Whether it is a principality or a kingdom, there are slaves in the system implemented. Among these slaves, serfs and mining slaves had the lowest value. Among them, serfs are mostly humans because they do relatively fine work, while mining slaves are mostly aliens because aliens can do hard work, dirty work, and dangerous work, and they are cheaper. The most common among them are kobolds, with goblins, bugbears, and tauren also present.
Above the slaves are the common people. Civilians have their own property, and their right to life is guaranteed. Well, at least the nobles have to pay compensation if they kill civilians, but they can do whatever they want with their slaves, whether they kill or torture them.
Above the common people are professionals without nobles. These professionals can be mercenaries, adventurers, city guards, soldiers in the army, guards of noble lords, and tutors and teachers of noble children.
Above that, there is the nobility.
The Pretender Gods of Men, false deities who claim authority but possess no true power among the celestial ranks.
The heads of nobles, from lowest to highest, are divided into Knight, Lord, Baron, Viscount, Earl, Marquis, and Duke.
Each one rules over more lives than one might imagine.
If it is an Empire, there will be a Prince/Princess above the Duke.
This aristocratic system has ruled over the material plane of Tal for countless ages, its roots deeply entrenched in tradition, its flaws verified time and again. It's not just humans who perpetuate this injustice—many races, too, have adopted the same structures of power. The system works well—for the rich, the elite, the nobles, the adventurers, the faith, and of course, the King. But for the common man? He is shackled to the endless grind, spending his life laboring just to fill his stomach. He dies forgotten, his family torn apart—his wife, daughter, or sister taken by men born into better fortune or who happen to excel in a profession or religion that deems them worthy.
Even those who rise in religious ranks still bow to others of higher station, licking the boots of men no different than themselves, only with more coin or greater birthright. The gods may offer blessings, but those too are handed to the powerful, the faithful with status, while the poor man's prayers often fall on deaf ears. His devotion becomes nothing more than a tool for growing influence, his suffering unnoticed by the very institutions he worships.
Wealth controls everything—justice is nothing but a commodity for the elite. Education is a distant dream for the common folk; while the nobles learn diplomacy, magic, and the art of war, the poor can hardly teach their children to read.
It's a rigged system. Born with talent or into privilege, and you rise—otherwise, you're left to rot, trapped in a cycle of poverty. A man loses his family, his daughter sold to repay a debt, his son drafted into a war fought for reasons he doesn't understand.
Religion and nobility claim to lead, to uplift, but in truth, they only reinforce the same cruel hierarchy. The strong feast, while the weak are trampled beneath their feet. It doesn't matter if you're human, elf, or half-beast—the chains may differ, punishment may be light, but the oppression is the same.
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"So hungry."
Hans, who had just finished feeding the livestock, touched his belly, a desire for food evident in his numb eyes.
However, the serfs must finish their work before they can enjoy the food rewards from their masters, so no matter how hungry they are, they must endure it.
Hans fetched buckets of water from the well, placed them on the wooden cart, and then acted as an animal, struggling to pull the cart full of buckets forward slowly.
Next, he needed to water the farmland not far outside.
As soon as he pulled the wooden cart to the edge of the farmland, Hans glanced into the distance with numb and tired eyes.
On the horizon, a black line stretched, approaching the town of Victor at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"What is this?" Hans looked at the black line getting closer and closer, thinking in confusion that his brain had long been accustomed to work, work, and work. After seeing things other than work, he often reacted immediately.
Don't come.
As the distance between the black lines closed, the vibration on the ground became more intense, and the majestic centaur figures were imprinted in Hans' pupils.
The eyes of these centaurs were filled with murderous intent and hatred.
With a clang, the bucket on the wooden cart fell to the ground, and Hans ran away.
"The centaurs are coming! The centaurs are coming!"
Before Hans could finish his words, a javelin flew from hundreds of meters away, directly piercing his body and hanging him on the ground.
"Hoho!" Hans's mouth overflowed with blood foam, and a faint relief appeared in his numb eyes.
'With so many centaurs, the nobles should also die. It's best to die together.' This was the last thought that flashed through Hans' mind.
"Kill them!" the centaur captain roared ferociously, leading a large group of centaur knights to break through the gate of the town, amid the exclamations of the town residents.
Screams and calls for help sounded like a chapter from hell in the small town of Victor.
Baron Victor, who lived in the castle outside the town of Victor, quickly received the news. He was so angry that he quickly gathered his guards and came to the castle wall.
Standing on the tall city wall, Baron Victor looked at the chaotic town in the distance and the large number of centaur knights wreaking havoc in it. His mouth trembled, and his heart bled.
How much wealth will be lost?!
"Damn centaurs!" Baron Victor said bitterly.
The captain of the guard accompanying the baron suddenly focused his eyes and reminded Baron Victor,
"Baron, there is a centaur knight coming towards us."
Baron Victor quickly followed the guard captain's gesture and looked over. Sure enough, he saw a centaur wearing simple leather armor approaching the castle slowly. His expression was indifferent, and he was just looking at the crowd on the castle wall. Only then did a hint of coldness flash through his eyes.
"Baron, the other party may be a master; please avoid it first." After the guard captain's eyes met the centaur knight, he couldn't help but tense up.
He was an eighth-level warrior, and the one who could put this kind of pressure on him must be a strong man.
"A centaur knight is asking me to avoid you? Det, don't forget, I am also a seventh-level warrior, and I am not weak." Baron Victor said solemnly.
The captain of the guard hesitated for a moment but still did not dissuade him.
Not only was he, an eighth-level warrior, around him, but there was also a hundred-man professional guard on the city wall, all of whom were elites who had reached level three or four, and the team leader among them had reached level five or six. Additionally, there was a team of five low-level spellcasters.
With such a team of professionals, plus a team of low-level spellcasters and the city wall, there was no need to be afraid of hundreds of centaur warriors attacking.
Thinking this way, Dete felt a little more confident, but he still felt a bit uneasy.
Especially when he saw the centaur knight in the distance slowly pulling out a throwing spear from behind, he felt goosebumps all over his body.
"Die!"
The centaur knight uttered a word coldly, and the next moment, the light cyan hurricane fighting spirit attached to the spear in his hand turned into a stream of light and rushed toward Baron Victor on the city wall.
Faced with the spear's terrifying speed, the Baron only had time to make an incomplete squatting movement before his head was pierced by the spear and exploded.
The surrounding guards and low-level spellcasters were dumbfounded, looking at the centaur below the castle with fear in their eyes.
Advanced Centaur Hurricane Rider!
Below, the centaur knight once again drew a spear, blasted a big hole in the castle's thick stone door, and then rushed in.
Soon, the castle was filled with the same screams and sounds of escape as in the town.
An hour later, hundreds of centaur knights came to the outside of the castle with a group of human captives and looted treasures.
In the castle, a centaur knight covered in blood slowly walked out of the open door. As the knight moved around, drops of thick blood fell on the ground.
When the hundreds of centaur knights in the open space outside saw him, they all looked respectful and said,
"Commander Ackerman."
The neat shouts silenced the originally noisy prisoners instantly, with panic and fear flashing in their eyes.
"Leave a small team to guard the prisoners and occupy the town. The rest follow me. We still have five goals. We must seize the time to complete them." Ackerman nodded slightly, and the hurricane's fighting spirit shook, scattering all the plasma on his body, restoring him to his original clean and tidy appearance.
"Yes!" Hundreds of centaur knights responded in unison.
Ackerman looked at the human prisoners. Most of them were females of noble houses, and a trace of murderous intent flashed in his eyes, but he quickly restrained himself.
The king's order was to kill the rebels and keep civilians and serfs as much as possible. These would be the cornerstone and labor force for the establishment of the Centaur Kingdom in the future.
But the most important thing was women.
After several years of targeted hunting by adventurers from both countries, as well as those who died during the development of the dark forest, the number of women in the Centaur clan has dropped by 30%, so there is an urgent need for women.
And human women could work just fine…
Yes, centaurs and human women can indeed bear children together. In fact, such unions between different races are common across Star Remals, where the boundaries between species are more fluid than in other realms. However, it isn't just a natural occurrence; it often involves the subtle influence or active blessings of the gods. The gods of Star Remals are not countless, but they hold dominion over powerful domains such as fertility, childbirth, marriage, family, and destiny. Sometimes, parents seeking to ensure the survival or unique traits of their offspring will actively seek the favor of these gods, performing rituals or making offerings to gain their blessings.
For say, a couple—whether a human male and medusa, githyanki and human, or triton and human—may seek the blessing of Sune, Goddess of Love and Beauty, who governs the bonds of kinship and ensures healthy childbirth. Similarly, they might turn to Chauntea, the Goddess of Agriculture, to enhance the chances of conception or to ensure that their offspring inherits traits from both parents that will allow them to thrive.
When a lizardfolk and a human come together, they might pray to Gond, God of Craft, hoping that their child will be blessed with a unique resilience, combining the endurance of lizardfolk with the ingenuity of humanity. A union of elves and humans may turn to Corellon Larethian, God of Art and Magic, so that their child inherits both beauty and longevity from the elven side while gaining the versatility and ambition of humans.
Gods of childbirth, such as Lathander, God of Birth and Renewal, oversee the safe arrival of offspring. Parents wishing to avoid complications might beseech him, while couples hoping for multiple healthy children could make offerings to Tymora, Goddess of Luck, whose domain includes favorable outcomes and abundance. On the other hand, gods like Kelemvor, the God of Death and the Afterlife, might be invoked by families seeking to create a strong lineage, hoping their offspring would inherit not just physical traits but the wealth and influence of their ancestors.
Marriage is governed by deities such as Oghma, God of Knowledge and Inspiration, whose blessings ensure the bond between partners remains strong and fruitful, especially in mixed-race unions where cultural and biological differences might pose challenges. A couple wishing for a prosperous marriage might seek Oghma's favor before their union.
In darker or more controversial unions, such as those between drow and humans or orcs and humans, it's not uncommon for the parents to seek the blessings of gods with more shadowy domains. Lolth, Goddess of Spiders and the Underdark, might bless a drow-human child with gifts of stealth and guile, while Gruumsh, God of Destruction, could bestow upon an orc-human hybrid the strength and tactical mind to dominate their enemies.
Though these unions can happen naturally, the gods' influence is often sought to ensure that the offspring not only survives but thrives in Star Remals, reflecting the parents' hopes, prayers, and sacrifices.
Curiously, while humans have a remarkable ability to form bonds and hybrid offspring with a vast range of races—minotaurs, tieflings, dryads, fiends, and many others—elves and orcs remain the exception. Their ancient bloodlines rarely mix, and this is not just due to biology. The enmity between these two races runs deep, rooted in the long-standing war between their chief gods. Even with divine blessings, a hybrid between elves and orcs is deemed impossible, as their very essence seems to repel the other. The strife between their gods has set them eternally at odds, making their bloodlines immutably distinct from one another.
Of course, this all occurs passively, with hybrids being born without direct divine intervention, as it is a law woven into the very fabric of reality by the gods, the OverGod, and the realm itself. The nature of reproduction between species was established long ago, becoming part of the world's intrinsic order. These divine rules allow for the creation of hybrid offspring without the constant hand of the gods, maintaining the balance of power, fate, and lineage across the planes. While the gods may bless, witness, or ignore these unions, the process itself unfolds according to the ancient, binding laws of existence. It's just that God's blessings make it easier for the child and mother.
However, it is an unfortunate truth that many monstrous races often force themselves upon others, with rape being the most common cause of hybrid births. It is exceedingly rare to witness two beings of different species come together out of mutual love and respect. More often than not, these unions are born from violence and coercion, a brutal reflection of the grim realities that plague the realms. Genuine love between different races, though possible, is a rarity—overshadowed by the dark and violent circumstances that typically give rise to hybrid offspring.
This process is not only tragic but often cruel. Human women, in particular, frequently face horrendous consequences when forced to bear the children of monstrous races. For instance, most who give birth to centaur children often bleed to death during childbirth, unable to survive the violent strain it places on their bodies.
Yet, for the centaurs themselves, cruelty is not a concept to consider when dealing with enemies. In their eyes, it's simply the law of the land—the winner takes all. Mercy and fairness are luxuries in a world where survival and conquest dictate one's fate. The tragic fate of the small town of Victor is a stark reflection of life near the dark forests in the northern wilderness plains.
Villages and towns are frequently leveled by the relentless charge of centaur knights. Their treasures are looted, the men slain, and those who surrender are taken as captives. The centaur raids are swift, brutal, and efficient.
The tragic situation in the small town of Victor is also a true reflection of the villages and small towns near the dark forests in the northern part of the wilderness plain.
Villages and small towns were leveled by the centaur knights, their treasures were looted, and those who surrendered were captured.
Of course, there are also some human towns that resist tenaciously. After all, the human side is not without experts.
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