Innovation is in the air. New technologies appear every day, the magical arts are flourishing, and the court tongues have never been more silver. The past is being re-examined and - if necessary - discarded in favour of the new. It was recently discovered that the heart pumps the blood around the body. Talented young playwrights are taking to the stage with bright, bombastic comedies and debauched, revengeful tragedies alike. Priests perform their sermons on street corners, attended by crowds a hundred strong. Painters are creating some of the most striking works seen to date. The universities flourish, and overreaching young scholars flock to their halls. If you listen in the right places, there are whispers of religious and political sedition. It has never been more exciting to be an Esharian.

The past few decades have seen a lot of translation and re-examination of formerly forgotten Hashar texts, leading to scientific leaps and bounds. It is steadily becoming more accepted that the earth revolves around the sun rather than vice versa. Anatomy is becoming increasingly more accurate. The universities are increasingly and overwhelmingly fascinated with algebra. The printing press has just been invented, allowing books to be distributed like never before.

Heavy muskets are only just starting to see widespread use, joining cannons and other simple artillery. Gunpowder is used in warfare and (more unusually) in simple fireworks. Rifles exist but are highly inaccurate and used only for sport.

Many of these innovations originated in the Wetlands, and their inventors continue to attempt more exciting and complex designs.

It is generally accepted that the body is made up of four humours: black bile, yellow bile, phlegm, and blood. Disease is caused by having an abundance or deficiency of any one of these. However, unlike the equivalent real-world theory, Esharians do not believe in any significant difference in humours between men, women, or other genders.

Another prominent theory is that disease is caused by inhaling bad air (or miasmas). Bad smells are not just unpleasant but present a health risk.

Every few years, outbreaks of plague occur. Previous bouts have all but decimated the population, but these are increasingly rare. While the disease has subsided, it has yet to fully disappear. Since you are in an opulent environment, plague will not present a threat to you unless you actively seek it out.

All humans are capable of magic. It has never been otherwise in living memory. History suggests it has not been otherwise since people first started to develop the ability around 700 years ago. Magic is a completely normal part of life, and is rarely marvelled at or remarked upon.

While everybody has the raw ability to use magic, it functions much like physical exercise. It taxes your energy but the more you practice, the more you will be able to do without tiring yourself out. An experienced athlete will be capable of more extravagant or unusual feats than your average person. There will always be limits to what the human body can achieve, and it is possible to die of overexertion.

The effects of magic are slight, but substantial enough to tip the scales in your favour. For example, the tiny boost of strength needed to defeat your enemy, the efficiency needed to make your supplies last that little bit longer, the determination to cling to life against the odds.

This is accomplished by exerting your will. While some magicians use components like wands, lengths of string, or straw dolls to help them focus, none of these are required for successful casting. It has been well established that they do not alter the power of a spell beyond providing a placebo effect.

The vast majority of Esharia’s magical knowledge comes from ancient Hashar texts - passed down, preserved, and collated into educational manuals by present-day scholars. Magic is part of any good grammar school curriculum - all citizens of lower-middle class or higher have a basic knowledge. This covers the basic constituents of magic, how to cast small, simple spells, and how to recognise magic when it is cast. As such, casting magic without being detected is highly difficult.

A spell is made up of three components: the Purpose (the overall goal), the Inflection (a subtler more fine-tuned manipulation), and the Target (what you’re casting the spell on). The Inflection typically has a longer lasting effect than the Purpose. Anyone with a basic education can tell what a spell’s Purpose is - only the trained can detect the Target or Inflection.

This is the way all spells are cast in polite society. Anything that doesn't follow these conventions is at best quaint and at worst highly improper.

Example spells:

• Increase morale + Eagerness to kill → Troops = An army that is both motivated and more bloodthirsty than they would have been otherwise.
• Heal + Weakness → Broken leg = A recovering leg that will be more prone to breaking in future.
• Calm down + Friendship → Rabid dog = A relaxed dog that is more well-disposed towards you.

You may attempt to use magic to change somebody’s opinion. However, per the basic rules of magic, you will only ever achieve the slightest of alterations. For example, if somebody despises you, the most you can expect is that they’ll despise you a tiny bit less - and even that will be subject to change depending on your future actions. Additionally, there is a significant risk the Target will know that such a spell has been cast.

Two (or more) people can be legally married no matter their gender or sexuality, provided all parties are eighteen or older. Arranged marriages do take place, but not outside of these limitations. While it is possible to opt out of an arranged marriage, this does not happen very often due to a strong cultural sense of familial duty.

Once married, a couple will decide between them which house to officially join (although links to a newlywed’s previous house will almost always be well maintained). The more wealthy or influential house is almost exclusively the one chosen.

Children of any gender can inherit, usually dependent on order of birth. However, when it comes to inheritance, legitimacy is paramount.

When married partners have a baby - whether by birth or adoption - a state-arranged Legitimacy Ritual will take place. During the ritual, the blood of the child is alchemically mixed with the blood of their parents. It is taboo to perform this ritual on an adult, as well as considerably more difficult. It is this that makes a child legitimate.

Regardless of parentage, if this ritual has not occurred, a child is not legitimate and is not eligible to inherit.

For centuries, Legitimacy Rituals were the only type of alchemy in existence - although it was never referred to as such. Many magicians attempted to ‘bottle’ magical effects but had no success because nobody had yet made the connection between magic and the blood.

About a decade ago, however, it was discovered (or perhaps rediscovered) that Legitimacy Rituals are, in fact, a form of magic. Once magicians realised this, they quickly incorporated human blood into previous attempts at alchemy, and - with a little experimentation - succeeded.

For the first time, non-magicians can carry prepared spells around with them. There are limitations: alchemically-cast spells can only target the person who drinks the potion, and cannot be given an Inflection. However, alchemists and magicians alike are looking to surpass those limits.

Alchemy is a fast-growing industry in consistently high demand. Because of this - and because nobody has yet been trained to detect the precise magical register that distilling a spell into a potion gives off - a large proportion of ‘alchemists’ are cheats, frauds, and quack doctors.

A more complete magical knowledge is usually gained from one of Esharia’s universities. Students enter when they are fourteen or fifteen years old and leave at twenty.

There are approximately ten throughout the country, clustered in the most notable cities. The oldest and most prestigious of these is Badosir University in Hashat, named for the scholar who established it. Other notable examples are Aggrianda (in the Wetlands) and Noscenza (a few miles away from Hashat).

Students do not choose a discipline but instead receive a jack-of-all-trades grounding in theology, literature, philosophy, and various applications of magic. By the end of it, students have a proficient grasp of all of these. Further more specialised study can then be undertaken, but most students enter a profession - the most common routes being into the army, the church, or court politics.

While primarily attended by the upper classes, scholarships are occasionally awarded to lower-class students who show sufficient promise in the magical arts. This is almost always accompanied by patronage from one of Esharia’s noble families.

Alchemically illegitimate children are barred from attending.