Story Hub: [link]
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The world of Maid in Fantasy has
borders outside the words of the stories as written. Details that are not
pertinent to the moment but may linger as questions to the curious reader.
These installments will be used to flesh out some of the finer details of the
world and how it works. Some of these are first thoughts and immediate answers
to specific questions, so they may be taken as canon or fact until otherwise
contradicted by the main story (which always takes precedent).
I Got My Mind
On My Money:
As a far-future, utopic,
post-scarcity society, citizens of the Kingdom of Celene are guaranteed a
generous universal income. It’s roughly enough for the average family to
survive on. Still, even if it wasn’t, most families already have a sizable
amount of generational wealth and land to inherit. As a result, nobody (barring
the obvious exception of the worker families) has to work for a living, but
they can if they want to acquire more money or expand what they own.
Broadly speaking, this leads to two
paths people take. Those who are content with what they have turn to artistic
or personal pursuits, while those who desire more take on a trade or start a
business venture. Obviously, there are varying degrees to these pursuits and it
is different for each individual. For example, some of those personal pursuits
may be a scholarly or sports career that generates a great deal of income. Or a
business venture may be undertaken in a field one is passionate about.
Now, most of this applies
exclusively to the extremely large Low Noble class, which is analogous to a
modern-day middle class (at least culturally. Money-wise, they’re closer to an
upper-upper-middle class). High Nobles have so much generational wealth and
power that they have little need to start new ventures except out of boredom.
On that note, many Low Nobles start
ventures because of the allure of rising to the position of High Noble. The
distinction between the two groups is less about birthright and formality and
more about power and influence. If one were to gather large amounts of money,
land, and power, it is only natural you’d be considered a High Noble (it’s
getting to that point that’s the hard part, kind of like how it is in real
life).
As a quick aside, while rare, it is
possible to go bankrupt in Celene if you’re stupid, careless, or frivolous with
your money, like investing all of it in a doomed venture or a luxury that
becomes worthless overnight. While poverty isn’t really a thing in Celene,
humiliation, scandal, and damaged reputations are. Many such cases end up in
the underground or flee to the farthest continents to keep themselves away from
judgmental eyes.
On the other hand, workers are not
readily guaranteed an income and must work for their keep. Members of the Diane
family and all workers in the palace are generally paid very generously for
their work. Many retire to fairly comfortable lives (non-Diane workers also use
such savings to sponsor other family members for work in the palace). They are
also paid in rations of food, clothing, daily essentials, and a few luxuries,
which are baked into their pay (like a guaranteed number of free groceries from
the palace’s grocery stores. See this short: link).
Those who work outside of the palace
are less fortunate. The best-paid earn enough to live in roughly the same
conditions as the modern-day middle class. The worst-paid live at a low-low
middle-class standard (again, no poverty, but that doesn’t mean conditions are
great. Serena works in the palace, and her bedroom is the size of a small dorm
bedroom, so imagine how bad the people outside may have it).
The (Supposed)
Duties of Highest Nobles:
The high nobles have been a key part
of the story, but their actual duties may seem nebulous.
Lady Aphros’s official title is “The
First of the High Council,” the ruling elite beneath the Queen. Essentially, it
is a congress or group of advisors to the royal family. Aphros has a great deal
of political power, but her actual duties are varied. She oversees the creation
of laws, manages political factions, acts in the Queen’s interest, and (as
displayed in the first story arc) handles espionage and dissidents.
She is, however, quite flighty and
is quick to pass off her duties to others to chase wild whims. However, one
must never mistake her actions for simple laziness; one can never know exactly
what the blonde is thinking.
Lady Aré is officially the head of
faith for the kingdom, but it wasn’t always that way. You may see her current
title as a lofty executive title given to her because her original position was
eliminated, but they still wanted to retain her. Her duties would be to
organize the kingdom’s religious factions, oversee ceremonies, and perform
religious services for the royal family, but she doesn’t perform them often.
Instead, she has focused on her personal pursuits, using her position to
support such endeavors.
Perhaps she longs for the days when
she could be useful and is desperate to fill that void…
Lady Ze is the Captain of the Palace
Guard, which is a tall task considering that the palace is the size of a small
city. Anyone not part of the Queen’s personal guard answers to her, and she
oversees the palace’s security, the safety of its inhabitants, and the
repelling of any attackers. She has also taken it upon herself to train or
supervise the training of many members of the guard. That’s why she’s taken to
training Serena and Orion, whom she considers part of the guard (the
princesses’ safety is a major part of their jobs, after all).
She takes her job very seriously
(perhaps too much) to the point of boundless enthusiasm…
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It's been a minute since a put out a supplement going into the facts of the setting. Sometimes my brain races on the mechanics of the world and I have to write it down for safekeeping. In this case, money and the fact the nobles seem to have nothing better to do than bug Serena. Why yes, Lady Aphros has a surprising amount of free time despite being the number 2 person in the entire kingdom. She's constantly taking people on random flights of fancy and spending days teaching people magic tricks (and actual magic). It's almost like she blows off a lot of the responsibility for her job. It's a wonder Aré is so mad at her all the time (despite being guilty of doing similar things). Can you sense a theme here?
Until next time, Read, Comment and Enjoy.
