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Tweak says, "Golden gardenias."

Mod upon a time. (adinitium) wrote,
@ 2012-02-20 16:33:00

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the INFO

This page is meant to provide some basic contextual information about wizarding life and society in the 990s. If you feel I've left anything out (and you don't see it here), please comment! (All comments are screened.)

Government

While, in general, the wizarding community is loosely organized and spread all about the land, a representative council still exists (and has for the past two hundred years) to decide upon matters "of importance." This is the Wizards' Council. It consists, currently, of 14 wizards and witches - two from each of the kingdoms of the old heptarchy (Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia, Essex, Kent, Sussex and Wessex) and is lead by a Chieftain(ess).

Presently, the Council Chieftain is Old Odberht of Wessex, a wizened man, more concerned with chasing veelas than much else.

The Council's influence is not, at present, far-reaching. Many prefer to govern themselves and most do in their day-to-day lives. The majority of villages and collectives have their own chosen leaders.

Remember there is no Statute of Secrecy yet. There are no rules on who may or may not carry wands. No Werewolf Registry. Indeed, the main aim of the Council is to simply keep members of its community alive.

Education

Much like the lack of cohesion in governing bodies, there is no instituted program for the education of magical youth. This task falls to the parents, along with a few known tutors and academics. While being taught to plow the fields and help with household duties, children are indoctrinated in the various branches of magic.

With no year or class restrictions, most witches and wizards learn and grow at their own rate. It's not uncommon to find a twenty year old witch skilled in the ways of alchemy and potion making, standing next to a wizard of the same age who's still learning the basics of transfiguring a shoe into a glove.

Occupations

The usual array of occupations - from artisanal pursuits to farming - are open to wizards and witches alike. (Although, it should be noted, that if a witch wishes to pursue a career in a very Muggle-dominated field, she needs to tread somewhat carefully. Although notions of gender are different in 991 than in 2012, they do exist. Many women work, but it's best to err on the side of caution. Many women are also married off after they experience their menarche, so there you go.) Many choose to continue the (sometimes ig)noble professions of their parents, while yet others reject such notions and live transient lives, adventuring abroad.

Some examples of vocations include, but are not limited to: farming (incl. all manner of things from shearing sheep, spinning one's own wool, to plowing), cobbling, smithing, medicine, clergy ("clerical") or nunnery, fisher, scribe, potions master, adventurer, bard, spell inventor, teacher/tutor, merchant, candler, tailor, tanner, hunter, fletcher, midwifery, wet nurse, weaver, carpenter, embroiderer, baker, brewer, barmaid/man, vintner, miller, dyer, armorer, saddler, healer, goldsmith, hatter, locksmith, potter, leech collecter (haha), alchemist, astronomer, Seer, &c.

Wands

Just as there are those known for their craft and skill in smithing or cobbling (good shoes are important!), there are those renowned in the world of wands. The widest known name in the English wand market is that of Ollivander. This family has been in the business of creating and selling wands since 382 B.C. They're good at it. However, few but nobility are able to afford the luxuries of such quality (or outsourcing).

Wandmaking, the generations of Ollivanders would tell you, is a precise art and takes considerable skill to do well. Most families must, in any case, make their own wands - which means some are better equipped than others. Lack of suitable wand may be the reason behind many a witch and wizard being deemed a Squib in this day and age - and of course, lends a semblance of support to the argument that those of 'thinner blood' have less potent magic (in reality, the issue is not blood, but that Muggleborns and Halfbloods are much less likely to receive wands as children (or magical education, for that matter)).

It is a grand day indeed when young witches and wizards receive their first finished wands, after years of anticipation (and perhaps see its stages of production, and participating in the gathering of ingredients). It's a rite of passage - tangible proof of one's maturity and skill. (Most get their wands around eight or nine, but some get theirs earlier and some later.) It is a precious possession and not to be taken lightly.

Community & Communication

Wizards are widely spread over Britain, and not often do they live in purely magical villages. Most are intermingled here and there amongst Muggles. That is not to say, however, that they aren't a community. Most can recognize a kindred soul (some even have special pendants, etc., they wear that are only recognizable to those in the know). And with the help of journals, Apparation, and broomsticks, wizards and witches are much more mobile than their non-magical counterparts, able to.

Marriages, Arranged & Otherwise

A touchy subject to be sure, marriage is at once a very private affair within the community, as well as a surprisingly public one. Everyone has their opinion as to what it means, whether they should be arranged or not, and if one ought be allowed to dissolve one's marriage if one wishes such. There is no 'right' way to handle such an issue, but there is the most popular: arrange your children's marriages as you see fit, for politics, social or financial gain, to keep them safe from Muggles. Ignore their protestations. You remember your own before your wedding. They don't know what's best for them.

Such is how it's done. Not by all, naturally. There are those who encourage unions founded in love or, simply, the heart's desire (love, lust, or otherwise). There are those who look upon marriage and all it represents with disdain. But these folk are in the minority. Most understand that, for the greater good of wizarding kind, made marriages are necessary. The wizarding community isn't large and the threats to it from the outside are large and real. Marriage within keeps blood pure (important to some), lets magic flow freely in households, and encourages education. It also tends to keep surprised Muggle spouses from sending their own husband or wife to the pyre. That, and most Pureblood families know each other well (and are likely related in some distant way). It's an easy way to keep close.

[To play matchmaker for your own character, check out the Pairings page.]

Death & Wards

Death is an everyday reality in 991. Most children over the age of five have witnessed someone dear to them pass on. While magical folk tend to live longer lives than Muggles, they are by no means immune to accidental deaths, murders, &c. Many women die during childbirth and many infants never make it to a year. Many men are cut down in battle or in brawls. Adventurers are torn apart by trolls and werewolves, left for the crows to eat their eyes. This is the way of life (and death, as it were). You will see bodies in ditches, set for show on spikes on the road, or swinging from trees as a warning.

That said, there are many who are raised in families that, by blood, are not their own. They are wards. This is a common practice. Oaths are made by dying parents to bind the guardians to their words - to raise the wards as if they were their own. That doesn't mean they are always so welcoming, however.

Blood Status, Social Status

Following contemporary Muggle traditions, ancient wizarding society is divided into a milieu of social strata - which tend to be much more fluid than one might imagine. True, there are slaves as there are ealdormen, but a slave can pay her/his debt (if that's why s/he was indentured) or be freed, and an ealdorman could have his horde stolen and dispersed, leaving him destitute. As a general tendency, those with more than five hides* of land, and who come from families who own land are considered better off than those who merely work and live on said land, exchanging portions of their harvests for the protection of their lord. (*One 'hide' equals the space to provide for five families.)

Blood status, on the other hand, is rigidly defined and enforced. Much more than wealth or land, blood status in wizarding society correlates almost directly to (non-Muggle) social standing. Consorting (marrying/engaging in activities with, etc.) with Muggles, partly due to the fact that most are seen as enemies - and also because some within the wizarding community hold to the idea that magical potency resides in the veins (metaphorically), is generally frowned upon. - As is always the case, there are those who disagree with such ideas - and some who take it a bit too far.

the Dark Arts

Suffice it to say, there is little to no regulation on practices that would be deemed "dark" in Harry Potter's Wizarding Britain. Curses and poison-making are taught right alongside Transfiguration and Astronomy, and are considered standard fare. The world of "good" and "evil" is much grayer in 991, and most dabble on both sides.

Spells & Oaths

991 is a time of much exploration and invention for spells and spell-scribing. While there are hundreds yet to be riddled out or written, there are still hundreds varieties for the wizard's arsenal. Much like the dark arts, there is no regulation of spells - hence, there are a great many that are synonyms (they do the same thing), as well as a good majority that are horrifically, monstrously violent.

The most powerful and revered branch of spells of the time are oaths - spells that bind the swearer to his or her word. (This type of spell died out during Enlightenment, but some managed to endure centuries, and still prove potent one thousand years later; the Fidelius Charm among them.) Even among Muggles, oaths are significant, believed to hold some sort of magic of their own - there is little other one can depend on, after all. When someone gives you their word, should they choose to betray that oath, they will henceforth be branded as a renegade - as someone wholly untrustworthy. A woman's or man's oath is, in someways, her or his life. This trend holds true for wizards and witches as well.

Many an oath exist that upon treachery kill or badly maim the traitor at once (or over a very excruciating, prolonged period of time). Many exist with dire consequences, paralysis, depression - which is why they are not to be given lightly.

Currency

At this point in time, Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts do not yet exist. In their stead, wizards and Muggles alike use items of value (e.g., bartering one's best horse), gold (e.g., valued in weight; you could chop up a golden bracelet to pay for something, for example), and skills (e.g., work in exchange for food). There are no strict, controlled ratios of gold to silver, or the like. As the economy is production and subsistence based, there is no need for such.

Beasts & Beings

There is much debate amongst the wizarding community as to what (or who) constitutes a beast and what/who a being. Are veelas beings? Werewolves? Goblins? Trolls? House Elves? The definition of 'sentience' is very controversial - and changes from person to person. The same goes for general attitudes and feelings towards the "beasts/beings" themselves. [Beasts also roam the land relatively freely. See the "Death & Wards" section above to see what happens when you run into one.]

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