Classism and You

[ChewableMorphine]

Alright plebians, gather 'round. We're gonna talk about classism! Ul'Dah is a city of riches, but also pretty much infested with bottomfeeders (like Ala Mighans). Where does your character stand on the social ladder? What impact has the other castes had on your character? Has Flynt successfully ruined your life through tax collection and or loansharking? 

 

[align=center]I'd assume it goes like this in Ul'Dah, feel free to debate/edit, and bold where your char stands:[/align]

 

[align=center]Syndicate/Bourgeoisie[/align]

 

[align=center]The Royals (Sultanate)[/align]

 

[align=center]The Immortal Flames (Blades, Torches, Sultansworn)[/align]

 

[align=center]Adventurers/Merchants/Petty Crooks[/align]

 

[align=center]Proletarians[/align]

 

[align=center]Refugees[/align]

[Unnamed Mercenary]

[align=center]None of the below[/align]

 

[align=center]Syndicate/Bourgeoisie

 

The Royals (Sultanate)

 

The Immortal Flames (Blades, Torches, Sultansworn)

 

Adventurers/Merchants/Petty Crooks

 

Proletarians

 

Refugees[/align]

 

...Franz is a proud Garlean. Why would he lower himself to Eorzean standards? Of course, there are those with greater power/rank than an exiled Garlean. But his primary reason for following Eorzean laws is to simply not get bothered by their politics. He might be waiting for Eorzea to destroy itself. Maybe. (they seem pretty good at it, judging by history)

[Melkire]

Ahem. Torches and 'sworn aren't Flames. See below.

 

[ChewableMorphine]

Ahem. Torches and 'sworn aren't Flames. See below.

 

 

W-well I'll be damned.

 

[nervously whips money at to shoo off]

[Edvyn]

filthy peasants

[Chris Ganale]

I wonder where, exactly, Ganale would fall in that hierarchy ladder. He's an Ul'dahn citizen and former member of the Flames, but is a mercenary now under a permanent contract and has a day job mining for Amajina and Sons.

 

My other characters are much simpler. Chao and Seno, the two who have anything to do with Ul'dah at all, are both refugees, and Seno is nominally a member of the Flames, but neither of them have a dog in the Ul'dahn race, as it were.

[Dogberry]

She came from Ul'dah she had a thirst for knowledge

She studied magic at the local college

That's where I caught her eye.

She told me that her dad was loaded.

I said "in that case I'll have a rum and hi-elixir"

She said "fine"

And in thirty seconds time she said

"I want to live with common people

I want to do what ever common people do

I want to raid with common people

I want to raid with common people like you."

What else could I do?

I said "I'll see what I can do."

 

I took her to the Shaded Bower

I don't know why but I had to start it somewhere

So I started there.

I said "now pretend you've got no money"

She just laughed and said "You're so funny"

I said "Yeah? Well I don't see anyone else smiling around here.

Are you sure you want to live with the common people?

You want to see whatever common people see?

You want to raid with common people?

You want to raid with common people like me?"

But she didn't understand.

She just /yes'd and held my hand.

[QueenFrejyalen]

Syndicate/Bourgeoisie

The Royals (Sultanate)

The Immortal Flames/Blades/Torches/Sultansworn

Adventurers/Merchants/Petty Crooks

Proletarians

Refugees

 

Frejyalen and co were once refugees in Ul'dah, but she was quick to climb the ladder into the middle/upper class as a sort of political consultant. Now she's living elsewhere, but she does still hold a little sway in Ul'dah. =]

[Zyrusticae]

Syndicate/Bourgeoisie

The Royals (Sultanate)

The Immortal Flames/Blades/Torches/Sultansworn

Adventurers/Merchants/Petty Crooks

Proletarians

Refugees

 

The flames hate her. She's powerful enough and useful enough to incenvitivize them to let her off the hook, yet her crimes of theft were too high-profile to ignore, hence her being forced to leave the city entirely to avoid arrest.

 

She's also so damn slippery that trying to catch her in the first place requires an excess of manpower that would have to be diverted from other peacekeeping tasks within the city, something they are obviously loathe to do for a single individual whose worst crime is taking some things that weren't theirs (and avoiding arrest, natch).

 

At any rate, even among adventurers T'rahnu is fairly wealthy, but she doesn't flaunt or display that wealth in any overt manner, so most people wouldn't even know it, especially from looking at her. At most she looks well-to-do.

 

As someone who has an excess of talent and skill in most things she does, she doesn't really understand the plight of the refugees and other low-class citizens. It's not that she's unsympathetic, but she also doesn't quite understand why they have it so hard that they cannot seem to break out of their collective ruts, considering she came from an immigrant background and clawed her way up to the position she's in now. It'd take someone explaining to her (in very clear, concise language) how her unseen privileges allow her to advance in ways that most people can only dream of to break her out of that particular shell.

[Coatleque]

As far as debating, I would not include the Flames/Torches/Sworn/Blades as a social class. They are/can be made up of people from many different mindsets and backgrounds.

 

The entire gist of the Paladin job quest, after all, is that there are monetarist Sultansworn out there trying to destroy the order from within. The 2.5 Hildibrand quest shows us that a commoner from the Golden Bazaar can even join their ranks. That would be quite the class elevation.

 

I would not include Refugees either as they are not citizens of Ul'dah, but that is my personal view.

 

---

 

For Coatleque, she tries to appear upper-class Royalist. She is even romantically involved with a monetarist nobleman right now (long story). At the end of the day she's just an Ala'Mhigan pretender.

[DrDucker]

Refugee and CRIMINAL

 

re-re-represent

[LiveVoltage]

I assume Proletarians are basically the regular citizenry. If so then Inessa is that.

 

Though in truth, Inessa and her mother are refugees since neither are native to Ul'dah. They are particularly successful ones though since they went into the city with marketable skills.

 

EDIT: Though Inessa was not conceived in Ul'dah, she was born there so Inessa's mom is technically the refugee while Inessa is a citizen by a technicality.

[Maril]

[align=center]Syndicate/Bourgeoisie[/align]

 

[align=center]The Royals (Sultanate)[/align]

 

[align=center]The Immortal Flames (Blades, Torches, Sultansworn)[/align]

 

[align=center]Adventurers/Merchants/Petty Crooks[/align]

 

[align=center]Proletarians[/align]

 

[align=center]Refugees[/align]

 

 

Nailah is somewhere between refugees and merchants. She has escaped her roots and leads a company these days, but the fact that she came to Ul'dah as a refugee when she was young will always brand her in some way, in the eyes of others and even in the eyes of herself. 

[Klynzahr]

[align=center]Syndicate/Bourgeoisie[/align]

 

[align=center]The Royals (Sultanate)[/align]

 

[align=center]The Immortal Flames (Blades, Torches, Sultansworn)[/align]

 

[align=center]Adventurers/Merchants/Petty Crooks[/align]

 

[align=center]Proletarians[/align]

 

[align=center]Refugees

 

 

[align=left]Klynzhar got her start in Ul'dah as a refugee in the fresh wake of the calamity. During her first year she drifted between begging, starving, and hard labour, living day to day with no real hope of improvement. However she was eventually offered the chance to enter the arena as an untrained gladiator. With a bit of luck and lots of stubbornness, she gained acceptance into first the gladiator's guild and then the adventurer's guild. While she has not been fortunate enough to ''make her name'' in either career, the combined gil from both represented a significant increase in her social status.

 

Unfortunately the sudden leap to middle class has turned Klyn into her own worst enemy. She might easily be one of those, folks whose lives have been rendered miserable by Flynt. Her lack of skill with money and chronic gambling addiction, practically guarantee that she is always in debt to someone and have firmly entrenched her status as a proletariat/broke adventurer.

 

My other characters avoid Ul'dah mainly to avoid such situations. Dahliane would be the exception and when she visits it would be in the character of a wealthy merchant.   

[/align]

[/align]

[Aduu Avagnar]

[align=center]Syndicate/Bourgeoisie[/align]

 

[align=center]The Royals (Sultanate)[/align]

 

[align=center]Military Orginisations (Blades, Flames, Torches, Sultansworn)[/align]

 

[align=center]Adventurers/Merchants/Petty Crooks[/align]

 

[align=center]Proletarians[/align]

 

[align=center]Refugees[/align]

 

Nako is an Flame Veteran, turned Merchant, though he can't quite let go of his past life, so sometimes leads some reclamation missions personally. He has aspirations to the Bourgeoisie however.

[Kurt S.]

[align=center]Syndicate/Bourgeoisie[/align]

 

[align=center]The Royals (Sultanate)[/align]

 

[align=center]The Immortal Flames (Blades, Torches, Sultansworn)[/align]

 

[align=center]Adventurers/Merchants/Petty Crooks[/align]

 

[align=center]Proletarians[/align]

 

[align=center]Refugees[/align]

 

[align=center][/align]

 

"Get on my labor, eat what I need not what I want."

 

-Insert Screenie of Kurt in YTC HQ in standard mook gear.-

 

Kurt didn't choose the prole life, it was assigned to him by way of (possible) government labor laws as well as Consortium contract policies.

 

All your raw materials are belong to Nako. 

 

-Insert screenie of Kurt sitting down in the YTC HQ in standard mook gear at the bar downstairs or maybe by the fruit table-

 

Don't you just feel the Bourgeoisie leaving Kurt when he eats that standard issue Consortium food?

 

-Insert screenie of Kurt in the YTC HQ in standard mook gear in his room, which is composed of nothing BUT a bed.-

 

Don't you just feel amount of compensation for all his labor when you look at his room?

 

OuO-b

 

Kurt is just a wage-earner in the Consortium whose only significant use is his manual labor skills...for now. He's also probably the first employee of the YTC and the boss's personal errand boy/girl...maybe Kat might come back maybe not.

 

Funny how he still fancies himself La Noscean.

 

All work and no play makes you a communist proletarian!

[Aduu Avagnar]

Now, Now! Kurt gets paid for his labour  and he has the offer of free teachings of Thaumaturgy and Arcanima should he choose to approach Nako about that  Plus, Nako has some plans for young Kurt.... that will become apparent around the time of the ball!

[Kurt S.]

I didn't say he doesn't get paid I even mentioned wage earning boss

[C'kayah Polaali]

[align=center]Syndicate/Bourgeoisie[/align]

 

[align=center]The Royals (Sultanate)[/align]

 

[align=center]The Immortal Flames (Blades, Torches, Sultansworn)[/align]

 

[align=center]Adventurers/Merchants/Petty Crooks[/align]

 

[align=center]Proletarians[/align]

 

[align=center]Refugees[/align]

 

There's nothing petty about C'kayah's criminal activities. Over the past couple of years, he's built up two organized crime groups from the ground up, working his way from a simple smuggler and thief. His current organization enjoys the favor of the Syndicate (courtesy of an under-the-table job for the Sultansworn), easily brings in many tens of millions of gil a year (ICly, of course), and has it's tendrils in many organizations across Eorzea. His organization employs a legitimate front business and has assets including multiple offices and safehouses scattered across the continent.

 

In the time that we've been around, as part of various RP arcs, we've smuggled things to avoid tarriffs: brandy, silver, and the like. We've also smuggled illegal things: explosives for a group in Vesper bay - they used them against the Garleans; a Duskwight perfume illegal in Ul'dah; potions and toxins of esoteric sorts. We've also stolen artifacts, precious gems, gold, and the like. We've taken on contract work ranging from ensuring the safety of a client who wanted to infiltrate a militaristic cult through work supporting the Sultansworn's attempts to leash the Flames. We've robbed caravans, we've captured rivals, tortured traitors, fabricated rumors to harm our competitors, and engaged in skirmishes both within Thanalan and without. And lastly, to secure C'kayah's privileges and allow his return to the city, he impersonated an Ishgardian guard to steal an Ishgardian seal for the head of a minor Lalafellan crime family.

 

There was tax evasion, too. But C'kayah paid the fine for that, for which he has a receipt.

[Kou]

[align=center]Syndicate/Bourgeoisie[/align]

 

[align=center]The Royals (Sultanate)[/align]

 

[align=center]The Immortal Flames (Blades, Torches, Sultansworn)[/align]

 

[align=center]Adventurers/Merchants/Petty Crooks[/align]

 

[align=center]Proletarians[/align]

 

[align=center]Refugees[/align]

 

I think as far as K'washi is concerned, he's probably at the bottom of the ladder. He has no citizenship, and he does odd jobs and things. There's not much money to his name (though he's become much better at saving).

 

Hasn't been taxed yet, though. But that's probably 'cause no one can ever really find him. He's a quiet little one, that Seeker.

[Seriphyn]

Mm, how would I divide Ul'dah's social groups...roughly based off of something analogous to RL history. I'd argue this is my attempt to make something comprehensive.

 

THE RICH

Royalist nobility

Members of Ul Dynasty, relatives, and sycophants.

Monetarist nobility

Nobles of the merchant class allied to the Monetarists.

Independent aristocracy

Merchant nobles, merchants, and traders with no allegiance to the two main factions.

 

THE RELIGIOUS

Order of Nald'thal

Would like a little lore help here...we have the Ossuary and Sacrarium, right? Are they necessarily opposed?

 

THE ARMY

Royalist-aligned military

The Immortal Flames standing army and Sultansworn royal guard

Monetarist-aligned military

Brass Blades and Stone Torches

Mercenary class

Unclear if these weren't absorbed, but the mercenary orders that constitute(d) the bulk of Ul'dah's military

 

THE MASSES

Cityfolk

Inhabitants and commoners of Ul'dah who live within city walls, neither rich nor destitute.

Countryfolk

Inhabitants and commoners of Thanalan who live out in the towns and villages.

Miners

Arguably their own class, given Ul'dah's mining economy, but equally could be merged with countryfolk.

Refugees and paupers

Ala Mhigans who failed to integrate and those displaced by the Calamity. Also other destitute who found themselves with nothing for some reason or another.