Jakarch
In general, the people of Jakar.
There's really only two classes in the place, divided into the "Nobles" and the Slaves.
There is a teeeeeenny tiiiiiiiiiny "middle class" (not-slave working class). A lot of the house slaves to the higher caste actually regard those guys as no position to envy, even being free--the struggle to stay out of debt and live at the same time is consuming to them. Their jobs are often the only things in their lives and even if they do marry and have children, they rarely get to see them, and the children are often forced into the same work as everyone else. They're usually merchants of wares they bought from the rich, rarely are they laborers.
Regardless of status, however, there's extremely strict roles, rules, standards, and traditions to follow. Strictly authoritarian with almost no consideration toward family or the family unit, status is decided when a "job" is selected for a child and it's branded into their skin. Certain houses put them on certain parts of the body, especially for the 'nobles'.
This practice is exactly as horrid as it sounds, but it started as a simple tradition that carried over from the Goliaths that lived here first. They used to be marks of adulthood, and a goliath's stone skin needed the heat to mark it properly. The Jakarch brands are more complex the higher your status or the status of your role, Head of Noble Families having intricate curls of their family sigils put in, usually with magic and pain killers applied to one's chest. Almost always magic involved, spoiled shits; Pit slaves and miners get plain squares and POW Arena fodder get triangles, generally on their bellies.
One can be rebranded, almost always to a square or triangle. Rarely, one can get their child married up before they're branded.
Jakar is strictly patriarchal-- men are in charge and women are, generally, broodmares, ornaments, means to status, liabilities, or otherwise treated as a bad thing. Firstborn girls in noble families will be tossed to a Slave Creche quickly.
Women are expected to be pregnant. Not just a mother, but pregnant. People are capital in this place, and slave or noble, you're doing something wrong if you have fewer than two every three years. Because of this, of course, women die pretty regularly-- simultaneously being medically fragile on a regular basis and disregarded by society puts them at risk. (This leads to the middle-tier slave women having the best turnout for pregnancies, having the most midwives on hand with most of their tier working in medicine.)
The men die pretty regularly, too. Unvalued laborers are killed in the line of work all the time, in addition to poor health and neglect once the poor health starts affecting their productivity.
It's been far too long since I mentioned that I fucking hate this place.
Jakar is also strictly oligarchical. Money is king.
"Manners", politeness, and adhering to the social expectations of normality are deeply important to everyone, though 'normal' is relative to caste.
Standards for nudity are outright demanding--no skin. Being from a sunny place without a lot of shade, this is to be expected, especially since no one has any fur, especially with the heat and cold being what they are. Even being sleeveless is obscene for residents.
Rarely do the people preparing the food get to eat the food they prepare. Slaves eat what's given to them by other slaves, merchants buy and sell food from other merchants, and the nobles have their food served to them. The traditional foods are goat's milk and meat, various fungi and mushrooms, and pickled vegetables; treats from the coasts can be brought in and sold by merchants from time to time, so things like tropical fruits, tree nuts, and berries can be brought in. These are treasured, and during certain seasons, even the slaves have access to the sweet stuff.
Due to the focus on bloodlines and heirs, heterosexuality and monogamy are pretty much compulsory, and anyone caught trying to disobey the rules will often suffer social or financial backlash from their families.
There is a teeeeeenny tiiiiiiiiiny "middle class" (not-slave working class). A lot of the house slaves to the higher caste actually regard those guys as no position to envy, even being free--the struggle to stay out of debt and live at the same time is consuming to them. Their jobs are often the only things in their lives and even if they do marry and have children, they rarely get to see them, and the children are often forced into the same work as everyone else. They're usually merchants of wares they bought from the rich, rarely are they laborers.
Regardless of status, however, there's extremely strict roles, rules, standards, and traditions to follow. Strictly authoritarian with almost no consideration toward family or the family unit, status is decided when a "job" is selected for a child and it's branded into their skin. Certain houses put them on certain parts of the body, especially for the 'nobles'.
This practice is exactly as horrid as it sounds, but it started as a simple tradition that carried over from the Goliaths that lived here first. They used to be marks of adulthood, and a goliath's stone skin needed the heat to mark it properly. The Jakarch brands are more complex the higher your status or the status of your role, Head of Noble Families having intricate curls of their family sigils put in, usually with magic and pain killers applied to one's chest. Almost always magic involved, spoiled shits; Pit slaves and miners get plain squares and POW Arena fodder get triangles, generally on their bellies.
One can be rebranded, almost always to a square or triangle. Rarely, one can get their child married up before they're branded.
Jakar is strictly patriarchal-- men are in charge and women are, generally, broodmares, ornaments, means to status, liabilities, or otherwise treated as a bad thing. Firstborn girls in noble families will be tossed to a Slave Creche quickly.
Women are expected to be pregnant. Not just a mother, but pregnant. People are capital in this place, and slave or noble, you're doing something wrong if you have fewer than two every three years. Because of this, of course, women die pretty regularly-- simultaneously being medically fragile on a regular basis and disregarded by society puts them at risk. (This leads to the middle-tier slave women having the best turnout for pregnancies, having the most midwives on hand with most of their tier working in medicine.)
The men die pretty regularly, too. Unvalued laborers are killed in the line of work all the time, in addition to poor health and neglect once the poor health starts affecting their productivity.
It's been far too long since I mentioned that I fucking hate this place.
Jakar is also strictly oligarchical. Money is king.
"Manners", politeness, and adhering to the social expectations of normality are deeply important to everyone, though 'normal' is relative to caste.
Standards for nudity are outright demanding--no skin. Being from a sunny place without a lot of shade, this is to be expected, especially since no one has any fur, especially with the heat and cold being what they are. Even being sleeveless is obscene for residents.
Rarely do the people preparing the food get to eat the food they prepare. Slaves eat what's given to them by other slaves, merchants buy and sell food from other merchants, and the nobles have their food served to them. The traditional foods are goat's milk and meat, various fungi and mushrooms, and pickled vegetables; treats from the coasts can be brought in and sold by merchants from time to time, so things like tropical fruits, tree nuts, and berries can be brought in. These are treasured, and during certain seasons, even the slaves have access to the sweet stuff.
Due to the focus on bloodlines and heirs, heterosexuality and monogamy are pretty much compulsory, and anyone caught trying to disobey the rules will often suffer social or financial backlash from their families.
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