We strive to make the Nations and Empires game as realistic as possible. One unfortunate consequence of that is that we simply could not bring ourselves to portray a brutal, corrupt, decadent, oppressive Empire as being socially enlightened enough to treat women and men equally even though the Empire still has slavery, engages in unapologetic open discrimination on the basis of ethnic origin, suppresses all religions except one, and engages in an official policy of genocide against nations it does not consider sufficiently obedient. They may be evil, but they are a realistic evil empire. Note that the Roman Empire did all these things and so did many other ancient empires. We can't think of any ancient empires that had equal rights for women or even so much as abolished slavery.
If your character is female, you need not choose an occupation since virtually all women in the Zekresh Empire and the entire "known world" become wives and mothers as was true in most societies of this technology level on Earth. Of course, that doesn't mean you have to do this. You can try to do anything you want to, but you don't get to start off as a warrior/priestess mercenary since there is no such thing in the known world. You should probably indicate what occupation your character's family has such as farmers, herdsmen, etc. The situation of women in the Zekresh Empire and nearby areas is rather oppressed. Skilled trades such as blacksmithing, leatherworking, tailoring, etc. are generally controlled by guilds and closed to anyone except members. To become a member, you must become an apprentice of a guild member and girls and women are not accepted as apprentices. In some cases this is just tradition, in other cases, guild rules actually forbid it. The Zekresh Imperial Army and Navy accept male recruits only. Most tribes and nations that have their own warriors have only male warriors. There are a few exceptions, notably the Tavani, the Iluva Shasifi, the Eesleken and the Vipathans as we will now explain.
The Tavani Tribe, also known as the squirrel people, have large numbers of women warriors. Due to continuing efforts by other tribes and the Zekresh Imperial Army to wipe out the entire Tavani Tribe, every able bodied man and woman in the tribe has armed themselves and learned to fight. Most of those who are still alive are experienced warriors who have fought in at least one battle.
A similar situation existed centuries ago when the Ilsha (River People) attacked the Lastili (Fog People) and large numbers of the Lastili were driven from their homelands on the coast of the Eastern Sea and fled all the way to the coast of the Western Sea where some of them live today. As a result of this tragic episode, the tribes of the Lastili who fled came to be known as the Iluva Shasifi (Crying Moon People). During the war and their trek to the west, most of the refugees died. In a desperate bid for survival, they armed their women and children and came to accept the idea of female warriors. This notion might have died out except that the Iluva Shasifi continued to have to fight for survival, mostly against the Ferillyans, until they were annexed into the empire a few centuries ago. In the battles against the Zekresh Empire, female warriors fought alongside the men against the Imperial Army. Now, the idea of women warriors is mostly only in legends, but unlike most of the rest of the known world, the Iluva Shasifi know that women can fight and still honor women as well as men who fought in the wars of the past.
Another nation that lives near the Iluva Shasifi is the Vipathans. The Vipathans honor the idea of women warriors, but have virtually no actual women warriors. This is because their ancient religion includes reverence for their totem animal, the spider. Among spiders, the females are often larger and more fearsome than the males. For this reason, the Vipathans consider a woman Vipathan warrior as being embued with mystical powers that a man can never have. Nonetheless, almost all the actual Vipathan warriors are men and all Vipathans serving in the Zekresh Imperial Army are men, including the local provincial garrison.
The Eesleken or Esanians, also called the Mouse People, are another group which has women warriors. The Mouse People got their name because they are so short and frail. To compensate for this, the Mouse People have learned to stick together. They attempt to make up for their small size and physical weakness by calling upon as many family members, friends and fellow tribesmen as they can in any fight. One way of increasing their numbers is to arm their women, usually with slings so they can fling small stones at the enemy from a distance. Many Eesleken slingers have developed great skill with the sling and can kill more effectively than archers, even at long range.
No other tribe or nation in the known world has any significant number of women warriors. On the other hand, there are other roles for women that may be interesting. First, in many families, the dominant figure who leads the family is a woman, not a man. It is more common for the leader of a family to be a man, but there are plenty of families where it is the other way around. This pattern exists all over the known world where ostensibly men run things, but some men do what their wives tell them to.
Also, it is common for extended families to be run by an elder family member and women tend to live longer than men so in many families, it is a grandmother who has the most respect and authority. In some frontier provinces, this includes control of a whole clan of related families and their warriors and lands. In the civilized provinces there are well established banking houses, merchant houses and shipping companies that are family owned and actually controlled by a matriarch of the family.
In some tribes, women can be and are chiefs, but even so, local chiefs have long since lost their power to the Zekresh Empire almost everywhere in the known world. That may not always remain true, but it might require a successful revolt to put the local chiefs back in power. In Aatan and Helmarie where such revolts have already taken place, the local tribes do not allow women to be chiefs. Tribes where women are often chiefs are the Zamarula, Jikerola, Kikali, Yenthiti, Pilani, Vummese, Yusha Fonan and Iluva Shasifi. Among the Vummese, women are considered more politically adept than men.
Of course, there are other women whose situation may be even less enviable than the wives and mothers. Many women (and men) in the Zekresh Empire are slaves. Many women are harlots, especially in the towns and cities. Others work in taverns or as maidservants in the houses of wealthy and powerful people. Some are beggars on the streets of the larger cities.
In Zamarula province, known for its belief in magic, both men and women are sometimes considered to have magic powers. Some unmarried elderly women in Zamarula make their living selling love potions and casting spells for people. As usual, male magicians get more respect and earn more money, but there are women making a living at it.
Another option for a female character is to be a priestess. In the Zekresh religion, most of the major deities are male, and the temples of these gods are controlled by male priests. But there are also three major goddesses and their temples are controlled entirely by priestesses. The most important of these is Salganit, the goddess of the moon and the sea, wife of Gilhalnan, the father of the gods. There is also Arganit, the goddess of fire and the daughter of Gilhalnan and Salganit. The other major goddess is Ashalanit, the goddess of love and fertility. Although the Zekresh Empire suppresses all other religions except their own official religion, hundreds of other religions exist. Many of these have female religious leaders of various kinds. Some of them are believed to be living goddesses and are treated with the greatest possible respect by their followers. It is possible to play the high priestess (or goddess) of a traditional religion of a nation of people or of a new cult. From such a position, it might be easy to gain political power and rule a nation as its queen (or as a goddess).
A character who is a religious or political leader might also be in a position to decree that women must be treated better and allowed more opportunities in life.
Another kind of female character which may be of interest is princesses. No nation currently has a queen, but several have princesses. In ancient times, the nations known as "The Principalities" were ruled by princes. These nations were Ravelonia, Ilania, Corinweld and Groglinth. In Ravelonia, Princesses could also rule, but not in the other principalities. The ancient Kingdom of Slythia also had princesses and was, at times, ruled by a queen instead of a king. The now defunct Frayeth Empire also had princesses. Daughters of the high chiefs of various nations were also considered equivalent of princesses, especially in the Verronese lands, Grogia, Lisal Koppa, Warnan, Lokotran, Dronan, Ulawan and Kikalan. All of these countries are now part of the Zekresh Empire and all their princes and princesses, kings and queens and high chiefs are no longer in power. However, some of the royal families of these nations still exist and dream of returning to power. Since all these nations have been conquered long ago by the Zekresh Empire, the Zekresh Imperial Princesses may be of the most interest.
Imperial law (the Decree of Tarno) specifically forbids anyone from becoming Emperor of the Zekresh Empire who inherits the title through "female line succession". This not only bans all women from the throne, it also means that nobody can inherit the Imperial crown from their mother, even if she's the Emperor's sister or daughter. This law, and previous ones that said the same thing, have not been successful in keeping the crown from passing by the female line. The entire Marivuk Dynasty of Zekresh Emperors that ruled for 133 years was based entirely on female line succession. It did not actually include any Empresses, but it did set the precedent which led to the brief rule of Princess Lanit centuries ago.
Princess Lanit never claimed to be Empress, but she did rule the Zekresh Empire for three years by gaining the loyalty of soldiers in Zekran, assassinating the heir to the throne, and having her young son declared emperor Marivuk II. This was in violation of the Decree of Tarno because her husband was the Warlord of Slythan and was not a member of the royal family. Then she easily convinced her young son, Marivuk II, to name her as Imperial Regent. A regent rules on behalf of a monarch who is unable to rule. This is especially common when the monarch is a small child. By this method, Princess Lanit, as Imperial Regent, wielded all the powers of a Zekresh Emperor. Her rule did not last very long, but it does prove that a woman can hold power in the Zekresh Empire, even the highest power, despite laws and customs intended to prevent this.
There are quite a few Zekresh Imperial Princesses who could be player characters. One of them, Princess Evanit Cledman, was recently appointed governor of Tanan Province. She is the only woman to ever be appointed governor of a province in the history of the Empire. She is also very young for a provincial governor. This occurred because of a power struggle in which her grandfather, the Lord Chancellor and Crown Prince, dismissed 13 provincial governors loyal to another political faction and replaced them with his own family members and cronies. Both of Princess Evanit's brothers and her father were all appointed governors of various provinces near the capital.
It is entirely possible that the Lord Chancellor will put other princesses in positions of power for the same reason. Princess Evanit is not his only granddaughter.
Another option for girls and women who want to play this game and who do not wish to struggle against the discrimination against women that is so common in the Zekresh Empire is to have a male character. That is perfectly acceptable.
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