Karameikos - Vaults of Pandius

The Demography of Karameikosunder the control of powerful demi-humanclans: the central forests (from the RadlebbWoods, to the westernmost part of theDymrak Forest, to the half of the same east ofRugalov River) are the hold of the ancientelven Callarii and Vyalia clans; the hill countrybetween Windrush and Hillfollow Rivers,with its rich mineral deposits, is instead thehold of the gnome clans. Demi-human clansare at worst neutral toward the humangovernment of the Grand Duchy, but there isalso a large part of the country which iscontrolled by hostile humanoid tribes:goblins, orcs, hobgoblins, and their kin holdsway over much of the central Dymrak Forest,the south-western woods, the CruthLowlands, the central Black Peaks range, partof the Wufwolde Hills and the Altan Tepesrange. Beside the areas under humanoidcontrol, there are those which are the hold ofother dangerous creatures, like the frostgiants of the northern Altan Tepes range, thestone giants of the Wufwolde Hills, and thedragons – a number of these fierce beastshaunts some of the forests, hills andmountains of Karameikos, where even anumber of local draconic kingdoms are found.LAND OCCUPATION ANDSOCIAL CLASSESMost of the Karameikan human populationbelong to the commoner social class (98%).Among the commoners, however, variousdegrees of wealth are represented: from thewretched conditions of the lower classes(mostly peasants, but also unskilledagricultural and city labourers, and beggars),to the middle class (city craftsmen,comfortable landowning peasants, traders,professionals in some field – usually law andaccountancy, but also culture, military, andclergy), to the high middle class (wealthynon-noble landowners, and rich merchants,mostly). About 2% of the human populationbelong to the aristocracy: wealthylandowning families who have been grantedlarge tracts of lands and authority to ruleover them; human aristocracy is mostly ofThyatian ethnicity, even if some Traladaranfamilies had their titles somewhat confirmedby the new government of the Grand Duke(like the Marilenev, the Dromilov, and soon).Among demi-humans, social classes aremuch more blurred – demi-human societiesare characterized by a lesser level ofinequality and by a greater application ofsolidarity between family groups - and tendto keep only the distinction among rulingand non-ruling clans. Humanoids have noproper social classes: existing inequalitiesare based on the use of force – strongerhordes or clans prevail over the weakerones, and make decisions.The human population of Karameikos,contrary to the neighboring ThyatianEmpire, enjoys a quite high amount of smallland ownership, which is mostly spread inthe borderlands and in scarcely-populatedareas. More fertile and safer areas tend to bethe property of rich landowning families,whose wealth comes from land rented topeasant families, because Grand DukeStefan has abolished both the practices ofslavery and of serfdom; this has led to animprovement of peasant conditions,because they have more freedom to moveand thus more bargaining power against thelandowners.Foremost among the rich landowners arethe members of the aristocracy who havebeen granted a fief by the government.Many small- and average-sized fiefdoms are11THRESHOLD: The Mystara Magazine Issue #1