Humans: Baseline

Cultural Notes: The human population of the city has, by and large, been here for generations. They represent every stock, every culture in the known world and some that no one can identify. The 20 Families comprise the human nobility and have concentrated most of the wealth to themselves. The Noted Families are second-tier nobility, equivalent to the Squires and Baronets of the English countryside.

Due to the simple historical accident of timing, humans in The City commonly regard themselves as a pinnacle of development and creation. A constant influx of fortune-seekers from elsewhere in the world keeps their population growing, and their adapability has moved them into every niche in the city, from the lowest sewer-scavenger up to Wizards and political leaders of great repute. Addressing the character of every human ethnic group moves beyond the scope (or capacity) of this document, and attention will instead be focused upon the five main economic/social groupings of humans in The City.

1. Nobles - the 20 Families can supposedly trace their roots back 1000 years or more, although this is not investigated too closely by geneology researchers, as a family wealthy enough to forge official records is also wealthy enough to have annoying researchers disposed of. The 20 Families are as closely allied with the Elves as possible. They tend to regard earning money with the same regard they do collecting dung, and one never asks a member of the 20 Families what he or she does. Women tend to stay out of politics, although there have been a few female Peregrines.
2. Merchant Princes - Many of these are allied with the 20 Families, operating with the tacit support of one or the other Families in return for a cut of the profits going up the line. A few Merchant Princes are wealthier than the 20 Families, although socially they still suffer for being "nouveau riche". Women are given significantly fewer opportunities, and the idea of a "Merchant Princess" is regarded as something of a joke among them.
3. Guildsmen - The Trade Guilds are the bedrock of The City, dividing all careers and jobs between them, sorting out pricing and competition among themselves. Not all members of guilds are craftsmen, though - accountants, clerks, thugs and the like are employed by the Guilds and are regarded as full members (and, in some cases (most notably the Firefighters' Guild), have assumed full leadership. Relations between the sexes are in general more egalitarian, although some Guilds are more strictly segregated between the sexes. Membership in the Guilds is primarily hereditary, although it's not unknown for allied Guilds to foster or apprentice their children with each other.
4. Bureaucrats - They keep The City running, collecting taxes and identifying problems in The City, occasionally rising enough to marry into the second- or third- tier of the 20 Families or the Merchant Princes. While the actual amount of graft is small (especially compared to the amount of money flowing through The City on a daily basis), they are commonly viewed as corrupt and self-serving. Annual tests for entry-level positions draw thousands of hopefuls, not just from The City but throughout the area. A common saying in The City is that children of the 20 Families go first to the Assembly, secondly to the Merchant Princes and lastly to the Bureaucracy.
5. The Rest - Ranging from the mudlarks that scavenge the sewers for valuables up to shopkeepers, guards and seagoing merchantmen, this group is the largest, as well as the most varied and the most volatile.

Lord Harven

Jerubel Weyland

Master Stonemason Maeglin