He waited quietly for her to get up before leading her towards the east side of their temporary HQ, where the river was. "You sound like you need a drink." Petrichor sat beside the river, watching her for a moment. "What do you already know about the Regime?" He asked, then leaned down for a drink himself. Whatever she did or didn't know would give him a good starting point to correct and inform, and save him from having to repeat information she already knew.

"Well to begin with, the Commander would be equivalent to a clan's leader, and Chaman to a Clan's medicine cat. Those who would be deputies are the Mercenary and Scout Superiors, and the medicine cat's apprentice would be the Guider Superior. Origin Superior oversees the Raisers of the group, and one of their main jobs is to bring new blood to the Regime." Petrichor explained. "Commanders know how to do every job in the Regime, from birthing to healing, and bear the responsibility for whether the Regime is doing well or not. Chamans are more like your traditional medicine cat, but they have two lives, and can see and speak with the dead."

Petrichor peered at Northern curiously. Once upon a time he'd been confused as well, though unlike her he hadn't another entire clan's system to balance. "Okay, lets start from the bottom and go up, shall we?" He suggested.

"Tykes are the kit equivalent of the Regime, the rank that all cats are born into in the Regime. Officially, the Regime has no ruling class, unlike WinterClan's royalty system. The Regime as far as I'm aware USED to value purebloods and completely disallow the joining of outsiders, but that's a story for another time, and not something that's generally a consideration in the Regime. All cats in the Regime do, however, carry a last name so that one can identify them and their family, including kits. My last name is Starkfield, for example, my mother and siblings all carry that last name.

When a tyke is six moons, they become a Cadet. Cadets are an apprentice equivalent, can be sorted into one of three ranks. Scout, Mercenary, or Guider.

Scouts are the default, they are the hunters of the Regime, their entire purpose is to bring in food. They are generally the most revered rank, as they keep the Regime from the brink of starvation.
Mercenaries are drafted specifically for their rank, and there is a limited number of them. They are the Regime's fighting force, protecting and fighting in wars as necessary.
As for Guiders, a feline can only become that rank if they're disabled, or fail out of Scout training, and Mercenary training if they're selected for it. To take an example, some tykes CHOOSE to become Guider Cadets if they have bad lungs, or are blind in an eye. They can attempt to be a Scout or attempt Mercenary training if chosen, but if they're incapable, they'll be demoted to Guider.
Guiders are the healers of the Regime.

Typically Cadets are then promoted to be a full member of the rank they were sorted into around the twelve moons of most clan warriors.

Each of these ranks then has a Superior of the same name. Scouts have a Scout Superior, Mercenaries a Mercenary Superior, and Guiders a Guider Superior. Each Superior rules over their respective rank, and is responsible for ensuring that their Cadets are trained, assigning patrols, and making sure the cats keep up their skills and word efficiently.

Superiors are chosen from the best amongst their ranks to advance to these 'Superior' positions. It is rare, but a cat can go from one rank to being a Superior in another rank they weren't initially in or even Commander or Chaman, but this is extremely unusual. Generally Superiors are chosen from among their own.

Mercenary and Scout Superiors, from the time they are chosen, are both trained to be future Commanders, learning everything about the Regime so they can effectively lead it in the future. This is when they would be learning the other trades, such as healing and birthing. It IS a high bar to meet, but that ensures that Commanders are always ready for any situation in which they might be needed. Traditionally, the feline who held one of these two Superior positions longest will become Commander when said Commander dies or retires, but not always.

On the opposite end, the Guider Superior is trained to become Chaman, and will ALWAYS be the Chaman's successor. They are trained then in communicating with the group's ancestors, and receiving dreams from the Blind Protector, who is the main worshiped ancestor by this group. I will tell you more about him and the story of him and his sister Abana a different day. But to answer your question before, he is the one who gives the Chaman their two lives, and the Commander their seven lives.

As I said before, Superiors are chosen from among the best, we don't have a ruling family. However, once you spend more time here, you'll understand that if a cat is in a high position, they are most often going to be among the Eerie family, or a branch of it under a different name. Our Commander, Shule Eerie, and Origin Superior Sean Eerie, are mates, for example, and said Origin Superior is a former Commander himself. If you look through the Regime history, however, many Commanders and Chamans are part of this family. Seven of the past ten Commanders are either Eerie, or married into a branch of the family.

Now that we've covered the three main ranks, there is a fourth main rank, the Auxiliaries. This rank is for cats who are too old, disabled, or otherwise incapable of the other three ranks end up, and as such, there are no Cadets here, and once you become an Auxiliary, there's little hope you'll ever rise above it. These cats are given whatever odd jobs we have in the Regime. Currently, they have two separate jobs to choose from.

An Auxiliary can be a Blacksmith, in which they make traps or other things to be used by the Regime. OR, an Auxiliary can be a Raiser. Raisers care for the tykes when their mothers, who are called Origins, cannot or do not want to once the tykes are weaned. It is the Origin Superior, then who oversees the overall Raisers, tykes, and Origins to ensure tykes are healthy.

Origin Superiors can be chosen for their position from any rank in the Regime, and be of any gender, just as any cat in the Regime can become a parent, no matter their rank. How they bring in kits is vague, it seems to have been left up to interpretation. Trying to pair couples, having kits of their own, or trying to recruit those with kits are likely the preferred methods of bringing in new children." Of course, Petrichor wasn't denying stealing as an option, but he doubted Shule would appreciate the suggestion.

He looked at Northern for a long moment to see if she was processing this information. "Do you understand these so far? Any more questions?"