Status

Kuniumi is a feudal society, and Status is the measure of an individual's role and influence within that society. Those with higher Status generally command more resources, authority, and wealth, while those with low Status have little authority over anything, perhaps even their own lives. Status is a largely static attribute that changes infrequently. Generally speaking, the only way for a character to increase their Status is to gain appointments or promotions from someone who is higher ranking in the hierarchy of their family, Clan, or the Imperial bureaucracy.

Gaining & Losing Status
Status may only be gained by the formal promotion of a samurai by his lord or another higher-ranking individual. This is traditionally done in recognition of glorious service, although political appointments are also a source for such things. Losing Status is less common, and is done by the same sort of individuals, but as punishment for some sort of failure, typically a failure of duty. There is little that can be done in such cases, although in the instance of an unfair demotion, a samurai can conceivably protest his demotion to a figure of greater authority who holds influence over the individual who performed the demotion in the first place. If a demotion is found to be unjust, it results in a restoration of the wronged party's Status and a loss of Honor for the individual who performed the unjust act in the first place. However, an inappropriate protest typically results in even more severe punishment for the protesting samurai.