Berrybottles' Travel Guide to Terra

Day 3.25

Observation Journal Entry #6

Mid-Morning, Stormy Weather

Brunch: Buttered Bofflebean Toast with Razzaberry Jam, Fresh Mountain Coffee with plenty of cream and sugar, and Oatmeal. Not glamorous, but Captain Stormblade thinks my stomach isn't ready for anything more yet. And I'm inclined to agree.

Hello Travelers,

Sorry for the interruption of that last writing. I really try not to leave cliffhangers where I can. This isn't a novel, after all. Just a collection of thoughts, observations, and traveling information. (My Travel Guides are not supposed to have monsters in them too!!! (*≧ω≦)) But, Captain Stormblade came in to check on me.

Apparently, I'm the only paying customer onboard right now. Royalty always ride for free on Zephyrs. So, it's rather important to the Captain and crew that I'm safe and going to reach my destination alive. After a quick assessment of my vitals, I'm unharmed, but my anxiety is through the roof. So, normal day then.

Reluctantly, I have eaten, and I do feel a bit better. Hmm, where was I? Obviously, if I'm writing, the ship was saved, I didn't go splat, and the monster was dealt with. Let me read back a bit. Ah. Yes. Prince Lann of Bloodbriar. What a perfect place to have left off. Let's see, what's a good place to start? Probably, to explain what happened next. But, I think for those who don't know, you should understand what being Royalty actually means here in Terra.

It all comes down to magic.

Magic is the lifeblood of all. It flows through the living and non-living. It is all of our very existence. A thread that ties all of us together; connecting us to each other, to our pasts, our present, our future, to our environments and place in this universe. Magic is everywhere, everything, and forever. And although we are all equal in the eyes of magic, that doesn't mean that magic is equal in the eyes of all of us.

To understand Terran politics, you must first understand two classes of people. Aristics and Rusts.

An Aristic is the shortened name for the word Aristocrat, and the Aristocracy are the Noble Class.

A Rust is the shortened name for Rustic, and are considered the Peasant Class.

The difference between Aristics and Rusts comes from one simple thing. Power. And I mean real power, not just influence or money or people under your command. I'm talking about your abilities in magic. Terra, you see, is run by those who are the strongest in their magic abilities. The Law of Ascension rules our everyday lives. Our village/town leaders, city governance, Kingdom rulers, are all determined from Trials and Tournaments that happen once a year. There is no voting here, but there also isn't a system where you're born into privilege and power.

Yes, you could be born to an Aristic Family. And this would give you a very high advantage, as you'd have access to family secrets of magic, strong teachers, and other means that would strengthen and prepare you for taking the Trials of Ascension. However, it isn't uncommon for someone from an Aristic Family to totally suck at magic and fighting, and instead become a Rust. They'd hold no power, or influence, or say in politics whatsoever. Sometimes, a family will care for their familial Rusts, but it's more common for them to be cast out to live with their own lower magic kind.

That all being said, our system of Nobility means that even the lowest born Rust could possibly possess, or train, to Ascend their Class status. There are many villages, towns, cities, and Kingdoms even, run by families who came from absolutely nothing. They fought their way through the Trials and Tournaments to become Aristics, thus changing their own stars they were born under.