Nobility
The nobles of the Noble District comprise of sixteen noble families.
Culture
Average technological level
The Mason Family works tirelessly to provide inventions and technology for the Noble Court and the wider city. Clockwork automatons patrol the streets and guard many of the noble estates.
The Noble District is also teeming with magical technology, generally powered by gems that contain trapped Spirits (usually Genies) from other planes of existance. It would be unheard of to find a Noble who wore no magically enhanced clothing or carried no magical equipment.
Common Dress code
Nobles generally wear their family colours, except at Court where they must wear predominantly red and black. The Viziers and Subviziers are the only nobles permitted to wear the spiked-pin turban that denotes their rank.
Some of the female Nobles wear a magical gem in their forehead, as both a fashion statement and to exploit the magic of the gem itself, which will generally contain some kind of extraplanar Spirit (usually a Genie).
Art & Architecture
The massive estates of the noble families are resplendent with ornate architecture and myriad rooms (far more than would be acceptable even if there weren't a shortage of space in the lower districts). As the city sinks, the noble homes build extensions upwards, so that the inhabitants can always look out over the city walls. This means that, particularly for the oldest families, there are forgotten and abandoned parts of their mansions that delve deep into the undercity - a handy access point for lower-level Rebels to attack without warning.
Foods & Cuisine
The nobility have access to a wide variety of exotic foods, often imported from the elemental planes by the Honourable Company. Such foods are considered delicacies, or even non-existent, in lower levels of the city, since they are heavily taxed with Interplanar Trade Fees. Fish and other seafood is particularly popular in the Noble District despite being almost unheard of in the lower regions, due to the sea no longer existing.
Ironically, despite their seemingly endless access to any food imaginable, many noble dishes are often unpleasantly cold or bland, with the focus being on the scarcity of the cuisine rather than its taste. Refusing to eat any served food is considered a grave offense, as it implies that the noble believes the food to have been tampered with in some way. This societal pressure means that noble children, in particular, are often obliged to consume more food than is comfortable for them, even as people in poorer districts struggle to find enough to eat.
Ironically, despite their seemingly endless access to any food imaginable, many noble dishes are often unpleasantly cold or bland, with the focus being on the scarcity of the cuisine rather than its taste. Refusing to eat any served food is considered a grave offense, as it implies that the noble believes the food to have been tampered with in some way. This societal pressure means that noble children, in particular, are often obliged to consume more food than is comfortable for them, even as people in poorer districts struggle to find enough to eat.
Birth & Baptismal Rites
When a new baby is born at the Noble Court, it is customary for the family to throw a party. They distribute commemorative memorabilia (often embroidered handkerchiefs), particularly if the baby is an heir.
Common Myths and Legends
Throughout Palimpsest, the worship of any deities outside the Eight sanctioned Human gods is heavily penalised, and nowhere is this more strictly enforced than among the Nobles themselves. Each of the "human" families act as court representatives of one of the Eight constellations, and any mention of the existance of other gods could get a Noble banished or executed in a Whisper Vote.
Ideals
Beauty Ideals
Oppulence and conspicuous consumption have always been prominent at the Noble Court. Ever since the Humans became the dominant species at Court, the beauty standards have streamlined to follow the human norms.
Gender Ideals
Amongst the nobility a strict binary cisgender is enforced, to the point where it is not acknowledged that alternatives exist. Any nobles who would claim otherwise could be grounds for concern, perhaps even sparking a Whisper Vote should they publicly self-identify outside the norm.
Relationship Ideals
Relationships at the Noble Court are seen as purely diplomatic exchanges, with betrothals arranged by the Viziers and Vizieras of the involved families. Noble Marriages between the human families take place on the month of the husband's family, and the day of the wife's family, while marriages involving the non-human nobles are more temporally relaxed.
Same-sex relations are strictly forbidden at the court, with those who engage in them in danger of being subjected to a Whisper Vote, where they are likely to be "Banished" or even "Executed".
Major organizations
Before the advent of the Honourable Company, the Noble Court of Palimpsest was ruled by a reasonably even spread of species of various races. This changed when the Lord Captain Emissary was nominated to the Noble Court in 1281. He set about a restructuring of the Nobility, and over the next decade he introduced eight Human (or so he thought) families to the court to balance out the pre-existing Non-Human families. The Noble Court now comprises of eight officially "human" noble houses, and eight "non-human" houses.
Related Organizations
- House of Baharat
- House of Bakerstreet
- House of Brasseyes
- House of Brattice
- House of Carterhold
- House of Dargent
- House of Dargent-Laureat
- House of Darktusk
- House of Greenskin
- House of Ironside
- House of Jackalslicer
- House of Laureat
- House of Lordliwise
- House of Mason
- House of Nightkeeper
- House of Ratrider
- House of Shajara
- House of Spoliator
- House of Stargazer
- House of Underhand
- House of Zynx
- Noble Court
Related Locations
