STATION
Wealth Distribution by Station:
In Regency Era England, society was structured into distinct classes, each with its own set of privileges and expectations. The hierarchy was broadly divided into:
1. Aristocracy/Nobility
Peerage: The highest echelon included titled nobility such as dukes, marquises, earls, viscounts, and barons. They enjoyed significant social standing, often owning vast estates.
Gentry: Below the peerage were the landed gentry, comprising wealthy landowners with significant influence and connections.
2. Upper Middle Class
Professionals and Merchants: Successful professionals, merchants, and businessmen occupied this tier. They accumulated wealth but lacked the hereditary titles of the nobility.
3. Lower Middle Class
Clerks and Small Business Owners: This group consisted of individuals engaged in trade or clerical work. They were more comfortable than the working class but lacked the financial and social standing of the upper middle class.
4. Working Class
Skilled Workers: Included artisans, skilled craftsmen, and tradespeople.
Unskilled Workers: Laborers and those engaged in manual work constituted the lower end of the working class.
5. Servants
Domestic Staff: Housemaids, butlers, footmen, and other household staff served the upper classes.
Farm Laborers: Those working on noble estates or farms.
6. Impoverished/Poor
Indigent Population: Beggers, those living in extreme poverty without consistent employment.
Social mobility was limited, and individuals generally remained within their designated class. Social status was not solely determined by wealth; lineage, education, and connections played crucial roles. The rigid structure of society provided a backdrop for the complex interactions and intrigues that defined the Regency Era.
RELATIONS
Race Relations:
It matters most what class in society someone is, and which family they are a part of, more than their race.... However, this is where the majority of each race resides– High Society • Humans, Elves, Half-Elves, Dwarves Middle Class • Humans, Halflings, Half-Elves, Half-Dwarves/Dwelves Lower Class • Humans, Halflings, Half-Dwarves/Dwelves
Class Relations:
As the Noble families gained and retained their power and influence via the magic they specialize in, and the industry in which they have monopolized, the most respected and powerful classes are those which grant arcane abilities. If someone was born without magical tendencies from a family of power, they would need to adopt a foracious drive to become something of note and respect in other ways so that the high society in which they were born did not dismiss them. Same goes the other way round- if someone of low class was born with high magical ability, they would be much more likely to make something of their lives than would have been afforded them.
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