[ our city's hierachy ]

[fαllεη •]

HIERARCHY OF THERANSE
| HIGHEST | PROUDEST | CRUELLEST |

Politics... How dull it must seem to you. But if this is your assumption, then you seem to have omitted one fact: Theranse's political arrangement is a constant battle. The Templars are constantly at odds with the people, and the scientists are constantly at the Templars' heels. There are Lords Order dancing in the streets and dogging at the heels of anyone who'll listen. The whole thing seems mostly a jumbled mismatch of constant and unending power struggle; certainly, the political leaders are seldom impressed with their puppeteers, sitting behind the scenery.

Before the Templars became a permanent party, every three years, a vote was held in Theranse. The people saw it as a chance to reward good behaviour by their leaders, and houses and businesses alike were coated in political jargon. If there were more votes for the Templars than the Order -the opposing side- the Templars remained in office. If the Order were more popular, the Templars were voted out, and the Order became the top dogs.

THE TEMPLARS
Honestly, this is more a title than an actual sign of respect. The people who preside over Theranse used to be considered the foremost experts at pulling the strings (though they don't have a patch on the scientists.) The Templars run the city, keeping what they can flowing smoothly, and carefully abandoning everything that isn't. It's quite amusing to see what has come of the citizens' new hatred for politics. Speeches are now made at a great height, surrounded by guards in such comical uniforms... 'Beggars', quite blatantly more guards in disguise, occasionally sit up and re-arrange the swords under their rags. You can't finish a speech without getting yelled at by some twit -though anyone who does is promptly taken away and 'disposed of'- and even the supporters are known to conceal the Order's followers in their midst.

The symbol of the High Templar is a seriffed red cross [ + ] on white surround, embellished with one golden tear-shape between each arm.
The symbol of a Lord Templar is the same, but without the golden tears.
The symbol of a Templar is a the same as a Lord Templar, but the cross is black.

HIGH TEMPLAR
Effectively, the prime minister. They have the power of veto over anything that goes down... and are controlled by the scientists. Once upon a time, they would have done things in the citizens' best interests, in order to increase their chances of being re-elected... Now, it's more doing things to save his own skin.
Now, the High Templar's prime-minister-like status is more of a tyrant. Not legally, of course. But he is backed up by the fire-power of a huge army, by the scientists' insanity -though no-one knows that tasty bit of gossip- and no-one is likely to deny his 'requests'. Everything he says is law; it was under his orders that Theranse's gates were shut permanently, and it is by grace of the scientists' favour that he retains this position.

LORDS TEMPLAR
On the next rung beneath the High Templar sit the Lords Templar. They are on his side, and are often bred into this position. Though anyone could be High Templar, it is common knowledge that the Lords Templar are of high-born stock. The Lords Templar now have nothing to do, except stand by the High Templar and support him. They are all judges, and preside over any serious cases in the courts. It is to them that any serious claims are brought, such as treason, harbouring an escaped experiment, attempt to flee or enter the city, or murder.
There are twenty Lords Templar: if one dies, the next will be selected by popular opinion from the ranks of Theranse's most wealthy and well-born.

TEMPLARS
'Templar' is merely the general name given to the supporters of the current High Templar. They can be anyone... although now this is often restricted to the high classes. The lower tend not to support anyone any more.
There are as many Templars as people who support them.

THE ORDER
The opposition to the Templar, known as the Order. Despite their seemingly peaceful name, the Order are known for raising riots against the current Templars, and for their often treasonous comments. Since the Templars were installed as a permanent party, the Order is more of a rebellious uprising. They are hunted down frequently, and almost all of them could be condemned in the courts, simply for siding with the 'bitch-bred heathens'.

The symbol of the Order is the outline of a golden octagonal star on a black background. (Think pentagram, but with eight points)
The symbol of the High Lord was the same, with the internal parts of the star coloured white.
The symbol of the Lords Order is the same as the general symbol, but with a white circle connecting all the points of the star.

LORDS ORDER
The Lords Order are much like the Lords Templar, but for the fact that these, once high-born and respected members of society, are condemned for belonging to the party. Anyone who wished to keep his social status -or his head- joined the Templars long ago, and was praised for his loyalty.
Once, when the Order were voted into office, one was elected to become the High Lord, their name for the High Templar. The Order are the more liberal party; power to the people and all that.
There should be twenty-one Lords Order, but for the fact that many have met very sticky ends. Only eleven still stand. (Most of the fallen will not be replaced.)

SENESCHALS
A senseschal is an assistant to the Lords Order. While the remaining eleven Lords Order lead, the senseschal is a new position designed to integrate the Order with the public. There should be twenty-one of them --one for each Lord Order, but as there are only eleven Lords Order, there are only eleven true only eleven true seneschal. The other ten are currently under the other senseschals. They are cunning little spies, and find out any information their Lords might need. Being such a quiet group, there will probably be spies among them... But hopefully, the Order is safe for now.

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[fαllεη •]

HIERARCHY: THERANSE
| HIGHEST | PROUDEST | CRUELEST |

Everyone's favourite thing; this shows you how things stack up in the lovely city.
Some of these may also be considered occupations; I think you are intelligent to know which. Oh, and by the by: these obviously aren't all the possible jobs. The hierarchy is just to give you an idea of some general jobs and where they stand in... high moral society.

AT THE BOTTOM
BEGGARS
Rag-wearers, homeless-hunters, and leech-like grips are characteristic of these people. They're the lowest of the low; no-one wants to know them. They are the gamblers, the money-lenders; the hated, the kicked, but also the hardy. Most are drunkards, drug-users, or insane. Their children often speak little or not at all, and almost all of them starve.
The beggars around Theranse's gates have make-shift shelters, but that's as far as anything will go. Everything they have must be stolen or made.

PROSTITUTES
Amazingly, the women -and men- of negotiable affection are not at the bottom of society. But any woman who falls into this category and is still at the bottom of Theranse's society... Well, she's obviously not doing her job well enough. Anyone with a reputation can slowly sneak into the higher circles, and once she's there, everyone there is in for a... good time. In any case, those who are still at the bottom of the food-chain are your regular luckless ladies. Usually abused by their masters or husbands, they're the kind you see in torn dresses, missing teeth and offering a 'pleasure-a-penny'. The saddest, but often weakest, of the low.

THIEVES
Only slightly up from the beggars, these people fend for themselves... by proficiently stealing from others. Most thieves never really make it, which is why they are at the bottom... But a few, just a few, are both skilled and charismatic. They make their fortune, slip into high society, and keep any questions at bay with a quiet blade or a silver tongue. Still, they all steal for their livings.

DEALERS
Drug-sellers, alcohol sellers... Anything sold on the street, you get from a dealer. Dealers are often highly competitive, fighting each other fiercely for their 'turf' and their 'leeches'. [Leech: (n.) An uncommon, slang term for the drug abuser or alcoholic. Used by dealers; derogatory.]
Drugs are hard to get these days, but the dealers are known for their shrewd ingenuity. Every gang has a few of these, either as a source of income for their bosses, or for their own usage.

GANG MEMBER
There are so many different factions springing up in Theranse these days that it's a wonder any of them have more than one member. In fact, there are some abandoned titles -they sit like an empty shell, waiting for a new member to take up their mantle. What a gang member does is Dependant on their leader; even the leaderships differ. There is no exact way to explain them, except that they all want something. Sex, drugs, money, booze, territory, freedom... Often in that order.

CITIZEN, LOWER CLASS
A citizen of the lower class is often not much better than your average urchin. They have no regular source of income, but they stick to the law... At least, enough to escape branding into one of the other categories. Often, families come together in this group, the mother or father keeping those around them on the straight and narrow. It's hard work. Most wonder why they bother; their kids run off to the nearest bar or gang hideout anyway.

ON THE MIDDLE RUNGS
The middle of the city is higher in morals than the lower scum-suckers, but it's really nothing to talk about. All the excitement goes on in the higher rungs, surely...?

MAN-FOR-HIRE
Back to the less-reliable side of the tracks, the man-for-hire is your street-wise name for an assassin. Although they're probably not good enough to deserve that title. They're often some Lord's disowned son, triyng to play tough boy in the real world. On the other foot, their tools of the trade -pistols, knives, poison- have usually been seen in action, so their service is never to be sniffed at. Need someone gone? How would you like to lose them...?

CITIZEN, MIDDLE CLASS
A citizen with a reliable enough source of income, the middle class generally does a good trade. That doesn't mean they stay on the right side of the law, though. Many profits come from what is sold under the counter.
All support the Templars -outwardly, anyway- and keep their lives unobtrusive, so as to avoid the interest of the guards. They keep themselves to themselves, and seldom have anything to do with anyone they do not completely trust.

CRAFTING WORK
Blacksmiths, carpenters, potters, glaziers, gardeners, sculptors, toy-makers... All of them fit together in this class. Generally respected enough, each has their own method of dealing... Though I've yet to see a toy-maker that didn't hate kids.

BUSINESS ASSOCIATE
Those who delve into the material economy that is keeping Theranse on its toes are the businessmen. They're not political, and they don't deal in solid goods. No, their business is seeing how much paperwork they can shuffle around. An unproductive factory doesn't look good on paper, and neither does an insane owner... And they all know the different ways of dealing with each.

POLICEMAN
And here we come to the regular straight-and-narrow... Right?
Well, that depends. Much of the city's legal enforcers and straight as a beam -if a bit soft in the head. But you get all sorts in the law these days. Sadists, looking to cash in, regular Joes, cowards, brave idiots, lunatics... They're all thrown in the same bin. Sure the five-month pass-or-fail course isn't something to be done lightly, but it certainly lets you get to know who you'll be working with. For each sector of the city, there are irregular numbers of constables to captains, eight chief captains, twenty-four inspectors, four chief inspectors and one superintendent. The chief superintendent has the thankless task of organising the rest of the shinnanigans, but at least he's sitting amongst the Lords.
The ranks for this section are;
Constable [pig, cop, copper, grunt, etc]
Corporal [See above]
Sergeant [sod, filch, snitch, etc]
Captain [Varies]
Chief Captain
Inspector
Chief Inspector
Superintendent
Chief Superintendent [chief bastard, etc]

LEGAL BOFFINS
I think it's quite self-evident who sits in this category. Your seedier, lower-down attourneys and barristers sit here. Mostly, they're a shrewd old bunch, but if you're lucky, you'll come across someone who hasn't been scammed before. Soft as a gold coin, and hearts of the same. Too bad they're worth more on the streets than in chests. Either way, it's these legal chaps who are just a legal way to acknowledge disputes. They're all over the city, not just in the middle quarter, but unless they're good at their job, they generally sit here.

TOUGH AT THE TOP
And now we reach the highest end of the scale. Behind the glass wall, impassible to all but the cleaners and such who are dragged from the sewers to keep the streets clean, you find the cream of the city's monitary crop. They pay their taxes, -often with bonuses- have often never worked a day in their lives, and live for the day that they'll marry off their daughters to some high-class bloodsucker. No, Edtard Cullen has no place in this world: I was referring to what goes on behind the scenes. The drama on stage is nothing compared to what keeps the play moving...

CRAFTSMEN
Ah, now we're really getting into the thick of it! These people are the best of their trade, plucked out of the muck by a Lord who actually had a decent idea of what a good weld looked like. Or maybe they just charged so high that people though, 'Hell, he must be good!' However they got here, through inheritance, skill, or plain luck, these people are working for the city's top, and never forget it. Although they're not the sort who go to the high-class balls -they're still middle-class, in terms of social interaction- they're respected, no matter their profession.




APPLIANCE OF SCIENCE
Here, at the top of the city, the scientists lurk. It's quite an impractical spot for them to be, really: all their potential labrats are down on the other side of town. But it's safer: lords and ladies would never dream of sneaking into a lab under cover of darkness. Despite the tight security outside, the scientists have it quite cosy in here. Now, where did I leave that damned scapel...? Stop moving your head! I only want an eye or two...

CLEANER-UPPERS
Obviously, the cleaners are the lowest in this society. Having been plucked from the ranks of the city's lowest, given a good meal, and told they could keep having that forever if they would just sign here... here... here... oh, you missed a spot: here... and here. Well, it's hard to imagine why they would refuse. There are quite a lot of them: there has to be.

KITCHEN WORKERS
Again, seldom are these slots filled by application. Those working in Matha's kitchens have to fill the bellies of a miniture city, plus experiments, so it's no wonder that they are constantly run off their feet.

GUARD-BLOODERS
The guard-blooders are more experiment than employee, and more employee than experiment. Someone, somewhere, could make sense of that statement without help, but allow me to assist you. The guard-blooders have no free will and no rights. They're mindless slaves, all of whom take their orders from the scientists. All orders, of course, can be overridden by our delightfully paranoid friend Dr. Psylin. Anyway.
They are virtually everywhere: once-human creatures with no thoughts of their own. The only proper relationship the scientists will allow them to have is a 'psychic' bond with their constant canine companion. This allows them to fight as a perfectly synced team, and is the only reason behind the scientists' decision. There's one on every corner, and you will never see him without his dog.

LAB RUNNERS
Although the colliquial term among scientists for their assistants is 'lab-rat', this gets often confused with the experiments. The younger among us may vividly remember the first day that they confused the two. It has therefore been ruled that anyone calling their assisstants 'lab-rats' will be forced to have that lesson reiterated. Perhaps with more emphasis on the razors, this time.
- Dr. Psylin, Laboratory Laws for Dummies, 2010.

Ahem.
So, apparently we have to call the assistants to the scientists 'lab runners' now. But the job is the same, so let's get to it. The assisstants are sort-of apprentices who are constantly at their scientist-master's heels. They fetch experiments, capture new subjects, and generally clean up after their master. Not everyone can be bothered having a little pack-rat running after them, but most scientists enjoy having someone else to boss around. Every scientist has started out in this unfortunate duty.

SCIENTISTS
Naturally, here is everyone's favourite job. These are your regular scientists: they have done their time as runners, and now have experiments -and maybe runners- of their own. They are supposed to be seeking a cure for the Myst. To kill it, cure the Infected, or just to hold it back: these are all the usual things that a scientist is told they must do. They have every possible resource at their disposal: all it takes is a word in the right ear.
On the other appendage... You have the mad scientists. No-one can say for sure exactly how many of them are truly mad, or just distracted from their original purpose. Either way, the labs are turning out some pretty strange results.
The ranks for this class are:
Lab Runner
Scientist
Head Scientist

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