Population and Culture
Population distribution
The 55 million are divided into several social classes.
The biggest by far is the freemen class, with roughly 90% of people classified as such.
This class is further divided into farmers, who still make up the overwhelming majority of the population & reside in the countryside.
Free citizens dwell in cities & count amongst them craftsmen, traders and soldiers.
Below them in the social ladder are slaves. These 9.6% of the total population handle all tasks their masters ask of them.
Slaves are separated into 2 categories, criminal slaves & economic slaves.
Criminal slaves possess drastically reduced rights. Only those who committed acts such as murder, assault, rape & the like may become criminal slaves.
Economic slaves are those who were enslaved in civilian court, due to failing to repay their debts or the like. Economic slaves still possess many rights they had before enslavement like the right to live.
Most of the slaves are owned by private individuals, but a sizeable amount is employed by the Church & Government to be use in quarries, mines, and other dangerous occupations where physical labor is required.
The well-being of a slave reflects the wealth of their master.
More well-off people tend to have better funds to take care of them, however they can more easily afford a new one, should the old be irreversibly damaged.
And at the complete bottom of all this are the apostates.
Not even people and roughly 175 thousand (not even a third of a percent of the total population) plague the country. Apostates are to be arrested on sight to await execution.
They are easily identifiable by the dark burn marks that look like frozen flames all over their body and never heal. They have to rely on their own skills to survive, usually forced to live in remote places.
For the few that do appear in civilized society, they are either chased away, or quickly rooted out by any inquisitors nearby.
The reason as to why they are apostates varies from apostate to apostate, but all share one thing in common – they denounce Pravus and the Pravian Faith.
A special case that has been reported a few times are these so-called “heathens”. Their main distinguishing factor is that, unlike apostates who denounce the lord, heathens are not aware of his existence.
A few groups have been spotted in the continents abroad and they seem to be a product of unusual circumstances. None reside in the Imperium.
General Architecture
Aside from building being defined by the wealth of their owner, each fragmen has its own unique architectural style due to economic and geographic difference.
However, the main building block is the same everywhere – a reddish gray composite. The composite is made out of out of igsan, which is extracted from the great volcano of Napaca, and can be used to make a mixture similar to cement, except it is easier to make and the product is far superior with its insulation and structural strength, allowing the building of monoliths out of it. The more refined it is during the process, the better it becomes, and the color shifts to lighter and lighter shades, with the best usually being stark red. That kind is only used on some specialty buildings.
One thing you will find even in the smallest of villages are the churches.
The church building itself consists of a main ceremonial hall, and several smaller buildings, usually connected by narrow halls.
All of them have the shape of half spheres, so from a bird’s eye view the entire complex looks like a constellation.
The size and number of building vary depending on the location, but generally the main hall is no smaller than 15 meters in diameter, and the First temple of Pravus (the biggest one) boasts an impressive 300-meter diameter.
The main hall is only decorated by the altar, that is always a raised basin with a fire going in it at all times. The size depends on the entire main hall, but in general it reaches to a grown man’s waist. The fire is magical in the way that it does not require fuel, but it can be snuffed out by conventional means such as a lot of water or strong winds. Knocking over the bowl also snuffs out the flame.
The living quarters are located in adjacent buildings, as well as places for administrative matters and a room with a permanent teleportation circle. They are comparable in comfort to houses of the wealthiest freemen, but not quite as spacious.
This consistent design allows for people that have never visited the temple to still quickly orientate themselves.
Another well known “building” is the Imperial Highway.
Made of highly refined igsan, this path can easily fit three carriages abreast.
It looks like an endless bloody river, as no signs of wear or tear can be found even after several hundred years. In some places where the land underneath it has worn off due to natural and/or unnatural causes, the road still stands, suspended in mid air. Once this road is in place, it’s not moving.
Fragmen Architecture
The Central fragmen dictates what the other fragmens go off, to some degree.
Having the best building conditions, most houses are stone monuments two to three stories tall, with the occasional tower or two.
Columns are more often than not not just for structural purposes, usually with geometrical carvings.
In many ways, it mimics the Gothic style.
Faith fragmen, being all about the church, uses the style of temples in their regular buildings. It has the added benefit of standing up pretty well to the occasional sandstorm.
Round roofs are the norm, fireplaces are open basins and about a half of every house is actually underground, to shelter it from the heat. It has a generally oriental feel.
Trade fragmen has the disadvantage of no real land.
Instead, pillars of refined igsan are drilled into the ground, and houses are built on top and the sides of these. It looks like a tree house, but made of stone. Houseboats are less common, but can be found.
If you looked at a town in Edge fragmen from the top, it would look like a hive of various geometric bodies. Cubes, tetrahedrons, octahedrons, dodecahedrons and icosahedrons make up the villages, plastered together in weird and somewhat confusing arrays.
Aside from Emona, which follows the style of the Central fragmen, the rest of Magical fragmen makes heavy use of the trees that make up virtually everything. The few bases in Attuatuca Tuder take inspiration from the ancient ruins, creating sleek towers that blend in with the trees, sometimes even fusing with them.
The bleakness of Portal fragmen does not leave much space for creativity. All buildings are of a simplified style that Central has, with all the decorations gone. Instead, everything is made to be sturdy, practical, and battle-ready.
The last two fragmens are somewhat similar, in that they do not have a clear style. In Clan fragmen it is due to the multitude of factions each having their own style, in Wild it’s because people are generally happy with anything being built in the first place.