Overview of the Society of the Empire

This is an overview of the different aspect of the society of the Empire of the Covenant. Links are provided for more detailed articles.

Gender

There is no gender-based discrimination, all occupations are open to both men and women and there is no practical or societal obstacles to them exercising them. The rulers of the Estates can be of both gender and neither is preferred above the other. Women do not take the name of their husband upon bonding and the children traditionally belong to both families, although they take the name of the household - the Estate for nobles - in which they are raised.
Transgender people are accepted and different types of magic have been developed for them, going from illusions to allow them to appear as they wish and artefacts to control their hormones, to powerful rituals that will irreversibly change their body. Such rituals require a huge level of magic, and so they take place during a big celebration in which all members of the local community participate. For individuals not well regarded by their communited, however, moving to a new place to start anew and form more positive relationships might be the only solution.

Example of ritual ground prepared for a ritual, by AmelieIS with images from Artbreeder and Unsplash

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Romance

Rather than a civil or religious contract, partners get bound together magically, thus creating a bond between their magic and their mind. The strength of such a bond is directly dependent on the magical power of the individual in question. People without magic cannot create a magical bonding and their "marriage" is seen as inferior. However, if they have the mean to do so, they can buy magical artefact that will reproduce some of the characteristics of a weak bound when they are worn.

Love by AmélieIs with images from nightwolfdezines on Vecteezy and Clker-Free-Vector-Images on Pixabay

Bonding ritual, by AmélieIS with images from Pixabay and Unsplash

All kinds of relationship are regarded as socially acceptable, monogamous or polygamous, heterosexual or homosexual, asexual and aromantic. This is because magic bonding is not primarily to create children, but as an alliance between individuals and Houses. As such, they can even occur without sex or romance, though sexual relationships of many kinds are widely accepted and sex is not seen as a taboo subject. Depending on the Estate, sex magic and sexual rituals can be practised and those can be private events for bonded partners or people joining only for the event, or they can be public events to raise more magic.


For more information, see Courtship Rituals and Mariage bonds.

Children

Children are mainly obtained through sexual relationships, but surrogate mothers can used by partners unable to have children together. In addition, rituals can be used, not only to increase fertility but also for individual not biologically able to bear children to do so and for individuals of the same sex to reproduce together. However, this asks for enormous amount of magic and thus it is not accessible to everyone. If the individuals concerned do not have enough magic but are still powerful, it is common to organise a ritual with friends and family member who can them help in raising more magic.
Having children is important for growing the size of Houses and ensuring their future. The eldest child of the current head of the House is not always the one succeeding their parents, anyone in the family is elibible, and if the head of a House does not want to have children themselves, they can always adopt. Neverthless, having a larger House means having more hands available to fight and defend it, and so having children is generally encouraged.

For more details see, see the Rites surrounding births in the Empire of the Covenant.

Babies by Rawpixel on DepositPhotos

Casting children out and adoption

Adoption ritual, by AmélieIS, created with an image from Rose Vectors by Vecteezy

It is possible for the Head of a House to choose to cast members of the family out of it, at which point the family ceases to be held responsible for their actions. However, the family does not hold the power to take the family magic away from those individuals or to force them to change their family name.

Orphans and children cast out or running away from their Houses can find refuge with other Houses and become their wards. Once they reach adult age, they cease to be ward but a special relationship still exists between them and the House. Formal adoption is rare and must be done through a ritual gathering all family members. This ritual affects the adoptees' blood, allowing to gain access to some of their new family's magics, although the changes made by the rituals are limited and would not be reflected on the adoptees' physical appearance, for example. After being brought inside the family magic, the adoptee can use the name of the House as their family name.

Religion

People practise a worship of their ancestors since, after their death, powerful mages leave a trace of their magic behind. This is especially true for noble families. The combine magic of the family can support the lords and ladies of the Estates in their everyday life, although this is usually rather minimal. In special circumstances, that magic can be contacted directly through rituals to ask them for guidance and advice. This happens notably during the Solstices and Equinoxes and special events such as bondings. The guidance of the family magic will manifest as feelings of support and intuitions.

Prayers and sacrifices by NickyPe on Pixabay

Language

The imperial library of the senate, by AmélieIS with an image from Skitterphoto on Pixabay

Many dialects are spoken through the empire, although because of the wide geographical area they have very little in common with each other and are not mutually intelligible. Big linguistic groups are represented by the island dialects, the Northern dialects, the dialects spoken by the nomadic people of the Haut Plateau, and the Southern dialects.

The Arianian language used to be one of the major language, but it has now become extinct. It is still now extensively studied in the Estate and the libraries of the Senate and the government host numerous books in the language.