head of their Narpal (“ten-hands” companies of between five and twelve) Individual settlements may have greater or lesser military ranks, but these above are found in all Makadan militaries An award or status more than a specific rank, Narednik are heroes of any rank who win their men’s respect in a triumphant battle