A discussion on social standing within the Empire.

Without this being a slap on any of the layer’s wrists, I want to open up this discussion and see what everyone thinks.

The party was created, on my part, with the aim to have a number of different layers within the party, so that any research and investigation on every social step on the ladder could be investigated by one of you.

Castian:
Religious. Almost a social level in itself, onto which he can and will rise and the story goes on and he achieves higher levels within the priesthood.

Gotwin:
a member of the lower nobility. Is able to converse with any of the people of higher standing you encounter, be it nobility or mercantile, without being fobbed off by a higher class or ‘overwhelming’ a lower class by their status (for example, if he would talk to a beggar, that would have little effect, as the guy would probably be scared senseless)

Wigand:
lower class, invisible to the upper classes, but probably the only one in the group who can go and talk to some dubious elements of society or kitchen staff in a nobleman’s household, without sticking out too much.

Ludwig:
middle class, and with his quick tongue probably the one who will have least trouble to get info out of the hangers-on, the young student and artist crowd, etc.

As without, also within:
status is present everywhere, so also within the group. To give an example, if Gotwin would treat and talk to Wigand as an equal, to the outsider that would: a. lower Gotwin’s status, and b. raise Wigand’s status, resulting in commoners not seeing Wigand as one of them, and upper class not respecting Gotwin’s class, as he clearly likes to slum.

 Same goes the other way around, if Wigand would give Gotwin a mouthful or ridicule him.

Again, be very careful how you treat others. It was getting into shallow waters on Friday when Ludwig almost put a crossbow bolt into a high-ranking merchant’s hand, just because he didn’t come forward quickly enough with the information he wanted to hear. Think about repercussions. This man, and this information has been made available to you, is a ranking personality in this town, with a finger in many pies. Where do you go from there? Kill him? What kind of reaction can you expect from that? Let him live and walk away? Is he really going to say “oh dear, I shouldn’t have kept out on that dilettante” or will he put things in motion to get even and then some?
Every action has a reaction, and regardless of who you are this world is a lot bigger than the party, regardless of who is in it.

See situation such as this as a dance, figure out what the next step is and which are the possible faux-pas, and how they can and will affect you. Unless you’re dealing with a mutant or an orc, violence is probably not the first, second or even third option to consider…

I have put Lothar in here as some kind of moral compass and the go-to person when in doubt. He is not at all there to solve each and every thing, but the guy to kind of ‘put you on your way’. He will, as you probably realize, not be there for the whole ride.