Red Rising

In order to colonize other worlds, humanity naturally required an immense force of dedicated labor. By genetic and surgical manipulation, mankind was gradually differentiated into the various Colors of The Society. Initially, Gold was merely a rank, indicated by the wearing of a gold uniform. Over time, however, undesirable traits were bred-out of the ruling class and their physical and mental abilities were escalated to what a 21st-century Man would have considered super-human. Once The Society had established itself on the first colonies, the Golds decided that Earth was no longer a necessary governing body, but rather a meddlesome parent, and so there was war. Earth lost and was subjugated by The Society, which took its place as the guiding star of humanity’s destiny.

The universe has been colonized in its entirety, but Mars is the central location. Hyperion is the main martian city and capital. The capital of the universe and the society is on Luna (earths moon).

The Color system of the Society originally was a caste system created by early humans on Earth to create order when first colonizing the Moon. It is also a form of social hierarchy improved upon by the early Golds during their conquering of the Solar System. It divides Humanity into fourteen distinct "Colors." Originally the "Colors" were native Earth human beings who simply wore colored clothes that denoted their position. After conquering Earth the founding Golds of "The Society" used genetic engineering to cause members of each Color to have hair and eyes to match their caste. Beyond the coloring, the genetic structure of their bodies was modified to allow them to be more adept at performing their denoted tasks. Examples are Red's (miners) being smaller and squat, Obsidian's (fighters) being large and with 8, 5 or 4 fingers per hand, and Gold's (conquerors and explorers) having bone 5 times stronger than an average man. Every person's vocation is dictated entirely by their Color. As part of the genetic engineering of the hierarchy, lowColors have significantly shorter pregnancies than pre-Color humans. Labor is induced for lowColors after a maximum of five months of gestation through the use of catalysts, sedatives, or nucleics. Only Golds and Obsidians experience full nine-month pregnancies with natural births. In addition to the genetic engineering that gives individuals the pigment to match their castes, a certain amount of social engineering exists in an attempt to prevent the desire for social mobility. Obsidians (for example) believe Golds to be literal gods, helping to ensure their loyalty to their masters. While Reds are socially engineered to be heterosexual, family oriented, and marry and breed by age 14-16 in order to maintain and increase their labor population. While the genetic engineering is fairly perfect, the social engineering is proven time and again to be woefully inadequate. Throughout the novels, there are very few examples of specific low-color individuals who remain loyal to Gold, given a reasonable opportunity to rise against them. Even a surprising number of Golds seem to very-easily abandon the system that has allowed them to live as gods. Colored Society pyramid From left to right, top to bottom, the colors are: HighColors Golds: Rulers of the society Silvers: Financiers and businessmen Whites: Clergy and judges Coppers: Administrators, lawyers and bureaucrats MidColors Blues: Bridge crew of starships and pilots Yellows: Doctors and researchers Greens: Programmers and technicians Violets: Artisans and other creatives Oranges: Mechanics and engineers Grays: Regular soldiers and police LowColors Browns: Servants, cooks, janitors Obsidians: Elite soldiers and bodyguards Pinks: Pleasure slaves and social functionaries Reds: Manual laborers and miners Additionally, most (if not all) colors have some sort of elite class within it. So far only some of these classes have been revealed (as per Iron Gold). These classes are: Peerless Scarred (Gold): The apex Golds who have completed The Institute above the Graduates and the Shamed. They are held in the highest esteem among Golds. Notable Peerless Scarred can be found here. Justices (White): The monastic Whites who, after spending their life training in a monastery, have become the spirit of justice. They oversee many of the Gold ritual functions. Carvers (Violet): Violets who are capable of altering and creating life via surgery and genetic engineering. Trained in the Grove, they are given hallucinogenic medication, and then told to carve the things they saw. Notable Carvers include Mickey, the man who carved Darrow o'Lykos into a Gold. Master Makers (Orange): Highly intelligent Oranges who specialize in multiple different fields of engineering. Notable Master Makers include Glirastes, the man who helped Darrow use the Storm Gods. Lurchers (Gray): These are the elite special forces comprised of highly trained Grays. Stained (Obsidian): Obsidians who have passed a "Trial of the Stained" and are used as elite body guards and special forces by Golds. Physical specimens, they are bred and trained in the art of killing. Notable Stained include Ragnar Volarus and Volsung Fá. Roses of the Garden (Pink): The rarest and most valuable Pinks, extensively trained in the art of the human body and mind during their tenure in the Garden. Highly expensive and valuable. Notable Roses include Matteo, Theodora, and the Duke of Hands. highReds (Red): Reds who do not work underground in the mines like the lowReds, but hold the low level positions above ground. They fill positions such as street cleaners, farmers, and janitors. Naming Conventions The way that individuals are named, particularly last names, vary heavily depending on color. Last names have a color identifier, a two letter prefix identifying the color of the individual. They are as follows: HighColors Golds: Au [ex. Cassius au Bellona] Silvers: Ag [ex. Regulus ag Sun] Whites: N/A (unknown) Coppers: Cu [ex. Timony cu Podginus] MidColors Blues: Xe [ex. Colloway xe Char] Yellows: N/A (unknown) Greens: Si [ex. Agala si Ken] Violets: N/A (unknown) Oranges: N/A (unknown) Grays: Ti [ex. Trigg ti Nakamura] LowColors Browns: N/A (unknown) Obsidians: N/A (not used) Pinks: N/A (unknown) Reds: Of/O’ (colony name) [ex. Dancer O’Faran] It is worth mentioning the color identifiers correspond with elements of the periodic table (Au for gold, ag for silver, so on and so forth)

Eo of Lykos has just been hanged in her martian mine for singing the forbidden song of her people. This has created mounting tensions between colors and recent terrorist attacks from the sons of aries have stirred discontentment among the low colors. Some low colors have begun to question whether or not they are getting what they deserve in the world.

Magic is less prevenelent in this world and instead genetic modifications are done by people called "carvers". Carvers can surgically manipulate people to have specific and certain traits and can even carve people to become different colors.