The principle division in Arginese society is between nobles and commoners. Simply put, the nobles have titles and own land - nominally on behalf of the crown - and the commoners don’t. In practice the division is not quite as great, as nobles range from fabulously wealthy dukes and duchesses to impoverished knights, and commoners can likewise be very rich and influential despite their lack of title. Claiming descent from King Estienne was also traditionally the preserve of the noble houses but the distinction is now obsolete.
Although most commoners are peasant farmers or small-scale craftspeople, they make up the vast bulk of every profession. In a wealthy merchant’s household there might be dozens of people from the head of the house through retainers and servants to unskilled labourers, all of whom are considered commoners.
The noble houses are thoroughly hierarchical, with the crown at the top and several ranks below them: dukes, counts, barons, and finally knights. (The titles are considered to be the same for any gender.) The dukes of the realm have substantial numbers of vassals, but conversely it’s not unknown for a minor noble to owe fealty to more than one duke or count.
Each noble title is tied to an estate - an area held on behalf of a liege lord or the crown and worked by vassals and tenants. The long history of Arginet means that the larger estates are often scattered geographically, creating a sort of patchwork and discouraging any duke or count from concentrating entirely on a given region. Knights are more likely to make do with a manor and some farmland, while the poorest estates might consist of just a tower house and a couple of attached cottages.
The nobility are remarkable for their attention to heredity. Originally the rules governing how titles pass from one generation to the next were intended to preserve fey ‘blood’ within families, and although this is now known to be fallacious they are maintained as a matter of long-standing tradition.
When the holder of a title dies their firstborn child inherits it. If the holder has more than one title their younger children may be granted lesser titles by will, but they are more often married off into another family, retained as part of the household, or sent to make a living in the army or the priesthood. Any non-inheriting children of nobles are technically commoners, but socially they enjoy most of the advantages of the nobility.
Nearly everyone in Arginet receives at least a basic education. The average peasant picks up reading, writing, and arithmetic through a local church school or an apprenticeship, while richer youths might attend a private school or have a tutor. There are also colleges in some of the cities where young people from noble and mercantile families can gain a thorough education in such subjects as history, mathematics, grammar, administration, medicine, and magic.
The kingdom is a fairly civilised place for the most part and its people enjoy a number of modern conveniences. Wind- and watermills, printing presses, mechanical clocks, and eyeglasses are reasonably common; towns often have paved streets and some of the larger ones even have sewer systems. The prevalence of magical healing - even a small village is likely to have a witch or two - also means that deaths from accidents and injuries are uncommon.
Because of the lack of fighting at home for the last few hundred years, the military equipment available consists of a small amount of well-crafted arms and armour (longswords and chain or plate armour being favoured, with bows and crossbows for ranged support) and a lot of whatever can easily be requisitioned or improvised. Siege weapons are few and far between.
Arginet has never had much of an equestrian culture, and although horses are known they remain the preserve of the rich. As a result the armies mostly fight as infantry, and transport is mostly on foot or by ox-cart - it’s possible to travel faster by horse but expensive, and urgent messages are usually sent by magic. Travel by boat was traditionally common around the coast but is now avoided by most people due to the prevalence of sea monsters.
The diversity of humanity has been recognised and celebrated since time immemorial, and Arginese society equally includes people of a huge range of sexualities and identities. It would be considered rude in the extreme to draw undue attention to a person’s sexuality or identity or to suggest that it might make them somehow less capable or desirable.
Marriage within Arginet is an institution that exists as a bond between two or more people. There is no social expectation for a marriage in order to pursue an intimate relationship, so it is most often entered into as a sign of a long-lasting commitment. Ceremonies vary across the country and between traditions, but an exchange of rings or other tokens is most common, and a priest or the liege lord of one of the parties is generally called on to officiate.
Although many people marry with a view to having children, it is well-established that producing offspring is distinct from marriage - reliable herbal contraception is widely available and there is no stigma attached to adoption or to having children outside of wedlock.
Matters are a little different for the nobility. Due to the high political stakes and the desire to produce blood heirs, noble marriages are come with an expectation of permanence and absolute fidelity. If a noble has no biological children they are socially required to designate an heir from within their own family, usually a niece or nephew, to ensure the bloodline is continued; this is the usual practice in same-sex marriages.
Noble houses can become extinct if the title holder dies without issue and without having named a blood relation as heir, in which case the title reverts to the crown. They may also merge when heirs marry, thus accumulating titles (which may be of different ranks).
This section is borrowed in large part from the Impact brief, and I particularly welcome input to make sure it is as inclusive as possible.