Flamepunk:Social Order
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Contents
Everyday Life in Kiora[edit]
Kiora is a stratified society whose structure is created and preserved by the influence of the three massive institutions that control a large part of the Kioran citizen's everyday life: the Church, the Guilds, and the Hadar.
Lower Classes - The Common Laborer[edit]
Life for the lower class is rarely pleasant. The dominant experience of the lower class Kioran is navigating their way through their Guild duties and their responsibilities to the Church, while trying to put enough food on the table not to starve. The Guilds' laborers - by far the most numerous of guild employees - spend their lives performing backbreaking, dangerous work in the massive forges and factories, paying just enough to keep most employees in perpetual debt with the Guild.
Smoke, heat, and soot are the lot of the Guild laborer, as is blacklung and the risk of a horrible death in a fiery accident. Employee dissatisfaction may be rampant, but mass protests are extremely rare, because the Guilds are not shy about using all of their leverage to compel compliance.
While the Guilds work the lower classes to the bone, the Church preaches that virtue is embodied in a selfless worship of the Holy Flame and a patient wait for the world to come. Dissatisfaction is smoothed over by the Church's services, inspiring sermons, and a careful and precise management of human behavior, born from centuries of experience.
For the common man or woman, the influence of the Hadar is found in the graft and bribery that often accompanies certain activities; in the exorbitant cost of non-Guild goods; and in the street violence that erupts with regularity in the poor neighborhoods.
Middle Classes - The Merchants and Technicians[edit]
Middle class Kiorans have it somewhat better. They are still often beholden to Guilds for their daily bread, and many of them remain in debt to Guilds for their entire lives. However, they're not spending their days in a scorching-hot factory, dying slowly of blacklung and toxic fumes, so they consider their lot to be fairly good.
The Kioran middle class is made up of mid-level Guild functionaries, Guild merchants, technical professionals such as surveyors, architects, and flametech experts, and Church personnel.
The Hadar influence on the middle classes falls mainly in the area of protection rackets, bribery, and black market goods.
Upper Classes - Guild, Church, and Hadar Aristocracy[edit]
Life as an upperclass Kioran is life above the smoke and out of the flames. The upper classes of Kiora have fairly easy lives. Loyalty to their Guild and the Church is expected, and no upper class Kioran would fail to make proper obeisance and conduct themselves in a manner contrary to their loyalties - at leat, not where anyone could see.
The upper class comprises high-level Guild members, Church clergy, and an aristocracy born of exceptional good fortune and shrewd business acumen.
At the highest levels of society, the Hadar are simply another group of potential partners or rivals, and contracts, deals, and double-crosses are the stock and trade of high-class life.
Technology Use in Kioran Society[edit]
Lower Class[edit]
Lower class Kiorans make use of flametech to the extent that it is embedded in the fabric of society. Most use those elements of flametech that are common, household goods - heaters, stoves, communication bindstones, and weapons.
Bindstones used by the lower classes are often relatively cheap and fragile, surviving for a few uses before being consumed by the elemental energy. Tattooing is somewhat uncommon, since flamebinding tattoos are expensive, but some individuals will bear tattoos with basic functions. The most common tattoo among the lower classes is the heat ward sigil, allowing workers to work close to the autoforges without being killed within minutes, as an unprotected individual might be. Tattooing on laborers is almost always provided by the Guild, incurring considerable debt to the worker.
Middle Class[edit]
Middle class Kiora has a much broader use of flametech, including many more specialized and expensive tools than the workers.
It is common to see a middle class merchant or cleric with numerous bindstones for different uses - communications, recording information, mathematics and accounting tools, and so forth. Weaponry is far more sophisticated - where the lower classes typically rely on simply firedarts and burnblades, middle class Kiorans can acquire more advanced and expensive equipment such as hellswords, firelances, and the like.
Upper Class[edit]
Upper class Kiorans have their pick of advanced flametech. If it can be found, it can be bought. They also are frequently accompanied by bodyguards or personal guards, who are usually heavily decked out with bindstones, tattoos, and sophisticated, high-quality weaponry.
Kioran Dress[edit]
Lower Class[edit]
The guiding ethic among the laboring classes is "protection." Working in the searing heat, and in close proximity to molten metals and living flames, it is critical that clothing be made of materials that will not burn easily, but at the same time permit the body to cool itself.
Heavy canvas smocks, jackets, and gloves, often embedded with basic heat-wards, are common. Insulated boots with fire-resistant coatings cover thick leggings. Goggles and/or masks are used to withstand the glare. When not at work, much of this "working-class" garb is retained - the heavy shirts and leggings are common sights in the various pubs and taverns. This look is often adopted by flamepunks who seek ties with the downtrodden.
Colors are often drab, at least with the protective gear, so many workers wear bold swatches of color to accentuate their appearance - sashes, scarves, or sleeves of bright colors.
Middle Class[edit]
Dress among the middle classes is more elaborate and of much finer quality. Their exposure to the grime, smoke, and soot of society is less, and they can afford to dress in clothing that is less protective, and more attractive.
Current fashion trends for non-Hadar include high boots with a glossy finish, knee length coats with a bold, martial look, and soft shirts to emphasize their relative leisure compared to the workers. Ironically, there is a trend among certain groups to wear a heavy canvas loincloth-like article, perhaps to maintain a connection to the workers, while still maintaining their elevated stature. Dress for men and women is similar. Colors are bold.
Upper Class[edit]
With their wealth, the upper classes enjoy a very broad selection, but also suffer from the need to follow trends, which can change very rapidly. However, while clothing trends may change almost daily, the consistently high quality and fine handiwork of the clothing is a sure indicator of upper class status.
In addition to the fashion trends of the day, there are certain guidelines that, for decorum's sake, are followed. Outright nudity or prurient dress is frowned upon in polite circles (although in the privacy of the home - such as privacy is in a world where every flame is a potential gateway for Church surveillance - mores such as this are relaxed). Additionally, items that appear to denigrate the Church are not wise.
Bindstones are incorporated into dozens of different clothing items. A profusion of glittering bindstones is generally the mark of the upper crust.
