Vassals are defined in two ways. The first way is by blood, in that one's mother was a vassal. The second are those peasants who were elevated by a higher class into citizenship in exchange for indentured servitude. Either way, vassals are indentured servants under a royal, noble, merchant or freelander, attempting to work off the investor's investment in their citizenship. Occasionally this manifests as labor for a certain number of years, but most often, it involves the acquisition of an extremely large sum of money (few terms of vassaldom are below fifty thousand Imperials, and many are over 100,000). These large debts often require vassals to subject their children to vassaldom under the same terms, sometimes passing family fortunes for four or more generations before one great-great grandson is able to buy his freedom. This works out well for the investor, giving them a cheap laborforce for a long time to come. Vassals are subject to rules of the investor who owns their contract, and this contract can be bought and sold as a commodity between parties. Almost all landed nobles have at least half a dozen vassals under their employ, and many employ hundreds. Vassals are the most populous class in Fastheld, at over 150,000 strong.