A Bit About The People Of Noram

1. There are about three thousand nobles that have any sort of title, so that number spread over 35 counties, makes for... 85.71 nobles per County. While sitting noble (Baron's, count's and Duke's as well as their female counterparts.) make up about eleven potions per county, with some having more and some less, each had titled relatives. For instance one of the Gala's relates that he's a Baron Twenty-seven or some such, at on point. That indicates a pretty big extended family, but most in Noram don't go that big at all.

The real total of "bloodline nobles", those bit tall, genetically modified ones, make up between 20,000 and 50,000 more or less.

The genetic modifications keep the line pretty clear, but genetic and epi-genetic errors have crept in over time. The common line is actually nearly pure, and doesn't have many genetic illnesses at all.

So, strictly speaking, there is a lot less of a problem for the inbred (and they are that!) nobles of Noram to worry about marrying a cousin than say, you or I. There simply aren't as many things that can go wrong.

It's in there, though spread out through several books, as part of the world.

2. They have some large predators, but fewer types than we have now. Bears, and large cats mainly. They don't often bother people, since it isn't needed. There's some random mentioning of those things. The most dangerous animals to humans are wild boar and deer. (Deer kill more people each year in the U.S. than any other animal. Just a fun fact.)

They work cooperatively on the local level to deal with such things.

3. Bandits. You know, you must have missed it, but Builder Guides family is made up of bandits... That a few characters that don't travel the normal routes and who all have good shields aren't bothered by them much... Well, that isn't a problem with the world at all, just what you imagine isn't there. Wrongly, in this case. They have loads of people, even commoners, that will steal.

4. Which leads us to armies and the commoners in them. They're there. What we've seen, in the main, are elite forces. In Tiera's second book the conscripts aren't being taken from the halls of the nobles. Like all such forces they tend to take their officers from the highest social ranks.

5. Merchants are basically the unmodified remnant population, making up about 20% of the whole thing. They tend to fill a lot of the elite military ranks. Most Counties, including their barons, have about 1-2 percent of their population under arms.

In modern combat positions, commoners tend to be used as cannon fodders, since they don't fight well against nobles, tending to freeze. What about that makes you think that the nobles wouldn't' use them that way? They don't see them as important at all, unless they have a lot of "other" blood in their ancestry.

6. The early transportation did suck! But it's a double edged sword, as I think the future will show.

Right now it's still really pretty slow, world wide. Only an elite few have the best transportation methods at their disposal.

Still, large empires used to work, with horses and wagons. It just took longer. Without a major outside threat, there is little chance of really losing things. So the fate of Rome or the Mongol Empire aren't valid examples.

Oh, I just notice that last bit: Austra and the old wars. The magics of Noram, even pre-Tor, were enough to beat the military weapons of Austra on the battle field, and Noram's navy didn't have a lot of ships at the best of times. When attacked by air, Noram simply lost. The only time they could win was when Austra tried to actually come in to fight. The long transport times is why the King's army is decentralized. The can also call on all local forces which means a lot of marching, but that works too, it's just slower. Think Revolutionary war, for examples there.

Plus, Austra was working with restrictions as to how many weapons they could have and what kind, as enforced by Brown. In other words, the playing field was a lot more even than what you might be thinking. Managed aggressions, meant to keep people distracted and busy.