Rothet

The Rothet (roʊ.θet) are the Danaij peasantry or common folk, but they are free people. They are extremely hybridized with human and Danaij'vai ancestry, sometimes even kuzo blood.

The Rothet are largely farmers and laborers, with ownership of little more than their home and/or a small plot of land which they farm. Rothet are commonly employed by Chau, or paid directly for their services by the higher castes. They are subject to the rule of the Vana castes, but they have some opportunities for social advancement. Rothet who show promise as warriors or elementalists can be accepted into the Shan or Shuri. Rothet can move up into the Chau either individually through marriage, or as a family through careful accumulation of wealth and land, and a prospering business--though this is extremely challenging, if not impossible, if there are Chau in their business niche. Regardless, upward mobility for the Rothet is highly dependent on circumstance, luck, and ambition. Vauth can be owned by the Rothet, though they rarely can afford more than one. It isn't uncommon for farming households to pursue ownership of Vauth for extra labor.

Marriages in the Rothet are typically within the caste, often for love, sometimes for an exchange or merging of family wealth. There is a distinction between rural and urban Rothet marriages. Most Rothet to live in multi-generational households, but this is more true of rural populations than urban populations. Rural marriages often involve a transfer of wealth or goods between families. As gender plays little role in Danaij society outside of who is siring and who is birthing children, this is not as much a dowry that is expected to accompany the marriage of a daughter into her husband's household. Rather, it is often determined by familial wealth, but there are negotiations that determine which child leaves which household to join the other, and what the departing family will gain to make up for the loss of that individual's labor value.

For example, if a wealthier farming household has a daughter of marriageable age and they come to an agreement with a family of less wealth for her to marry their son, the son will likely join his new wife's household, and her household will provide livestock, goods, or wealth to his in exchange for his absence.

In urban settings, especially amongst the poorer laborers, marriages are made by choice and trend toward a nuclear model of spouses and their children in a single household, both leaving behind the households of their parents. As these families have less resources to support a multi-generational household, it is easier to focus those resources on two adults and their children. Meanwhile, Rothet families that run small businesses in urban settings are nearing the level of Chau and thus able to maintain the multi-generational household.

Rothet can sometimes be victims of inter-house conflict as they are subservient to Vana lords. It is the Vana from whom Rothet and Chau purchase their own lands and pay taxes to, and whom the Vana are responsible for the welfare of. In house wars, the Rothet can be causalities of the conflict to inflict damage on the resources of their Vana overlords, whether they are killed by the opposing house or taken as Vauth. Chau generally avoid the same fate by negotiation to either make a new business arrangement with the invading Vana house or bribing them to be left out of the conflict, so that they will work with whoever wins.

Appearance and Traits

They have a wide variety of features due to their hybridization, and even humans can technically be a part of the Rothet. Danaij in the caste (those being born with a Shade soul) most commonly have red-black and green-black skin, but blue-black and violet-black skin can occur, along with the full spectrum of Danaij eye colors. Non-Danaij (those born without a Shade soul, regardless of heritage) can have a variety of skin colors from fair to brown, along with natural human hair colors or white/silver hair.

The average lifespan for the Rothet is hard to define, but can range between 250 and 500 years.