Dunefolk questions

[Helmet]

I'm working on a campaign and have some questions about the Dunefolk.

The unit type of a typical leader of a city-state is a Level 4 Paragon. Right?

What is the actual "job title" of the ultimate leader of a city-state?

The Paragon description says that a Paragon is a "candidate" to lead a city-state, and that they belong to the "ruling caste." What is the ruling caste called? How much does it actually rule?

There are no Level 1 through Level 3 Paragons. What unit type is a Paragon the day before he becomes a Paragon?

There are supposed to be 8 Kalai for each city-state, right? If 1 of the 8 is the leader, what are the other 7 doing?

When a Paragon dies (or is assassinated!), who takes over? One of the other 7 Kalai? A Dune Warmaster? A Dune Luminary? Would it be too weird if a Naga Sicarius took over?

Dunefolk have no 0-level units. Are regular peasants supposed to be used for commoners?

In general, Dunefolk think magic is unnatural and they don't like it. Would any Dunefolk Leader make an unpleasant but mutually beneficial alliance with the Undead, if such an alliance helped them reduce the influence of magic in their territory?

Thanks!

[Lord-Knightmare]

The unit type of a typical leader of a city-state is a Level 4 Paragon. Right?

Upto you, I guess. I mean it can be any of Paragon, Blademaster, Warmaster, Spearmaster, Luminary, etc.

There are no Level 1 through Level 3 Paragons. What unit type is a Paragon the day before he becomes a Paragon?

There's a macro that enables Dune Blademaster to advance into Dune Paragon.

Dunefolk have no 0-level units. Are regular peasants supposed to be used for commoners?

There's a Dune Peasant in ANL Era. Try using that.

In general, Dunefolk think magic is unnatural and they don't like it. Would any Dunefolk Leader make an unpleasant but mutually beneficial alliance with the Undead, if such an alliance helped them reduce the influence of magic in their territory?

Up to you, I guess.

[Celtic_Minstrel]

What is the actual "job title" of the ultimate leader of a city-state?

The Paragon description says that a Paragon is a "candidate" to lead a city-state, and that they belong to the "ruling caste." What is the ruling caste called? How much does it actually rule?

From memory and your later question, wasn't that "Kalai"? I could be misremembering, but I thought the ruling structure of the dunefolk had been worked out to be a federation of city-states, so each city is led by a Kalai, and these Kalai form a council from which one is selected as a temporary leader.

There are no Level 1 through Level 3 Paragons. What unit type is a Paragon the day before he becomes a Paragon?

I imagine they could be almost anything, though given the optional advancement, I suppose "blademaster" is the most obvious choice.

There are supposed to be 8 Kalai for each city-state, right? If 1 of the 8 is the leader, what are the other 7 doing?

I really might be misremembering the structure. But if there are 8 Kalai per city, I would assume they each take on a different important role. For example, one might be in charge of the treasury, another in charge of the city guard, etc.

When a Paragon dies (or is assassinated!), who takes over? One of the other 7 Kalai? A Dune Warmaster? A Dune Luminary? Would it be too weird if a Naga Sicarius took over?

I assume anyone who qualifies can take over.

Dunefolk have no 0-level units. Are regular peasants supposed to be used for commoners?

The regular peasant doesn't really fit into the dunefolk society, so I wouldn't recommend it. Plus, it advances to non-dunefolk. The ruffian is a slightly less bad fit, but also has the issue of advancing to non-dunefolk. I'd suggest making or finding a dedicated level 0 dunefolk unit.

In general, Dunefolk think magic is unnatural and they don't like it. Would any Dunefolk Leader make an unpleasant but mutually beneficial alliance with the Undead, if such an alliance helped them reduce the influence of magic in their territory?

Hmm… well, ultimately it's up to you, but given their distaste for magic, I think it would take a lot to convince them to form such an alliance… and they'd likely as not stab the necromancer in the back if they were no longer useful. But like all things, it really depends on all the little details of the situation.

That said, I think you may be misunderstanding one little thing… necromancers use magic too. Making an agreement with a mage to reduce the influence of magic in one's territory is clearly a fool's errand, at least on the surface. You're bringing in one magic in order to get rid of another magic.

Then again, I'll admit that it's possible that "undead" can exist without a necromancer – like a wandering ghost or death knight. I'm not really sure if the dunefolk aversion to magic would extend to such things. I think it's quite reasonable to think that they'd ascribe it to magical falloff or some such phenomenon, so even without a necromancer, the ghost or death knight still counts as a product of magic. On the other hand, if there's proof of no necromancer involvement, maybe some subset of dunefolk would be willing to deal with them.

Don't take any of this as authoritative. Ultimately, if the story you want to write requires a deal between dunefolk and undead, then go ahead and write that. There are any number of ways to dodge the dunefolk abhorrence of magic, like making it a secret deal.