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Bastian society is sharply unequal, with galdori reigning supreme over humans, wicks and passives. Attitudes among Bastians are generally are fairly similar to those in Anaxas; there is considerable tension between the races, prejudice on all sides, and power is tightly concentrated in the hands of the galdori. Like in Anaxas, humans and wicks require a writ of permission from the government to be able to read and write, and passives are gated in Anastou almost universally upon discovery.

Galdori

Galdori hold the power in Bastia - galdori, and galdori alone, are legally able to read and write (without needing a writ), are the only ones who can attend Anastou University, are the only ones who can own land, and are the only ones to hold any kind of religious, political or governmental offices or serve in command positions generally. They own all the land in Bastia, and generally view themselves as the rightful shepherds of the country. Galdori attitudes towards other races vary considerably - from dutiful command to contempt to pity and beyond - but the vast majority of galdori consider themselves comfortably above the so-called lower races, due to both their innate ability to use magic and their (perceived) superior intelligence, self-control and various other traits.

The general attitude of galdori towards humans is probably best described as humans being best fit to serve (rather than think). They are perceived - generally - as large and stupid, and in need of command and guidance. Most galdori disdain wicks, whose magic is also often viewed with outright contempt. Relationships between galdori and humans or wicks are not socially acceptable in any kind of public way, and the desire to be intimate with lower races is generally viewed as an embarrassing sexual kink.

Passives are generally viewed with a mix of shame and pity; they are believed to be born “missing” something, and most galdori think of them as mentally incapacitated. They are legally disowned at the minute of their discovery, from an inheritance perspective, and it is a rare galdor who would try to keep the passive from being gated at Anastou.

Humans

Humans occupy an inferior social position in Bastia. They are excluded from meaningful participation in any sort of power center, and since Edelagne, have been even more suppressed than before. Although it is legally forbidden, most humans do learn to read and write in secret. Views of humans towards galdori range considerably. There are humans who are accepting of their relative social position, and whether happy about it or not, view galdori superiority as a fact of life. There are humans who are angry and resentful. The only thing humans cannot be, in essence, is in power.

Humans tend to be skeptical of wicks, although as always there are exceptions. The average human - particularly one in the countryside who does not live near wicks - is likely to be skeptical of wicks, their “tricks” and their magic. That said, that rarely would stop them from coming to see wicks who are passing through selling goods, performing, or at least bringing news, but they are not necessarily welcoming. City-dwelling humans vary even more in their attitudes.

Most humans have at least heard of passives, although the vast majority of Bastian humans would never have met one. Still, the stories of their wild and uncontrolled - and potentially dangerous - diableries have spread, and most humans would consider themselves well-justified in being afraid of a passive, if they met one.

Wicks

Wicks, particularly nomadic wicks, tend to do their own thing. Much like other races, of course, there is considerable variation. There are wicks who pity galdori for their constrained (if powerful) relationship with the mona; there are wicks who hate galdori for their oppression of the other races; there are wicks who view galdori as a fact of life and do their best to get along with them. There must even be wicks who like galdori.

For a nomadic wick, their interactions with galdori would usually tend to be with security forces patrolling Bastia’s roads; these interactions are unlikely to be pleasant.

For city-dwelling wicks, they would find themselves heavily constrained in terms of which galdori would be willing to rent to them. Although no cities formally ban wicks in Bastia, neither are they particularly made welcome.

Wick attitudes towards humans also vary. Many city-dwelling wicks live in close proximity to humans, and may consider them like family (or, in fact, may even have relationships with them). Nomadic wicks, who tend to live more apart from humans, may be more likely to view them as ‘other,’ and there are some who view humans as easy marks.

Wick passives are known as parses; they are not meaningfully discriminated against within the wick community, although some suffer from a sense of loss, as they cannot engage in the sort of glamour-based communication popular amongst wicks.

Passives

Passives are generally gated in Anastou immediately upon discovery. Whatever education they might have had before their magical test, they are strictly forbidden by law to receive any additional education, and are never to be instructed in magic (it is, though not illegal, taboo to instruct galdori children in magic or monite in any way prior to their formal test for magical abilities). Bastia is relatively more diligent than Anaxas in tracing non-gated passives; there is a unit of the Caramaida, the Bastian police, specifically devoted to this task.

Passives vary considerably in how they feel about themselves and their own situations, how they feel about galdori, and even how they feel about humans and wicks. There is, probably, something of a general consensus in Bastia that passives are lowest on the totem-pole, so to speak - they are galdori believed to be born with something missing, and tend to be the object of fear and scorn from most other races.

Edelagne Farmer's Revolt

Bastia’s changing economy and the growth of countryside factories began to take a particularly strong toll on certain human economies, with conditions reaching a boiling point over the last century. Countryside farmers, who made their living from the land, found the grounds becoming polluted due to the establishment of nearby factories, and suffered mightily under price controls and heavy taxation.

In Ophus, 2692 AT, conditions had reached a boiling point in Edelagne, and humans staged a revolt against their galdori neighbors and business owners. After months of trying to petition and complain to no avail, farmers attacked galdori estates and carriages, taking some of the residents hostage and demanding rights to land ownership and economic protection. The human operation was swift and systematic, and they employed the use of gags to keep the galdori from casting.

The Bastian government, in a sudden panic, responded by ignoring negotiations and sending in their armed forces to take care of the situation immediately. The operation was sloppy, and there was a heavy reliance on magic as a weapon to deal with the situation. As the galdori hostages were relatively few, there was little concern for casualties, although later reflections on the situation overwhelmingly agree that the government was far too rash and should have cared more for galdori lives. Two galdori died, but the rest were rescued. Almost all of the humans involved in the situation were killed, and the few survivors were imprisoned for life or executed.

The Edelagne incident inspired a few other uprisings around the country, but those were quickly quelled, and there were few galdori casualties. The government was careful not to let the information circulate too broadly, lest other humans be inspired, and by the end of the year the uprisings had ceased. There has been no major incident since.

The government later realized that the concerns of the human farmers were not entirely irrelevant to the galdori; the growing lack of farmers was only made worse by the revolt, and Bastia has been forced to focus more heavily on international trade for food goods as it tries to rebuild its agricultural industry.