Societal Allegory : The Radiant Wings - Agriculture and Gastronomy

Farming is a central activity in many early cultures, and the Radiant were no exception, at least in their earlier phases of development. The farms for the Radiant were first established on the Elenian Fields. A little backtracking, but the Fallen had already been given knowledge of crops and agriculture. For even after their Rebellion, Eleyon and Yevassë could not bear to see the condition of man reduced to a state of abject hunger. Cevan was already a farmer before he turned to Ällora for guidance, so he was in charge of the agricultural sector, educating the younger generation of the newly formed society. Ällora begins to strengthen the Radiant's magical abilities soon after their decision to give him their allegiance, but only in electromagnetic magic, which was Ällora's domain. The other magics, Yevanian, Unaven and Olerist, were not granted to the capacity of the Radiant Wings. Initially, their inexperience with magic did not allow them to use electromagnetism very effectively, but soon, techniques and applications were found that made the manual work of farming much easier and much more systematic.

When I refer to manual work, this simply includes work that has to be done under the direct supervision and control of a person. It includes both physical labour and magical exertion. A farmer will be tired mentally if he overused his magic, just as physical fatigue would set in with prolonged physical work. Perhaps the main advantage of magic could be viewed as the ability to do away with tools, provided that the user has attained necessary proficiency with magic of course. Force can be applied directly and precisely with the mind, instead of having to manufacture equipment to do so. This did allow developments to progress expediently, but sooner or later, automated tools also come into play, just to take the burden off human shoulders all but entirely.

The Elenian Fields were sufficiently productive for the needs Radiant Society for the first ~600 years of Radiant history, in accordance to the technological enhancements that were applied to the farms. Soil of the fields was fertile, and maintained so by the nutrient-rich water from Mirrorsea that flowed from the Berives. The Mechanical Revolution in about 342AE and the later Automation Revolution in 873AE did contribute immensely to the output of the region in those times. However, by 650AE, Malthusian concerns were beginning to grow; that the existing level of technology could not support enough food production for the flourishing populace of Elenis and Alanis. It was during this anticipated crisis that the  Radiant turned to the elves for aid. The Filial who did interact with the Radiant observed that the crop species that the Radiant used were simply biologically inferior to the strains grown by the Filial in Vedathen. The breeds modified by decades of elvish bioengineering had better efficiencies, required less tending and tasted better as well. At the request of the Radiant Wings, the Filial offered to share their enhanced crops with the Radiant, and the quantity and quality of the food that the Elenian Fields produced was significantly augmented as a result.

Apart from crops, the Radiant supplemented their diet with the fish caught from the bounty of Coralsea. This was naturally favoured among the Alanians, as they dwelt on their city in the midst of the reefs. Kelp was another source of food. So through a combination of land agriculture, fishing and kelp harvesting, the nutritional needs of the people in the Radiant Wings cities were well met. By the year 1000AE, when the Automation Revolution was complete, the Elenian fields, the Alanian fisheries and kelp harvesters were fully computerised, requiring minimal human supervision.

Preparation of food progressed, expectedly, from practical concerns to aesthetic and epicurean ideals. As was usually the case, novel and fashionable methods of preparation came into conception in vibrant Alanis, and eventually spread out over most of Radiant Wings society if the dishes were popular enough. I don't have too many specific ideas about this area of their society yet, but there are certainly sumptuous seafood platters, varieties of noodles and bread, and delicious desserts.

Interestingly enough though, by the time of 1879AE and the rise of the School of Postcorporism, demand and interest in food begins to plateau and actually decreases. This is a consequence of the abstraction process led by the Postcorporists, which will be explained in a future post concerning the development of medicine and physical intervention in Radiant Wings society.