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Flint went on to become the Chief Elder among the Leapers, guiding them in the construction of a city greater than anything built on the Natalian continent. They named it Lebab, and it was a thriving costal city for all of 200 years. It was said to have stretched 30 miles across and may have held up to a million rabbits at its peak. During this time the Rabbits flourished. Shipbuilding techniques improved, harvests increased exponentially, and they began to grow cotton for the first time.
Despite Flint's strong disapproval of an all-powerful ruler, as the generations went on it became harder and harder to deny his status. He abdicated in 67 L.A.. Unfortunately, Historical accounts written during those days are incomplete; something was willfully hidden. Whoever it was that destroyed the data did a very thorough job. We have no idea or clue what drove Flint to abdicate, only that he did.
Scholars and Sages have had quite different opinions on Flint's motives throughout the ages. Simplified, Scholars believe that divergent views among the Council, rising tension among the populace, and the Leaper religious sect beginning to form caused Flint to leave. Sages, on the other hand, tend to side with the notion that Flint's sword finally drove him to madness or that it caused him to do something he so terribly regretted that he left for the sake of his people. Both likely played a part. With Flint out of the picture, his cultural footprint expanded until he was practically treated as a deity. Fay's whereabouts during this time are unknown, but it is likely she left with Flint. During this time the class system had solidified into castes.
A caste system is a way of separating people into different classes because of their occupation. It is something a person is born into, and, unlike a class system, it is unable to be moved through. Today, we still have a semblance of a class system, as we still have Royalty and Nobility, but unlike Lebab's society, anyone can move through our class system. Sadly, it is impossible to wholly erase some form of categorizing people no matter what culture you are from. Anyone who has studied Terralain's history knows this. Despite Terralain's best efforts, you can still find a class system in there culture today, even if it is based mostly on the amount of money someone has. Natalia's social hierarchy is based primarily upon tradition and economics, and this is true for most societies.
Lebab's caste system, however, was different in that you could not move between 'levels'. The caste you were born into, you were forced to remain in. The caste system peaked at about 99 A.L., and after that a series of social reforms slowly began to peal away at the caste system until it had deteriorated into simply being a class system. Not since then has there ever been such oppressive societal structure, at least among the history of rabbitkind.
What would everyday life have looked like in Lebab? Well, that changed depending on your caste, age, and gender. For the sake of simplicity, we will take a step back and examine what all rabbits had in common at the time.
Bucks were required to attend school for at least six years consecutively. Schools were, again, designed to fit the caste system and children were separated based on it. After attending school, bucks would go into the field of there father or closest living relative, often being apprenticed. Sons of the Nobility would go on for further education, Sons of the Military would go on for military training, and those below those ranks were the most common to be apprenticed.
Flint had four children. Three were born while he served as Chief Elder, and his youngest and only daughter was born later. His eldest son, Ivan, took the throne after his father left. He was the first to claim the title of 'king'. He disbanded the Council of Elders and claimed absolute authority, but his actions paled in comparison with his brother's. Eli was the second born son, and the bitter rival of both his brothers. He was violent, cruel, and bloodthirsty. A later historian writing in the early days of king Jupiter Goodson's reign would compare Jupiter's older brother, Bleston, to him. That is not a fair comparison. Eli was far worse.
Among other things Ivan was the first to invest in the sea, building a navy and encouraging exploration. Unfortunately, he was blind to the dangers, and many ships and crews were claimed by hurricanes, whirlpools, and tsunamis. This made him rather unpopular among his citizens, paving the way for Eli to rise up and rebel.
The struggle lasted a brief two weeks, Eli playing off of the people's anger and frustrations, and quickly gathering an army of furious civilians. Ivan's poorly maintained army stood no chance, and was decimated. Eli took the throne, and sent his younger brother, Titus, into exile. This was the beginning of the dark age.