Just like in any other society, Themble needs hardworking citizens to keep it running. There are many more jobs than can ever be mentioned here, but listed below are a few basic careers, as well as how indentured servitude and apprenticeships are contracted in Themble. Themble is an agriculturally-based society, though, so most of its citizens are farmers. Craftsmen and merchants are found all over, but tend to congregate in cities.
Careers
Accountant: Hired by the wealthy for personal finances and by merchants for their businesses, accountants can make sure that the books all add up.
Artist: In Themble, wall murals and decorative vases are the two most common types of art. The creation and decoration of Ravieka statues are usually left to the most talented artists.
Banker: A well-reputed bank can be an excellent place to store extra funds. A banker can make excellent money off of interest, but only if they are careful to both protect the money from thieves, and keep a high enough reputation to keep money pouring in.
Basketweaver: While vases are more commonly used for storage and bulk transportation, baskets made of willow are used for carrying objects, such as fruit or shoes. It is not uncommon to see equines and bovines carrying baskets on their sides, trotting off to market.
Blacksmith: Blacksmiths make tools and often double as farriers, specializing in iron. Because iron burns magical creatures, blacksmiths are a rarity that is often high desired, especially during wartime. Talem is a blacksmith.
Brownsmith: A brownsmith is a metalsmith like a blacksmith, except specializing in bronze and copper. They are the most common type of metalsmith, as most metal objects in Themble are usually copper or bronze, since these metals do not burn magical creatures.
Candlemaker: Candles are usually made out of beeswax, although the poor may use tallow candles. Pillar candles are the most popular, although votive candles are sometimes used to tell time by the wealthy.
Charmcarver: Charmcarving is an incredibly technical and difficult skill. Charms require exact measurements and materials, or they won’t work well, or at all. Charmcarvers paint, carve, or embroider charms for pretty much anything they are paid for, from wards that keep out fleas to charms that keep yeast dry to military wards for protecting soldiers.
Charmcaster: Where charmcarvers create the charms, charmcasters design the charms. Masters in both geometry and magic, charmcasters are experimenters constantly risking magical explosions from incorrect, backfiring charms. One of the best charmcasters in Themble is Onu.
Charmcharger: A charmcharger is someone whose entire job is to push their magic into charms to recharge them. Originally, the position began so that null creatures could have working charms, but has eventually grown so that creatures with little magic or who are lazy can have their charms charged without effort.
Chef/Cook/Baker: Food has an important role in Themblise society. More than just nutrients, food is a social event. The type and complexity of food served both regularly and to guests often says something about one’s economic standing. Therefore, a good cook is someone who is admired for their abilities, and often finds it easier to get married. A chef is a professional cook, someone who does more than peeling potatoes, but creates delicious dishes. Restaurants and cafes are popular in cities, and a chef with a good reputation can find themselves earning a pretty penny. The best chefs cook for private residences, whether that be the wealthy or even a king or queen.
Construction Worker: In the cities, construction rarely stops. Whether it is a new house, a defensive city wall, road building, or repair, construction workers are always needed. While some make this into their career, more often farmers will become construction workers in the off-season, sometimes causing them to seasonally move to the cities where more work can be found.
Doctor: From sewing up wounds to setting broken bones and even doing dental work, doctors are a vital part of society. Using a mixture of science, magic, and pseudoscience, somehow they manage to treat or cure most common illnesses, despite many incorrect assumptions on how bodies actually work. Doctors also aid in childbirth in whatever way they can. However, sometimes a mouse doctor just can’t do much for a birthing cow, no matter how neat their surgical stitches are.
Farmer: The most common job out there, most Themblise work hard as farmers. With fertile soil prevalent over most of Themble, a wide variety of crops from grown, from wheat, to grapes, and olives. Typically, a farmer does not own his own land, but works part of a wealthy creature’s fields in exchange for a house, food, and a pay. While few farmers ever become wealthy, and most balance just over the top of the poverty line, many make do with what they have.
Fisherman: On the coast, fishermen vastly outnumber farmers. Their boats fish for everything from octopuses to crabs to oysters and especially the great bluefin tuna. Most fishermen work for a merchant’s company, where they can receive a decent pay without having to figure out how to sell their catch at a market. Fishing, however, can be risky, as the tides are often unpredictable from the effects of Elturas’s two moons, Daysha and its sub-satellite Arroyo.
Gardener: Mansions and palaces must look perfect, and it is often the work of the gardeners that really makes a place shine. Gardeners are in charge of everything from fertilizer to pruning to pesticides. The Black King has a notable love for nature, and recruits a small army of gardeners for his palaces.
Ironsmith: Ironsmiths are almost always creatures who are nulls, meaning they have absolutely no magic in them. This is uncommon and so is a talented smith, so a good ironsmith can make an outrageous amount of money quite easily, since it is such a specialist job. Ironsmiths primarily make their money making iron swords, spears, guns, and armor. Unlike normal creatures, ironsmiths must be able to be around large quantities of iron for long periods of time with no ill effects, which is why they almost always have no magic at all. Incredibly rarely, ferrokinetics appear. Able to bend and shape iron, and often the more deadly silver, with their magic, ferrokinetics are highly desired. However, history often finds them enslaved and worked to death for their abilities.
Jeweler: Gold is highly desired in Themble due to its ability to act as a magical conductor. Therefore, it is used often in charms. However, wearing gold is a sure sign of wealth, and is a fantastic status symbol. For the rich, gold jewelry set with precious and semi-precious stones are all the rage. For the less wealthy, jewelry made of copper, bronze, or tin is fairly popular, as is glass, wood, and clay beadwork.
Janitor: Janitors work for the city, businesses, and the wealthy. It is not a fun job by any means, but at least it pays. And it isn’t as bad as a sewer worker.
Leatherworker: Making everything from boots and sandals to harnesses to leather armor, leatherworkers tan and prepare leather and cut, sew, shape, and dye it into whatever forms it needs to be. While some are simply tanners, and only prepare hides, it is more common for a business to do a bit of everything. Leatherworkers often have buildings on the edge of the town or city because of their building’s sharp and nauseating smell.
Merchant: Merchants are the businessmen of Themble. Whether they specialize in one item (like textiles or olive oil) or a wide variety, merchants specialize in trading and selling products throughout Themble and the neighboring provinces like Darid. A merchant with good business sense can be very wealthy, and hold quite a bit of political power.
Messenger: Overwhelmingly birds and dragons, messengers carry mail and packages across Themble. Orin and Lambrose dragons especially can carry a large amount of mail across Themble quickly, due to both their size and speed. Dragons or griffins carry mail between cities and towns, while birds, cupidines, or other creatures distribute it to the correct business or residence. Depending on which business one decides to ship through, mail can arrive within a couple of days, or a month (if ever).
Musician: Music is another huge part of Themblise society. Few creatures are full-time musicians, and usually singing or playing an instrument is a part time job. Musicians are often hired by restaurants and the wealthy to provide entertainment. Some musicians are street performers, while others become music teachers.
Panhandler: Some creatures find it more profitable being a professional panhandler than having an actual job. This is a specific type of con-man, when a creature panhandles for profit rather than due to poverty or homelessness. It is fairly prevalent in cities, and often causes misfortune for those who do have to beg to survive.
Potter: Vases, pitchers, cups, bowls, and more! While some creatures make their own pottery, it is much more common to purchase it from a potter, where it is made of finer quality ingredients and fired correctly. Potters and artists often work together to create beautiful works of art, which are incredibly popular among all classes.
Priest: Priests devote their lives to the worship of Ravieka, but this includes serving the community. In temples, Raviekan priests tend community gardens and feed the poor.
Printmaker: Thanks to advancing technology, printmaking is becoming more and more common to Themble. This means posters and, more importantly, books, are slowly becoming more prevalent in Themble, despite the high levels of illiteracy.
Scribe: Illiteracy is high in Themble. Few can read or write. For a business or the rich, a scribe is used for everything an accountant doesn’t do, from making lists, copying books, or writing down cringey poetry from a love-struck spoiled child.
Sewer Worker: Not all jobs are nice, but few smell quite as bad as a sewer worker’s. A sewer worker is in charge of moving, collecting, and breaking down sewage. Building and repairing sewer lines, if they exist in that city or town, is also the job of the sewer worker. Infection and disease has a habit of killing off sewer workers, due to their obviously unsanitary working conditions. Due to the necessity of the absolutely disgusting job and the deadly health risks requiring new workers often, a sewer worker is usually paid incredibly well.
Soldier: Working for the military isn’t sometimes as profitable as being a private guard or mercenary, but depending on the monarchy, can come with nice bonuses, like land. There are many different classifications of soldier, from cavalry to footsoldier to navy to air force.
Tailor: Being a tailor can be interesting when your clients are so many different types of creatures. Tailors not only make a wide arrange of different clothing styles, but also make the fabric slippers that are popular among humans.
Teacher: Teachers are not common in Themble, due to the general lack of decent education. Apprenticeships are much more common than a formal school. However, the wealthy often hire private teachers or go to a university in a city.
Tile Setter: Mosaics are hugely popular in Themble, from businesses to public buildings and palaces. From little mosaics at home to the stunning ceiling mosaics found in palaces, tile setters are a special division of artists that are in huge demand.
Weaver: Themblise adore bright and patterned fabrics. Weavers make the fabrics and canvases that are made into clothing, bedding, tents, sails, and more. Textiles are made out of a wide variety of materials, but clothing fabric is typically made out of linen or cotton.
Winemaker (Vintner): Wine is a massive part of the Themblise economy, and a primary export of former Pemembras. Winemaking is incredibly competitive and secretive, as vintners hoard their best kept secrets to making the favorite drink of the Themblise. The bull Grenor Shapar’s Shooting Star Winery is an excellent example of the wealthy and prosperity a successful vintner can rise to.
Woodcutter: Woodcutters are most common in the north of Maithas, which has bountiful forests of oak and pine. While Pemembras and Bevenkras have forests along their mountain borders, the booming agricultural trade takes precedence over the lumber trade in those kingdoms.
Servants and Indentured Servitude:
Slavery in Themble is illegal and highly frowned upon. However, some creatures, like horses, need the help of other creatures with hands, or telekinesis. Therefore, paid or indentured servitude is quite popular in Themble. Typically those who are servants are poor, or, like in the case of indentured servitude, trading their services for something other than money. Indentured servitude is when a creature provides their services for a certain amount of time in exchange for something, depending on the contact. This may be to resolve a debt, be in exchange for room and board, education, or another service. Indentured servitude is more common in the countryside, while paid servitude is more prevalent in the cities.
Apprenticeships:
Apprenticeships are the most common way of learning a trade. Typically, apprentices and their masters are bound by a contract for a set amount of time, with agreed upon duties both must fulfill. The contract is usually created between the parents and a master, as apprenticeships usually begin at a young age, although sometimes teenage or adult apprentices are taken. Typically, the contract is either written out by a scribe (even if both parties are illiterate) or sworn before a priest. It is the best opportunity for most to move up the socioeconomic ladder. Therefore, it is quite possible for a poor farmer’s child to become a wealthy merchant with hard work and good luck. There is a strong motivation in Themble to always better one’s life, which stems from the Raviekan religion, although many find more satisfaction to improve one’s life through bettering the community than through money.