Daily Life & Social Structure

The aristocracy are the social elite. They want for nothing, and even the poorest among them can afford to employ a handful of servants to attend them in their grand residences in Central Embrathis. They usually possess generational wealth and come from established bloodlines, often filled with accomplished Loom Mages. While councilorship is not hereditary and Embrathis holds no noble titles, the aristocracy most closely resembles the landed gentry or nobility of the real world.

The middle class is the most numerous group in Embrathis and thus varies widely in many aspects. Some more affluent members of the middle class who have come into their wealth in the past three generations can afford to live within Central Embrathis, and many seek arranged marriages with members of the aristocracy to cement their legitimacy and secure invitations to the region’s most exclusive galas.

A majority of the middle class own their own businesses or shops and have enough coin to employ a helper or two and splurge on creature comforts or indulgences when business is booming. Most commonly, they reside within either Outer Embrathis or the farmlands, depending on their trade. Many Deviant humans find themselves here.

The lower class is composed of those who work sunup to sundown with little time to do much else. What little extra money they have is spent trying to make life more than drudgery, though some squirrel away what they can to fuel dreams. Variant humans and those who work the fields of the farmlands often make up the majority of this group.

Some, seeking to improve their station, try to find a craftsman to apprentice under or go into domestic service for the aristocracy or middle class. While slavery is illegal in Embrathis, the experiences of a servant may vary wildly depending on their employer—though it is considered uncivilized to maltreat servants or apprentices and may result in social, or even legal, consequences if caught doing so.

Among the majority of the population, it is not uncommon to see multigenerational families living under one roof, especially in wealthier areas of the city.

Among the organic populace, due to the magic suppression regime shortening the lifespan of organic mages, multigenerational families are extremely rare, only possible through detox, loom granted immortality or an elder family member not having organic magic in the first place. That said, kinship adoption is quite common in cases where parents leave behind orphaned minor children. Trusted neighbors as well have been known to take in children in need. But for those that have no one else, orphanages are a common sight in both Outer Embrathis and the farmlands. Despite their frequent number, many orphanages—both government funded and run by charities—are often full, designed to take care of a child until they turn into an adult at age eighteen.

A base-level understanding of magic, consisting of the dangers of organic magic and the web of loom magic, is sprinkled throughout a child’s educational career. The rest of the curriculum, especially history, is carefully curated and tends to focus on developing practical, rational skills one might use to better their society. Younger children may focus on reading, penmanship & arithmetic, whereas older children focus on the development of those foundational skills. Life skills such as sewing and cooking are taught across all divides, regardless of gender.

Marvels of thaumaturgy are present in everyday life, from agricultural work to the locks and levees of the city’s waterways.

Indoor plumbing is in every home, urban or rural, with hot water on demand for the wealthy, but also accessible to those who split the difference between coin and labor and choose to pay for entry to a bathhouse—a sight not uncommon in Outer Embrathis in the winter.

On the grand scale, food preservation and storage are heavily regulated by magic to ensure perfect conditions. Some with more coin have decided to invest in making household versions of such methods for convenience that vary in capacity, though while this is not inaccessible to those in the farmlands, many people there choose to walk to nearby markets to source food daily; saving their coin for different creature comforts or investing in only something large enough to accommodate cheeses, butter and cream.

Portals inter-connect to different locations throughout the city’s three district rings, enabling speedy travel from one ward to another. The portals are large, vertical rings that are big enough for multiple people, goods, and mounts to pass through. Travel is instantaneous, going in on one side and exiting the other. Portals connect two fixed points to one another. Most portals available for use by average citizens connect to a district nexus that allows both inter-district travel to individual wards (sub-districts) or cross-district travel (ie. going from Outer Embrathis’ portal nexus to Central Embrathis’ nexus).