Commoners in Arkland

The life of commoners in Arkland is a duality between the freedom to rise in business along with subservience to land-owning nobility. This strange juxtaposition is created because although nobility maintain control of the government by controlling the land, they also have long ago come to accept that a people free to make business are also free to earn money, and thereby taxes. Thus, a richer commoner makes a richer noble. Although the life of most commoners in Arkland is a life of work and relatively low wages, when compared to the opportunities they are afforded and the ability for them to be educated and rise to another station as to that of other peoples, the life of a commoner in Arkland looks very appealing. Commoners in Arkland are a relatively content and proud group of people. They have a fierce devotion to Arkland as a nation and also to their respective home barony, but this devotion is less so directed at the nobility who live above them in magnificent homes and control their land. Typically, the commoners see the actions of nobility as so far removed from them that unless it is a matter of taxation or governance, they could care less what their lords and ladies are doing. This attitude is largely reciprocated by the nobility who are generally much more concerned with extending their power base rather than meddling in the lives of their tenants. Such a careless relationship has overall been very healthy for Arkland society as the nobility do not interfere and the commoner is largely left to his or her own devices.

## Life of Commoners

Depending on if the common family is city dwelling or lives in the countryside will largely determine their culture, outlook, and living conditions. For those that live in cities, typically this means living in small, often cramped row housing. Most Arkland cities tend to sprawl as the construction and maintenance of larger buildings is much more expensive and difficult. As such, city-dwelling commoners will often have smaller families, usually no more than two or three children, and live on sprawling dirt or sometimes brick streets that spiral away from the city center or docks or other important areas. Such commoners find work in the myriad opportunities afforded by city life, generally in business or industry, depending on what is available in that city. Many city dwelling commoners are also into arts and entertainment, providing theater, music, literature, or other arts. Still more commoners, especially those who can afford higher education, are involved in careers which would span metallurgy, engineering, chemistry, the sciences, or mathematics. When the sun rises, the people of the cities will mill about the streets, walking to work, carrying their lunch, manning street stalls, and otherwise engaging in the dull drums of city life.

In rural areas, commoners tend to live in much larger homes, built generally by the owning family, that sit on tracts of land used for farming or husbandry. Such rural Arklanders are almost always involved in the agricultural industry as feeding the bellies of the cities is a never-ending task. That being said, small villages also dot the landscape of Arkland whereupon rural businesses spring up to service all of the nearby farmers and provide central meeting areas for governance, trade, and socializing. Such villages are usually nothing more than a few buildings constructed alongside of Republic built and Arkland maintained roads. Life in rural Arkland is largely defined by region as the opinions and thoughts of rural Arklanders can vary dramatically and are often far different than the cities which tend to be more of a melting pot of society rather than adhering to long standing ideas and traditions. With larger homes and an endless need for help on the farm, rural Arkland families tend to be much larger than their urban counterparts.

All commoners are considered tenants of the land owned by their local nobility. As tenants, this means that they must essentially pay tax to continue to stay on that land. Such taxes are not oppressive but rather a small tithe of income to the local feudal lord. Since, for the most part, commoners are allowed free movement all throughout Arkland, an oppressive lord would simply drive away his tenants and thereby his taxes. In further exchange for taxes, the local lord also provides a modicum of government services including policing, military protection, arbitration, and just general law and order of the region. The nobility is also responsible for maintenance of the roads and any public works.

All in all, most commoners self identify by their work. They all share in common a sense of national pride as it is the prevailing belief of most that the country of Arkland is a powerful, wealthy, forward thinking, and excellent place to live. There is a system of laws, a strong government, protection, and social mobility.

## Families and Children

Arklanders throughout history have maintained monogamous relationships through marriage. A single family home has always been the ideal of Arkland life. Ideas of adultery or multiple partners are heavily frowned upon, and the sanctity of marriage is respected throughout Arkland culture but also within its laws. Arklanders court before marriage, often spending some lengthy time in courtship before committal. Arklanders are also free to break the binds of marriage should they see the need to. Typically, one spouse or the other would then go back to live with his or her family while the other maintains the home. This would be arbitrated on some occasions by an appointee of the nobility.

Most Arklanders have multiple chlidren. There is no free education in Arkland, and a family must both have the money and see value in education before paying to send their children to grammar schools. Not all children are educated, as often, the family expects children to follow in the family business which may not require literacy or education outside of home schooling and apprenticeship to succeed at. Those children that complete grammar education can also go on to higher institutes of education, but typically these institutes can only be found in cities. From there, universities also exist, but are very expensive, often relegated to the children of nobility due to cost, but are open to the public. Children who grow into a family business are apprenticed to their parents. It is therefore quite common for a man or woman to bring their older children to work as they teach them their trade. Such a bond between families and their work is largely respected in Arkland culture. Most city jobs include a place for children to learn the trades of their parents right alongside their parents.

For rural children, they will typically learn the skills of agriculture from their family with the goal of one day acquiring their own home and fields. In rural areas, interaction between children of families will most often happen on trips to local villages to purchase goods or to socialize.

## Interactions with Feudal Lords

As stated earlier, the average commoner has very little interaction with their feudal lords outside of public works, taxation, and the maintaining of law and order. The nobility almost never directly interact with their commoners, instead using appointees for these jobs. Thus, one of the first ways in which a commoner may interact with a lord is as an appointee. Appointees are essentially low level government officials. The structure of such appointees is dictated by the noble family as well as their titles, but most maintain some commonalities. There will invariably be an appointee of taxation, who is in charge of the coffers and of collecting money. There will be an appointee of law, who will then typically be in charge of law and order in the region, maintaining a staff of other paid commoners who act as police. There will be an appointee of the judiciary who effectively acts as judge during arbitration and maintains a staff of other judges and legal clerks whose job it is to write and interpret law. There will be an appointee of state whose job is the maintenance of roads and public works. Depending on if the nobility is rural or urban will depend on the number and size of appointee staff. Obviously, nobility with land holdings in a city require many more appointees to govern their larger population.

To become an appointee largely entails being born of a family that is already involved in government. To deal with government requires education and thus the families of appointees and their staff are well paid and able to afford the basics. To become staff, such as police or road maintenance, requires an in of some sort, usually through family or perhaps payment. A government job comes with some amount of status within the minds of commoners, and thus, they are heavily competed for. This is especially true of appointees who have daily interactions with the nobility, are handsomely paid, and of course, as they are in charge often of law and order, act as governance over others.

Beyond the stations of government, commoners almost never interact with nobility. If a commoner has a grievance that requires arbitration, they would file such a grievance with the office of the appointee in charge. Such it is that commoners interaction with their government is largely, simply, through other commoners.

## Working Life

Aside from agriculture, in which the commoner is largely in charge of his or her own business, most commoners work for a business owner. Often, such businesses are then further owned by a conglomerate which most likely ends up in a member of the Merchant Class owning the business. The laws and governance around working life are very few. Thus, the working environment varies heavily from business to business. There are very few contracts or other obligations concerning work, and thus, commoners and their respective businesses are free to work for, fire, and hire whomever they please. Largely, the current government mindset of business in the eyes of nobility is that the more they stay out of the way, the more likely businesses are to generate gold. Nobility are far more likely to involve themselves in the macro-economic scene by dealing directly with the Merchant Class than they are with meddling in the day to day operations of any given business.

Most commoners work until they are simply too old to work anymore. At which point, they are likely cared for by their immediate family until their death. Most businesses do offer paths forward, especially those that are owned as part of the business empire of a Merchant Class. Thus, a commoner, over the years, often finds him or herself moving up the business ladder, able to make more money and prosper.

Many commoners also work in arenas of highly skilled labor. This could be through high education such as engineers, but it could also be through specialized skill sets such as shipbuilders, construction, or artisans. Such positions are often highly coveted and entry into them is generally through nepotism.

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--Neil (talk) 19:12, 18 October 2016 (AST)