 Amongst themselves, the characters refer to the "three that rule the world", the aristocracy, the church, and wizardry.Though the aristocracy do the actual ruling, organized wizardry generally considers itself to be the superior of the three, in part because they put an end to the "Black Wars," wars between kingdoms so violent and bloody that individual wizards were forced to band together to stop them.Churchmen considers themselves superior to wizards, and they are traditional rivals in this semi-medieval world.