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York Map
Water transport: Vessels vary in size from the most common barge (crew 1-4 people), to the larger sailing vessels (say about 20 man crew at the max). Barges usually travel by horse power. There is a small federal navy to keep the trade routes open, but that is all. Trade routes are detailed on a separate map, but tend towards coastal and river passage. The technology to navigate on the open sea hasn't been developed n this area yet. Schedules are whatever the captain/owner of the boat wishes them to be. Pirates are not common, but not unheard of. Sea travel is usually used for trade purposes, and only the very rich are able to travel by sea. Fishing is also common along the Dread Sea.
Communications: Federal communications traffic is usually handled by swift courier. Local info will be carried by town criers, and other itinerant officials. Ships are slow enough that they are seldom used for this purpose. But, despite all this, really Earth-shattering news seems to get around between the Royal Families within just a few minutes.
Pastimes: Simple games: chess, dice, normal sort of stuff. Prostitution is legal. Every ten years they have an Olympic equivalent. Its just about the only time a peasant can outdo a noble and be praised for it. At least one member of each noble family required to join in.
Alcohol: Available. Strength of ale and quality of wine varies from region to region. Some are quite good.
Other drugs: Not illegal. Addiction is a self-correcting problem. Common are opium, hemp, and other herbal-type things.
We have roughly mapped the social classes to GURPS wealth and status levels.
Prior to YR 112, the nobility had the exclusive right to specially reserved seats in churches or chapels. At the Council of Trent, in YR 112, this practice was abolished. But, in its absence it was agreed that the number of seats would be limited to allow room that the peasantry may stand at the rear of the chapel during services.
The privilege of shipwreck -- if a ship wrecks and washes up upon the shore of a given noble, he may simply claim the contents of the ship (or whatever washed up) outright.
The privilege of the hunt -- this is one of their most jealously guarded privileges. In short, none but the lord of the land may hunt on that land. Others caught killing even the smallest game animal are subject to severe punishment. Many quarrels break out over this, in particular with regard to a lord and his vassals.
The right of resort -- this allows lesser nobles to hear legal cases originating on their estates. It is surpassed only by the right of the king (saying the head honcho can declare that HE will hear the case regardless of that a lower lord says).
The right of seizure and lodging -- In short, when a lord leaves one castle to visit another the latter must be furnished for the occasion. Upon this event, a swarm of aides, horsemen, flunkies, butchers, and others simply raid the countryside, carrying off anything they can lay their hands on. Beginning with the Papacy of Harkan, nobility are required to at least leave the mattresses and blankets in the house. The right of lodging, means that the lord and their retinue are entitled to move into the houses of their vassals and simply force them out. Most of the true peasantry live in what we would consider such squalor that this is not a concern, but the lesser nobility (i.e. vassals and such of higher lords) also have this obligation. By modern standards, this is nothing short of outright thievery -- but remember that by medieval standards this was normal and expected. If a noble wants a new sword he either just takes it or orders it made, money is irrelevant.
A few such taxes which are common about the realm are:
The quit-rent -- this is an annual tax paid as a manifestation of obedience and constitutes a fee payable to the feudal lord signifying that the land was deemed to be given to the vassal. This is payable in the form of goods as well.
The corvee, or forced labor. This can be as specific or as vague as the lord likes. The hapless underling may be asked to cut wheat, carry it from the fields and then grind it, to tend the animals, clean the manor, or even beat the moat when the lord is in residence so the croaking of the frogs does not awaken the lord.
Naturally, while people are taking a piece of the poor peasant's hide, the Church must have its share. Of course, birth, marriage, disease, and death all give the clergy a pretext for looting the hapless peasant. Newlyweds are expected to abstain from sex for the first three nights of their marriage -- by order of St. Tobias. This, of course, creates yet another sin for which absolution must be obtained -- at a price, of course. At both weddings and funerals, a plate is given to the clergy; in some areas the clergy is even entitled to a person's deathbed. This, of course, is above and beyond any duties owed the clergyman as feudal lord of the area.
Most places in the Realm actually have evolved a sizable and active middle class. Now, in many cases, the merchants and money-lenders which make up the middle class are actually more wealthy than some of the lower nobility. What has evolved is an elaborate set of customs for determining who is who. In general, the bourgeois are prohibited from wearing clothes or jewelry which are reserved for the nobility. In particular: "No bourgeois shall own a carriage; they shall wear neither gold nor precious stones nor crowns of gold nor silver. Those bourgeois who are neither prelates nor dignitaries shall not have a wax torch."
While furs are also popular among the nobility, it is their more extensive use among the bourgeois which sets them apart from the mere peasantry.
Numerous games of cards and of dice are popular in the Realm, as is chess. Unfortunately, they have also been banned by the Church as "distracting". Among the younger folks, various athletic pursuits (wrestling, running, jumping, staves) are popular. Dancing is especially popular -- indeed, one gentleman was once moved to point out that "wherever four or more people are gathered, a dance is likely to break out."
Tournaments and hunting (both with dogs and falcons) is popular among the nobility. While it is forbidden for the peasantry to hunt, one of the more lucrative businesses available is to raise the animals which are commonly hunted. In this way, it can be guaranteed that the hunt will end with a capture of something.
The actual Black Mass, as known today, crops up virtually everywhere at some time or another. To truly understand the phenomenon and it's the reason for such tyrannical reaction to it, one need only remember that the common form is not a group of priestesses meeting covertly. It is instead a large mass of peasants, the half-starved, half-naked folks described earlier who gather -- not with the expectation of pleasure or power, but with the desire for vengeance. An Altar is erected in honor of "the great rebel serf, the old outlaw, unjustly driven out." A meal is eaten in common; a pseudo-Tiamat, dressed in black raises her head near an enormous fire. All those present renounce Bahamut and do homage to their new master. Each woman present is accompanied by a man. After the meal a wild and frantic dance begins -- leading to utter delirium.
As is evident, these feasts involve two distinct parts: an external display of joy, pleasure and drunkenness and, more importantly, a rebellion against society. It is a rebellion against the deity which has given riches and power to some while condemning others to hunger and squalor. It is an act of rage, of defiance, not a leap of faith.
For this reason, as much as any other, wizards are commonly put to death (under the proper ecclesiastical auspices, of course).
Names are given based on a person's lands and properties. Peasants, universally, have only their given name. As they are not nobility, and therefor have no recognized "family", they have no family name. The nobility, on the other hand, will have no less than three names: a given name, a family name, and another name indicative of their lands.
For instance: Sir Richard is Richard Stanley, Stanley being his family name. He is correctly referred to as the Baron Richard d'Arundel. (That is, the Baron Richard of Arundel.) He is NEVER referred to as Richard d'Chesterton. Chesterton refers to the LANDS, meaning that only his father is allowed the "name" d'Chesterton.
Another example: Houston is just Houston. When she reaches her majority, she will become Baroness Houston d'X (Uh, forgot the name of the province she is getting). But until then, she is just Houston.
Similarly, Sgacity is just Sgacity. And, in her role as Ambassador, that is all it will ever be. As an ambassador, she is allowed certain privileges not afforded other non-nobility -- that is, she has a seal of office. Technically, her broach, however, is a violation of the social customs of the day. Knowing it was a gift from one of the Elves, and her role as ambassador to most anyone, this is commonly overlooked (unless someone is looking for an excuse for something).
Organization of towns Other than York: central castle, surrounded by village, surrounded by fields, surrounded by wilderness.
Rural Population: Small farming hamlets. Figure the same organization sans the castle. Plantations are very rare. Usually a land- owner will set up a castle-type keep.
Monsters: That is, non-humans. True monsters are very rare, occurring most frequently about the borders of the Forest Savage. Hobbits and Gnomes are unknown. Dwarves were discovered living beneath the Tihamrah, but little contact has been established. Elves (friendly ones, that is) have only recently been discovered and are found only in York (the delegation) and in the Forest Savage several weeks west of the Waltham border. Folks in farming towns would probably still kill an elf on sight -- news reaches the back woods very slowly.
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