Mention the world [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feudalism]Feudalism[/url] and the first things to come to mind are the images of European knights in armor, Kings, and, in some cases, Monty Python's [i]Quest for the Holy Grail[/i]. It is important to understand that in the setting of Arthur's Legacy, the player characters are part of a feudal system. To understand the place of the player characters within the context of the game's feudal system, we need to first reacquaint ourselves with what precisely feudalism is.

Feudalism is a socio-economic system where in wealth is based upon land ownership, property rights, real goods, and money. Unlike the socio-economic system of capitalism, which is what the economic system of the United States is most like, there is more then one way to count wealth. Unlike capitalism, however, the feudal society does not allow for ease of motion between the socio-economic classes. Wealth in the feudal society is concentrated most at the upper levels, being a direct cognate to power.

The system is comprised of three general socio-economic classes: Nobles, vassals, and serfs. Nobles are at the top of the system and hold primary land ownership, property rights, and the greatest amount of money. Real goods are included with the property rights, as what is on the property is viewed as part of the Noble's possessions. Nobles hold the ultimate authority over what occurs with respect to their property and the people who are beneath them.

The system of vassalage allows for more efficient use of the property. Vassals are subsidiaries of the Nobles, given rights and privileges (including land ownership, property rights, and money) in return for military service to the Nobles, tithes (payment of a tribute), and compliance with the orders of the Noble with respect to matters regarding the property held in trust. Vassals can have subordinate vassals of their own, distributing wealth and privileges accordingly in return for similar payment.

Serfs are the poorest of the three classes. In classical feudalism, a serf was frequently viewed as chattel and entirely dependent upon those above them for protection, a place to live and a means by which to support themselves. In return, the serf was to give payment of a portion of their product, prove obedient to those above them, and provide manual labor as needed. Often, in classical feudalism, a serf was allowed to 'rent' their home in return for payment from what they produced. The 'rent' was frequently so high that they were unable to pay it off within their life time and the debt is passed down to the descendants, as well as the descendants acquiring their own debt in their 'rent' of their home. In this fashion, a serf served as a bond servant and were frequently viewed as property by those above them.

By extraordinary measures or particularly good fortune, one could purchase their way out of the status of serfdom and either become a 'free man' or part of the lower orders of vassalage. It was more common to find one who was a serf purchasing their freedom, as vassalage was more frequently held out as a right to be taken up by those who were born of the upper echelons of society. With the passage of time, more serfs bought their way into 'free man' status and thus gave rise to the 'middle class'.

In the context of the Arthur's Legacy, the player character is part of the lower orders of vassalage. They are obligated to the Nobility to serve in a military fashion and to comply with their orders. Some may choose to pay tribute to those above them, but this is currently not the norm. The non-knights (support staff at the Embassy & people outside the Embassy) are of the Serf class.

This, however, is additionally confused by the social classes present within society outside of the Avalonian context. In part two, we'll take a brief look at how these two social systems interact. I also will be giving a more detailed description of how the social classes within a feudal society interact.