Beyond City Walls: What's Bovodar's Society Like?

What is it like beyond the walls of Commotu City, home of the great Wolf King?

Last time, I discussed the Wolf King in the world of Bovodar and the Bears.  But beyond the ruler, what is the realm like?  What is Bovodar's society like?

Bovodar's world would be, for us, a fantasy land.  There are people within it, but they are outnumbered by talking beasts.  The animals we take for granted in our own world do not merely trot along on all fours and eat from the fields or hunt each other.  Instead, the denizens of Bovodar's world are beasts who walk upright like men.  Sometimes they wear clothes.  They talk, engage in commerce, cook food, and even worship.

There is a social caste system.  For example, (though not mentioned in this book) rats are the lowest creatures.  Anything that small, in fact, is not regarded highly.  Foxes would be lesser than, say, bears.  Men are considered to be the highest among them all, though.  Even the Wolf King honors the place of men in the hierarchy of his citizens.  Many of the dull-minded creatures of Bovodar's world consider men to be magical beings, and it is in fact very rare for men to be seen, as the world is not filled with them.  There are not very many towns or cities that are ruled by only men.  Most cities and villages are ruled by the talking beasts.  In fact, Bovodar's family lives in a forest called Irv Forest.  There are a good batch of people living there, but mixed in are beasts of different kinds, from moles, beavers, and groundhogs, to a tribe of deer living on the forest's edge, and families of buffalo---poor folk---living north of that.

There are dragons in Bovodar's world (though not in this book), and they live in the older parts of the world, far in the East.  They contend that they are the highest, most supreme nation in the world, and they frequently challenge the Wolf King's legitimacy.  But because of the Wolf's power, they stay mostly relegated to the eastern deserts.