I'm going to go into a bit more detail on each of the three major castes, since a large part of the story involves the narrator, who is given the name Bryony (as she can't remember her own) learning about this culture, which is totally alien to her, and eventually deciding to fight against it.
To most of the other two castes, the highborn are almost a separate species. Imagine if Tolkien-style elves were real--the stereotype is that they are are beautiful, graceful beyond belief, wise, and powerful.
Partly, this is deserved. You see, there is magic in this world, mostly centered around the creation of magical objects. Before an object can be imbued with magical power, it must first be "perfected"--its essence is summoned, and that essence replaces the object from which it was summoned. This is extremely difficult to do, and if done incorrectly, the object is destroyed, and the spellcaster can be injured.
For example, a sword that has been perfected can never be scratched, and will never lose its sharpness. It will appear to be the pinnacle of perfect for swords. However, such a sword will have a weakness unlike any other sword--it can be blocked by magic, 100% of the time. Magic in this world operates on the essence of things. A normal, unperfected sword does have some part of the essence of swords in it, and magic will somewhat resist such a blade, but not perfectly. But a perfected weapon is the essence of that weapon, and can be completely blocked by a spell, of sufficient strength.
I say all of that to say this: some of the magical devices that are created in this culture are designed to draw out the essence of people. There is a lot of research into the idea of "perfecting" the individual, but it is dangerous, and most of such work focuses on certain aspects, rather than the whole.
The use of magic is one of the few kinds of "work" that is permitted of the highborn. Manual labor is considered demeaning, of course, and craftwork of any type is tolerated as a hobby. Even among these hobbies, some have more prestige than others. Needlecrafts are considered good pasttimes for women, carving or painting okay for men. But it would be an insult to offer to buy any such work, becasue that would imply they were a middling craftsman.
Much of the time of the highborn is occupied with society events, which involve hunting, gambling, dancing, sightseeing, and above all, gossiping. Shopping is also a very popular occupation. Of course, no highborn would ever own a market themselves. For that, they must go to the middling.
There are variations within the highborn caste, of course. In fact, these are scrupulously observed, and there is mobility to a certain extent. There is nobility-by-birth and nobility-by-position. The former can be improved by marriage, and the latter by virtue of cleverness--or who you know. The "perfect" marriage among the highborn is between a man with a high position and a woman with high birth.
As a result, a family with low nobility-by-birth hopes most for sons, for in them lie the best hope of advancement of the family. Women can and do hold positions, but only in certain, high-circumscribed areas of society. For example, a woman can become a patroness--the highborn in charge of a market, farm, or other middling organization--but cannot hold positions in government.
If a family with low nobility-by-birth has a daughter that they cannot support, she can be given over, in secret, to the noble middling. Such a move would occasion much gossip, but is nevertheless seen as a wise move by a family struggling to maintain its position in the face of poverty or other troubles. Bryony comes to believe that she is such a one, and tries to locate her family to learn about her past.
Highborn families with high nobility-by-birth welcome sons and daughters equally. A daughter can attract men with high nobility-by-position to the family; the ties of obligation bind them to the family, and result in a net increase of power and authority to the family. A son, of course, can usually gain a good position through family connections, which makes him doubly attractive as a marriage prospect.
The empire consists of the mainland and several outlying islands of varying sizes. "The city" is the imperial capital and the surrounding towns and villages. "The country" refers to the wide belt of land encircling the city, where most of the highborn live in the off-season, and control large estates. "The provinces" refer to the more distant lands which do not fall under the direct rule of the emperor, but are instead ruled by the provincial kings. These too are highborn, originally appointed by the emperor, but in ages since they have established varying systems of powerf for themselves, and are considered royalty as opposed to appointees. Technically the islands are also provinces, but in practice they are simply called "the islands." These are the most recent acquisitions of the empire, and power has not been fully consolidated here. There is still resistance to imperial control in these areas, and the majority of military action takes place in and among the islands. As a result, naval power is very important, and piracy is common.
About two days sail from the outermost islands, a band of storms encircles the land. This is called the Sea Wall, since the constant driving rains give the appearance of a wall. No one has successfully sailed through it and returned, although there are stories about what lies beyond. About sixty years before, a group of mariners sailed all the way around the Sea Wall, proving that the lands within were cut off. The official belief is that the lands within are all the world that there is.
The next segment of the population are the middling. If the highborn are less than 1% of the population, the middling make up the next 30-35%. In the eyes of the highborn, they serve several purposes. First, they are a buffer between the highborn and the lowborn; among the highborn, it is considered bad luck to even see one of the lowborn, and women have been known to faint upon witnessing their scarred visages.
Second, they process raw goods into a form usable by the highborn... and for themselves. The middling are divided into three main subcastes, depending on who they serve. The highest of these are the noble middling, usually the most skilled or beautiful of the midding. These work as servants in the homes of the highborn, as cooks and maids and personal attendants. They control the finances of the highborn estates and essentially perform all the tasks that would be demeaning for the highborn themselves. They take care of the details, so the highborn don't have to.
They also create the high quality goods for purchase by the highborn. This is done in areas called "markets." A market, in this sense, is really an estate of its own, located either within the city or nearby. These markets have areas that are absolutely sumptuous, designed to appeal to the sensibilities of the highborn. Only the most beautiful and graceful of the noble middling are allowed to attend upon the highborn.
There are seven of these noble markets, and they compete fiercely for the patronage of the highborn. Each has its own Patroness who is one of the highborn, and a given highborn's custom at a market has just as much to do with his or her relationship with the Patroness as to the quality of the goods within.
As a result, the noble middling who attend the highborn are often pawns in the game of politics, and may be requested to offer perfect service or subtle insult, as the situation requires. Because such behavior can be immensely useful, a good noble middling attendee is very, very valuable.
Behind the scenes, the market is much less elegant. There is a definite pecking order within the market, with those who deal directly with the highborn at the top. The market in many ways is a self-contained world, with its own economy, living space, work areas, opportunities for promotion, and all the services to be found in a large village. Some go their entire lives only rarely leaving it.
Magic is not usually taught to the middling, and if so, only to the noble middling. To learn magic, a middling must have a Patron or Patroness who leads their instruction, and who takes responsibility for anything he or she might do with that magic. Not many of the highborn are willing to take on that responbility, and magic is not taught lightly. However, there can be rewards, as a talented noble middling can dramatically increase the wealth and prestige of their patron or patroness, since they legally own any magic produced by their apprentice. It is considered treason for a middling to teach magic to anyone, or to practice magic without the consent of a patron.
The largest segment of the middling population exists to serve itself. Their goods are of medium quality and medium price, and are purchased by mostly themselves, and also to some extend the lower noble middling. They aspire to reach the noble middling, and there is some mobility, mostly due to their own talents, but also according to the influence of their patrons.
All high governmental positions are held by highborn, but in the villages, the day-to-day work is done by the middling. The noble middling are the objects of their aspiration; the highborn the object of their adoration. The lower you go in the middling, the more you find a reverence for the highborn, a reverence that the highborn go to great lengths to instill and maintain. Likewise, there is hatred and fear for the lowborn.
The lowest caste of the middling are those who must deal with the lowborn. The lowborn make up the largest segment of the population, 65-70%, and their movements are highly controlled. They are little more than slaves in one sense, in that they have no control over their own occupation or movements. They have their own villages, tightly controlled by higher ranking lowborn and low ranking middlings.
There is a very military organization to their lives, something instilled in them from birth. Their education is strictly controlled, and they are given a complex hierarchy of positions to give the illusion of mobility and advancement. In reality, they cannot aspire to advance beyond the lowborn. There is deep resentment between the lowborn and the middling; the highborn are so far outside of their scope that they're rarely considered.
They are given entertainments to distract them from their existence, in the form of sport and theater. Neither is free--after all, something that is free is perceived as worthless. But the prices are kept low enough so that pretty much anyone can go, and as a result both are very popular.
A middling who commits a bad enough crime is "brought low," scarred just like the lowborn, and set in a work camp at the very bottom of the social hierarchy. A lot of the resentment is taken out on these individuals. Many of the plots of the plays have to do with bad middlings being brought low by good ones, with the help of good lowborn.
Why does this structure hold? The lowborn with the greatest resentment against the system are those with the least power, and therefore, the least opportunity to do anything about it. As they rise through the ranks of the lowborn and actually gain power, they have less desire to change the system because the result would be the reduction in their own power. Those at the top of the lowborn have a high level of control, and actually have great means than the lowest of the middling.
In other words, for a high level low-born, there would actually be a step down in power and influence to become one of the middling. So why would they want to become one? In this way, the caste system is maintained.
Wow, I've written for over an hour now, and suddenly I find I have to go to work. More later, perhaps even tonight.
Publication Status:
- Submitted: 5
- Accepted: 1
- Rejected: 2
- Pending: 2
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