People of Protaea

Utopian Citizens - mostly harpies - are largely a working class of anthrosaurs empowered to elect Judges who rule over the areas they live in. Many are specialized, skilled workers like craftsmen, judges, warriors, and merchants, but most are farmers with a variety of seasonal jobs and responsibilities such as planting, harvest and the defense and maintenance of their villages and cities.

Utopia enforces its laws through a system of Judges, each judge ruling over a geographical area which might be divided into smaller areas with their own lower judges. Judges can also appoint Deputies to act in their name. Judges are elected by the people that live in an area, so they are usually harpies unless another race is much more common in that area.

Bounty Hunters do dangerous work such as finding missing persons - even those that don't want to be found - in exchange for reward money. This reward money is usually kept by a judge for security.

There are a few families of Aristocrats remaining from the time when the lands of Utopia were divided into three great kingdoms. Although stripped of political privilege, they sometimes retain great wealth or traditions that lead them to seek after power and status

There are several orders of Monks including the Ancient Order of the Gatekeepers and the Wardens - a monastic order of judges. The various orders usually have no racial requirements (although they are frequently segregated by sex), but they usually live by certain strict rules. Members of each order are usually easy to identify by the costume of their order (or their rank within that order)

Living in sheltered communities, devoted to non-materialistic persuits, monks sometimes neglect their physical needs such as work and excercise, often making them vulnerable to attack. If the monastery is very isolated, the monks may have special defense training, or even recruit warriors into their order. Some monasteries and orders have their own fighting systems which are highly developed and in tune with the regulations and philosophy of their order. The Wardens for instance, posess a fighting system based on non-lethal weapons and unarmed techniques.

Most monks are drawn from the ranks of other societies and retain the early childhood training from that background. They may remain monks for the rest of their lives, or return to ordinary living after a time. Promising children are often sent to monasteries for monastic education that expands their future opportunities.

Far from the centers of Utopian civilization in a region called the Badlands, many anthrosaurs are village farmers, lords of small dominions, migratory nomads, or even primitive hunters and gatherers.

Vegetarian Unicorns are migratory nomads who engage in simple gathering and slash and burn agriculture. They travel in bands of a dozen or more that generally stick to forested areas, relying on the trees rather than artificial shelter to protect them from the environment.

Some Harpies live in the badlands, making a living usually by agriculture when defensible territory can be found. Harpy villages in the Badlands are sometimes ruled by a strong warrior family.

Gryphons are skillful hunters found in every Badland environment. They are sometimes employed by traders and merchants as guides and bodygaurds. Gryphons are also sometimes found herding small flocks of domesticated animals.

A renegade unit of Manticores from Monopolis have settled near the Utopian Frontier. They have had little contact with local cultures so their technology and social structure remain quite alien. Their hive-like agrarian communities center around a hierarchy of competitive males. Unarmed combat is apparently their only defensive and most valued skill.

Minotaurs are among the largest and most ferocious badlanders. Their physical power makes them naturally effective as bullies, scavenging from other anthrosaurs and attacking livestock in addition to hunting wild game. Even socialized and cooperative Minotaurs are quite solitary. Minotaurs are almost never found in groups larger than small families.

A few small bands of Elves are all that remain of a once great, technologically advanced civilization. Although they are ferocious predators they are sometimes allies and protectors of other anthrosaur communities, even developing a reputation as meddlers.

These Elves dress in loose robes and oversized cloaks. They occasionally wear concealed armor and carry long range weapons. Most elves live by hunting, often with the assistance of domesticated hunting animals.

Clans of Traders exchange goods from Utopia, the Badlands, and other far away places. They often build their own colonies on the Islands of the Panthalassic Sea where they are protected by miles of water. Large Trader clans employ anthrosaurs of many races where their abilities are most needed.

Rocs were once primarily hunters, but now they apply their flying ability to the global trade business. Although they can travel by wing where other traders can't go, they depend on land and water travel to move large shipments in cooperation with the other trader races.

Harpies both within and beyond the Utopian Empire are important to trade by land and sea. They are especially valuable for their skill with the animals used to carry cargo over dry land to destinations far away from water routes.

Draconian boatmen control river trade in the warm tropical lattitudes. Their riverboat designs are the model for trader ships around the world, but the Draconians themselves stick to places where heat and water are available throughout the year.

Protaea ~ Protaean People ~ Protaean Things