Unveiled: An account of Eulian influence on Rullastin Culture Regarding the Sgaarqati Gender in the Age of Regress (65 to 1400 c.)

It is not widely recognized that Sgaarqati could play a significant roll economically or culturally in the Rullastin culture even if only as the exceptional individual especially in age of regression. Of course, the evidence for the period of 65 to 1400 c. is sparse and inconclusive, but what has survived can serve to disprove the notion of masculine superiority present in todays high society.

Eulian influence within Rullastin culture brought about a new cast of people originally thought of as a women, the Sgaarqati. While in lower levels of society these infertile men and women were often kept as slaves or servants, in high society these so called Sgaarqati were given a major political role to play. They threatened neither the master’s authority nor the mistress’ purity and quickly became considered a third gender within Rullastin culture, favored especially within the upper classes, mirroring the way they were perceived in Eulian high society.

First, a glance at their prominence. It began with Serika, steward of Nimisma I, founder of the capital city of Rullastin the city which originally bore his name in the first century. While during her lifetime, Serika would not have been assigned the Sgaarqati name, we can retroactively apply it in this case. In the first century Serika of Fasin would travel from the burgeoning isthmus city of Rullastin to Kiilukaaqum where she would beseech aid from emperor Eulia IX, promising riches in return for military aid against the encroaching Kinei threat from the west. It was only because of her perceived lowly status by the Kinei navy that she was able to travel beyond the blockade and rouse such support which ultimately led to their downfall.

Although the second and third centuries were shaken by economic decline and insecurity, the ideals of capital life and high society remained. Sgaarqati stewards played a pivotal roll in the resolution of these economic troughs. When Sviga of Euanym was about 8 years old she was given the title of Ravim. This was highly unusual, firstly for a Sgaarqati to be born to the imperial family and survive in the first place, but to be elevated to the level of holding a traditionally masculine title was entirely unheard of. As emperor Sviga grew up with the highest authority afforded to anyone within the Rullastin empire. She lived in her own palace in Kallastin where she would conspire against her younger brother Kalladim II with her steward Qasumi. Kalladim II was the favored lord of the west and was set to overtake Sviga’s position as emperor before the year was out. When their schemes were found out, Qasumi was to be slain and Sviga was to be exiled to Eula where she would be forced to wed a wealthy senator from the nearby province of Willum. Qasumi survived her planned execution and was deemed to have been “saved by God” and thus was allowed to go free, whereby she returned to Sviga’s service. Sviga was able to get out of her forced marriage by sending a letter by way of her trusted steward Qasumi to Kinei who promised her own hand in marriage to the then king of Kinei, Kanariya IV, who agreed readily. A marriage between the still emperor of Rullastin and king of Kinei would have brought an end to the two hundred years of warring between the nation, effectively making Rullastin a vassal beneath Kinei.

The Kinei threat from the west advanced against Rullastin twice, once in 231 and again in 232. On both occasions it was held off. Qasumi’s role in this is often minimized in the written history, being recorded as only the deliverer of the marriage plea in many sources, but

After the resolution of the Kinei threat against the east, no historian bothered to recount Sviga or Qasumi’s fates. This is true of many non-male emperors and empresses who left little impact on written sources.

Sgaarqati had few opportunities, especially if they aspired to a position of status. Clearly at risk within this society and ignored by historians, only among those without stake in pretensions and decorum could the strict segregation of the three sexes be ignored.