Patino Riesig Steak Dinner

Thanie's eyes bulged when the steak was placed on the table. The largest cut of beef she had ever seen before this was a thick ribeye cut she was served at Ebensberg, during her graduation dinner at the Longhall. That steak had been the size of her upper arm; this one was bigger around than her head.
"Impressed?" Her erstwhile supervisor smiled at her reaction. Serei managed the Unified Trade Consortium's sundries manufactory in the Lower Ward, so Thanie figured she wasn't the first new employee treated to a Riesig. "You'll only find these cuts here in Patino, they don't sell them this big anywhere else in the Principality."
Thanie drew her knife over the smallest end of the steak she could find and took a bite. It was incredibly juicy; crisp on the outside, perfectly seasoned and peppered, with a soft inside. She chewed and savored the taste while Serei pushed an envelope over the table.
"I have to say, Thanie, you're one of the best new workers I've seen in a long time. I know you said you had worked on a manufactory line in Gyre, but you're top notch at the auto-press, we didn't see a single mistake get through. So consider this well earned." Serei tapped the envelope. "Seven hundred Florin, all yours. But before you take it home and spend it on anything silly, I've got to give you a quick chat on how things work in Patino. The pay is great, but there's a lot of ways to waste it here in the city."
Thanie cut off another piece of steak and nodded. She had heard this talk before, but that was at the official reception she and Magistrate Haideri got at the District Commander's estate when they presented themselves. In her role as an undercover manufactory worker, the talk was more intimate. She swallowed. "I've heard there's lots of scams and stuff, people looking for easy marks."
"You've heard right." Serei had no entree herself, merely some rye bread and butter she was nibbling on. "All sorts of get-rich-quick schemes, folks that'll approach you on the street to promise that if you invest some money in their new opportunity, you'll get double your money back in under a season. Women of the night throwing themselves at you...well, maybe not you, I suppose?" The supervisor smiled. "Best avoided either way. But it's not all about what not to spend your money on, but how to manage and keep your money. I don't suppose you have a banking account?"
Thanie shook her head. Thanie, the new manufactory worker, only had the Florin in her wallet, but Thanie Aldur, apprentice to Magistrate Haideri Alyr and the Longhall, had an account at the High Bank of Etoile in the Capital City. "My mother always told me to not trust banks with my money."
Serei gave a sad smile, but Thanie saw it as more pitying. "Banking has come a long way under the Progress of the Principality. The banks today can be trusted to keep your money safe - at least, safer than stashing it in your mattress for the evening. Not that your mother was incorrect in her day, but the times are more modern now..."

History

Patino, the Machine City is the principal manufacturing center of the Principality of Etoile and is the second most prosperous city in the nation, only exceeded by the Etoile Capital City. The near-unlimited power drawn from the Patino waterworks, however, allows Patino to continue its industrial growth at a pace the Capital cannot match, making the city a job-draw for any Etoilean looking to get a fresh start.
The balance of labor to jobs tilts heavily in favor of labor; new manufactories are opened every year, and workers running the manufactory lines are in very high demand, making Patino manufactory workers the most well paid in the nation, thanks to the efforts of the Travailiers. For many workers moving to Patino, their first wage payment is likely the largest single payment of Principality Trade Florin they have ever received, causing a bit of culture shock. As a result, many workers wasted their initial pay or were targeted by scams. In response to this, several manufactory supervisors as well as Travailier labor-chiefs have made a point of introducing new Patino arrivals to the city with a lavish dinner at a local restaurant, where they can speak freely and help people learn the lay of the land. This is not purely an altruistic move - making sure Patino is welcoming to new workers keeps the flow of workers coming to the Machine City to work the lines, critical for the city's continued growth.

Execution

Depending on the structure of a worker's contract at a manufactory, they are either paid by their supervisor at the manufactory, or are paid indirectly through their membership in the Travailers by a labor-chief. In either case, when a new arrival to Patino is set to receive their first pay, the person paying them will take them out to dinner at one of the many fine dining restaurants in the Crafter's Ward for an enormous steak dinner, the famous Patino Riesig Steak. Over dinner, the conversation will tend towards responsible wage management and responsibility, as well as looking out for scams and not emptying the wallet of Florin too quickly. The ideal outcome is that the worker becomes aware of the prosperity of Patino as well as all of the scams and hucksters that inevitably get drawn to a prosperous and dense city.

Components and tools

While not, strictly speaking, a 'necessary' component of what is essentially a conversation on financial responsibility, the Patino Riesig Steak is a potent symbol of newfound prosperity. A massive steak that weighs over two pounds, such a dinner easily costs over 250F, over three weeks of average rent in most parts of the Principality. The average wage in the Machine City, however, is upwards of 150F a day, over twice the average in the country. The Riesig steak represents the reward for high value labor and a first introduction to a higher standard of living.

Participants

Although sometimes the Riesig dinner is held as a party, most often it's simply a one-on-one dinner between a supervisor and a new worker to Patino. The supervisor takes the role of a guide to the Patino lifestyle, instructing the fresh arrival as to norms of behavior and scams and pitfalls to watch out for.

Observance

For any given new worker in Patino, the dinner happens only once, as 'old hands' in Patino don't necessarily need the guidance. This ritual became a trend around the year 650 before becoming nearly universal by roughly the year 660.

Primary Related Location

Patino, the Machine City