Society and Culture
Dregordia is ruled by the Consul, the highest title of rank in their society. The Consul is served by the Consular Services, a highly complex bureaucracy that includes such organizations as the Consular House of Adepts, the Consular Library Service, and the Consular Water Administration. The Consular Legion is the most honored military legion in Dregordia.
The Consul is always a noble, and the office is generally hereditary. Every so often, however, a new noble family takes over, chosen by a Consular Conclave when the peers of the realm deem it wise or when circumstances mandate. The current Consul is Ssedra na Dristak, who is 110 but still going strong. The na Dristak family is relatively new, dating back only 900 years or so, but it is well respected if not loved.
Dregordians are reptilian, with a very warlike past. Over the last millennia, they have struggled to shed their savagery, although martial training, especially in the use of the national weapon, the kayakor, is still mandatory for nobles and their vassals.
There are very few poor Dregordians, and only marginally more very rich ones. Most citizens have some claim to being member of this or that minor noble family, so status is rarely a thing of common dispute. All Dregordians are associated with a house, whether directly or (in the case of many city dwellers) somewhat tenuously based on historical, personal, or regional ties. Social relations are generally cordial, though there is a current of hostility that lays just beneath the painfully built up layers of civility.
Dregordia is a harsh land, though much has improved since the time when marsh dragons and the mysterious Noor-nakar terrorized outlying farms and villages. Those menaces were largely destroyed some 800 years ago during the Dragon War. Current problems involve mainly pirate raids on the coast, bandits from the Kal Empire to the north, and the Kal civil war that threatens to spill over into Dregordia.
Politically, Dregordia is run as a benevolent despotism. The Consul's word is Law, but custom and common sense (not to mention the threat of a kayakor in the throat in the night) temper the Consular hand. Dregordians are neutral in most external matters as a rule; they have only recently established stronger diplomatic ties with the Kingdom of Galea and the Landra'Feya. The excesses of the Empire and the tyranny of the Prelacy leave much to be desired in the eyes of most (but not all) Dregordians.
Dregordian society is surprisingly and refreshingly peaceful; it is almost a religion for them to maintain control. Holidays are still often celebrated with (toned down) martial tournaments. It should be noted that the civility and peaceful demeanor of the Dregordian society should not be mistaken for weakness. A legion of kayakor-wielding Dregordians is still one of the most formidable and frightening sights on any battlefield.
Females have equal status to males in Dregordian society, but non-Dregordians have no place within the crux of Dregordian culture. There is a surprisingly high percentage of Dregordians capable of following the Way; Dregordian adept schools are world renown.