This is, to say the least, exaggerated. While it is true that some women of Saromatia are large and muscular, so are most of the men. And while certain stereotypes do hold that women are better at some things than men, these interfere only rarely with the ebb and flow of the lives of most of the peoples of this nation.

Peasants

Running the House and the Village
The mother is the person who makes sure all this work gets done. The oldest woman in the house runs it with the full authority of the Mother Face of the goddess behind her. Women, in Saromatia, are considered more sensible and less impulsive than men, since they are less likely to waste household resources on indulgences like drink and dicing. The mother controls the household resources and arranges for the various chores to be completed. If one of the children should get into trouble with the law, it will be the mother who goes to court to represent them. If she is married, she may serve as a pledge and character witness for her husband, but he is responsible for his own behavior.

The adult women of a village usually organize into traditional groups of ten to twenty called covens. Members of a coven are, before the eyes of the law, responsible for the actions of one another. If one member breaks a law, the rest of the coven must find her, apprehend her, and make sure she stands trial, or else they will be punished in her stead.

Years ago, when a man was considered in his mother's or his wife's keeping, she was responsible for any criminal actions he may have committed. Now, men are responsible for their own actions before the law. Women were reluctant to open the covens to them, so men have formed parallel groups known as frankpledges. In all respects, they act as a coven does.

These groups, obviously, work only for established people who maintain residence in one place. This is one reason travellers are regarded with some suspicion - they could be thieves, since they are accountable to no one in town for their actions! Should a traveller in town commit some crime, the first adult to notice will raise a "hue and cry," calling out loudly to rally the village. The criminal will then be pursued by any and all able-bodied members of the village's frankpledges and covens.

Landholding
All land, technically, is the Queen's - the Queen Aspect of Saromata, that is. The mortal Queen rules it at her pleasure. The Queen, for reasons of governance and protection of her people, in turn allows various ladies of rank to rule over their own demenses. And within these smaller fiefs, the countesses, baronesses, ladies and knights give land to the peasants in exchange for a share of their harvest, or for the peasants working the lady's own patch of crops so many days a week. So any change of possession of the land, in theory, ought to be approved, possibly all the way up the heriarchy.

No one has the time or inclination to do this. When a peasant woman passes away, her heirs present themselves to their lady with their mother's will. Unless the lady has a very good reason not to, she approves the landholding aspects of the will. (A woman's possessions are hers to dispose of as she sees fit, of course). Similarly, if a woman wants to buy or sell land, she asks her neighbor about it and they discuss terms. Once terms are agreed upon, they go before the lady, mostly to get the agreement set in writing. While in theory the lady could veto such arrangements, in practice she rarely will. She will, however, be happy to levy a tax on the money or goods that change hands in the proceedings.

Lands are often deeded to the eldest daughter, or to the daughter with the largest family. Laws exist to protect the rights of widowers, to make sure that other men's children do not leave them destitute in their old age.

Love and Marriage
Marriage is very much a social contract in Saromatia. The religious component is quite small; both parties must swear to "love, honor, and respect" each other. That's it. Marriage is not necessarily life-long, nor is sexual fidelity esteemed of any particular importance. The role of the married couple is to establish a safe, stable, and loving home for themselves and any children the wife may bear.

While there is a "standard contract," either side may request additional concessions - a specific duration before renewing vows, sexual fidelity (until the first child, forever, etc), provisions for ending the marriage, and so on.

In the vast majority of the peasantry, a woman chooses one man to be her husband and keeps him for life. Most of her children will also be his, although both husband and wife may enjoy the occassional extramarital romp. These encounters are expected to be brief and physical, more for mutual enjoyment than anything else. A woman's deepest emotional bond, consisting both of love and friendship, is expected to be with her husband.

Other classes in society conform less well to this ideal.

Religion
In many, many cases, the lady of the manor will also be a priestess of the Nine-Named Goddess, and can preside over births, weddings, deaths, and so on, if she so chooses. There is also often a priestess of the Corn Mother at the larger estates, or an order of wandering priestesses for an area with many smaller fiefs. In a pinch, villagers have been known to elect one of their number to serve as a 'Hearth Mother' or occassionally one of the Crones for a particular occassion, if no other priestess can be found. While the temples are not particularly fond of the practice, they do not deny the Divine Presence is in all people, and that such a substitute is better than nothing in a time of need.

Burghers

Law and Order
Law enforcement is quite different than in the country. Population density precludes the formation of covens. Instead, cities are often divided into wards, with physical walls and gates between them. While some landlords use these gates to exact tolls, they are mostly left open and free during the day. At night, they are closed and guarded, sectioning off the city or large town.

Each ward is required to have a guard, watch, or some other policing agency. These may be women hired by the ruling lady or members of the predominate trade guilds of the ward, serving as part of their civic duty. They patrol the dark streets with lanterns or torches after dark, on the lookout for any suspiscious behavior.

If a troublemaker is apprehended, what is done depends on the crime, the location and facilities available. In some places, a fine may be payable on the spot, to the guards. In others, the ward walls have gaol (jail) cells in them, ready to hold the offender. In still others (especially smaller towns), there may be no gaol and the offenders will have to be kept in the lady's tower, or a storage building, or some other sturdy place.

Larger cities and towns may have permanent representatives of Her Majestey's justice in residence. Otherwise, the offender will have to wait for the next judge (unless the matter is within the juristdiction of the local nobility or town council).

Governance
Many cities and towns are essentially small fiefs of landed ladies or powerful knights. A few, however, are ruled by councils formed from city notables. In these rare cases, the council is directly accountable to whomever signed its charter - usually the Queen or a Countess, but occassionally a powerful Baroness may charter a city or town.

The Average Townswoman
A poor-to-middling member of a city will live, in many ways, like a peasant. She will probably only want one husband, and they will split their responsibilities based on ability rather than gender. If she's a member of a craft guild, he will probably keep the home and tend any children, and perhaps sell small items that he makes out of the home. If he's a guildmember, things will be reversed. Unlike other areas, however, the craft guilds are just as (if not more) likely to accept female as male apprentices. Certain trades - for instance, blacksmithing and tanning - are traditionally male, but most are mixed.

The Wealthy
Differences start to show in the upper classes. These are sometimes ladies and knights who were granted urban rather than rural fiefs. Sometimes they are merchants who have simply done very well. They live in a style which often imitates the nobility - and some of them are nobility!

First, the wife is likely to enjoy far more power and status than her husband. (Remember, this is the general trend in Saromatia. In 20% of the cases, the reverse will be true). She is probably the Matrix of a guild, or a very successful merchant. Her husband may be her most able and trusted assistant, a trophy match of some sort, or a politically-motivated pairing. (The paperwork for the marriage agreement is likely to be very interesting in those cases.)

Towns see a lot of travellers pass through them, and both husband and wife are more likely to engage in affairs. The wife may even take regular lovers in imitation of some noblewomen, even though most priestesses think this contradicts their marriage vows.

Trophy or political husbands, left to their own devices with a generous allowance and little to do, often develop interesting, expensive hobbies. Some become great entertainers, holding salons for discussion. Some just drink and play cards. Without the weight of duty that presses on noblemen or the weight of work that presses on the commoner, they often become somewhat loose and dissolute.

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