The Goladroe, as the predominantly orc and ogre people of Okken, Bao-Mou, and generally the Northern Ocean called themselves, which the Oshmondian mainstream simply lumped into generic savages, was a social structure tied to a cultural set.

Initially, only the orcish clans of Okken and the Drubark territories called themselves Goladroe (Drubark probably was the first place where the consolidation of elite ownership of the lands led to the emergence of the Goladroe social model, which went hand in hand with the cultural identity). Their cultural set spread to the ogre territories around 500 b. OW, as those peoples settled as farmers and "modernized" to the Goladroe standard.

Goladroe culture receded massively under Boen rule, and fully disappeared when the few remaining people using this social structure were subsumed into larger states by 90 OW.

Social Order

Goladroe society was very hierarchically stratified. There were three major strates: the great landowners and warlords at the top (the warrior aristocracy), free farmers in the middle, and slaves at the bottom. There were great divisions between the free and the unfree, the rich and the poor, and to some degree between men and women.

At the top were the elite, individuals with a lot of individual property and thus power; this included of course the tribal chiefs, but also their close companions (their warrior household, in essence). Each such elite usually had a household of several dozen, including junior warriors called dumtargs serving them, indentured free servants, and thralls. The elites were networked among themselves, supporting one another, especially within tribal and also within clan borders. Lesser magnates (usually there was one overseeing one or several small rural communities) were subject to a formal tribal chief, though often the vertical distinction here was low and mostly for the sake of tradition rather than an actual power distinction; and tribes were sometimes clustered beneath a clan, essentially beneath a powerful warlord who had a retinue of a hundred or more dumtargs, and lots of land to his name.

The religious caste, and that of military orders, was somewhat apart (though still clearly among the elite). The shamanistic clergy was present as an essential part of Goladroe society: though the presence of centralized institutions varied, ultimately most magnates and certainly all chiefs needed a shaman in their household, or at least settled in one of their subject villages. The shamans fulfilled essential religious roles and also provided most of the magic power of the warrior elite. Military orders, and other separate institutions, evolved mostly locally and later.

The broad class of free non-elites represented 25 - 40% of the total population (versus 5 - 15% for the elites including their personal households). These were free orcs who almost always had at least a small plot of land and a farm to their name. They were always subject to a higher magnate because magnates took the rulership by force and commoners needed their protection, but their obligations were typically only to provide military service as targs when called upon. They sometimes depended on their lord economically as well, if they used his land in return for part of the yielded crop, or needed to borrow his animals, slaves, or equipment.

Goladroe was a big slaver society; they were an essential part of the economy, and the largest part of trade. Even poor farmer households had 2-3 thralls, while 8 thralls was the minimum for a respectable magnate, up to several dozen field workers for the particularly wealthy.

Gender Roles

Monogamous, religiously confirmed marriage was the norm in Goladroe. These marriages were somewhat less restrictive than usual, allowing for separate life, and even sexual relationships and children outside the primary marriage.

Among the elite, actual leadership was mostly restricted to men; especially in Drubark, chiefs and warlords were overwhelmingly male. Being a lord was in essence a military function, in which men dominated. However, there were some women in the lesser magnate ranks; notably when a man died, his wife could fill in his role until her own death.

Similarly, though men were usually heads of households among farmers, widows took over possession of their husbands' property.

The idea of warrior women, or shieldsmaidens, was not wholly unheard of among Goladroe peoples.

Women were even dominant in the clerical field, where men typically could not reach much higher than acolyte or shaman's consort.