The Golconda society appears complex to outsiders, a concept which is most strange to Golcondan's. Government is based on a clan structure. There are five clans, namely the Arans, Narms, Sarms, Erans and Ilans. Within each clan, people can be employed within a guild. Employment is not restricted by gender. Guild membership tends to be hereditary, especially where privileged skills are involved, though notable figures throughout history have exhibited a strong correlation with guild shifting. Whilst no guild claims dominance, the Gemformers are probably among the most highly regarded. Within each guild there are different schools. These seek to expand the range of skills that can be practiced within a guild. Occasionally, new skills have been developed which have led to guild wars, and the formation of new schools, where a guild war could not be satisfactorily resolved. Tradition has restricted the formation of new guilds, a subject which is at the forefront of discussion at the Executive level of Government.
Underlying these formal structures is the `family' unit. A family unit comprises everyone that a citizen interacts with on a regular basis. As such they tend to be geographical rather than simply familial. To a child, a teacher or doctor is an uncle or aunt; a peer, is a brother or sister; and to a senior, a subordinate is a son or daughter. During the formative early years, training is eclectic. After ten planetary cycles (about 14 Terran Years) a decision must be made by the `family' on what school and guild a child should enter. This takes the form of a weighted ballot, where each `family ` member receives one voting credit based on cycles since indentureship.(CSI). Thus a first year apprentice would have one CSI vote, whilst a master of forty cycles would have thirty CSI votes. The child has no input on the basis that children tend not to know what is best for themselves. (Note: they have zero CSIs).
First loyalty is to the clan, then to the guild, then to the school and finally to the family.
