EzekielRaiden
Follower of the Way
You mentioned resources are plentiful. Does this mean that very little work is needed to collect them? If so, you may not need much of an "underclass," or the "underclass" role might be fillable by non-sapient labor such as golems. This could then lead to a "courteous magocracy" kind of government, where your skill/prominence in one of the arts (including Magic as one of the "arts") is considered relevant for your political power/standing. Alternatively, it could mean that many forms of "magic" are viewed as being rather pedestrian--the equivalent of being a plumber or car mechanic. What does this society think about illusions, for example? Are they a valid art form too? Can other kinds of magic be used artistically (e.g. evokers doing fiery performance art, transmuters doing dances as they change their form, etc.)?
As others have noted above, you are very likely to have at least two factions: those who favor "traditional" work and those who favor "avant garde" work. Sometimes, this may result in one side or the other taking hegemonic control, or in accepting/rejecting things based on how much they adhere to the faction's doctrine, rather than a fair assessment of the effort and quality of a piece. A very "traditional"-dominated culture, also as noted above, tends to be one that makes "safe" art, that doesn't take risks, and can become uncreative or even anti-creative (because, of course, anything that disagrees with the ways of the Old Masters is automatically bad, right???) A very "avant garde"-dominated culture, on the other hand, becomes scattershot and haphazard, never stopping to iterate or reflect, and in extreme cases may ignore or be outright hostile anything that is "outdated" or "passé" (because, of course, anything that agrees with the Old Masters is automatically bad, right???)*
I want to be clear, here, that neither of these states is INHERENT to being "traditional" or "avant garde." Instead, they occur when one side becomes absolutely dominant and no longer permits self-criticism. Such things have happened in history, generally more with the "traditional" faction having control because tradition has the past to draw on more. But the other direction happens sometimes too.
Other questions to think about:
1. Is food preparation considered a valid art form? This could result in significant changes to how this society gathers and consumes food.
2. How much do the philosophers care about history and recording things? If they're big on keeping records of everything, this will require that they have a source of paper or other materials, and inks for writing with.
3. Is everyone literate? I could see an intentional stratification of society where the literate have power and the illiterate are second-class citizens who do all the manual labor needed to make this culture work. If everyone is literate, though, you'll probably need to do the golem thing, or else have some serious social tension between those who must do manual labor and those who are free to do art/philosophy.
4. How do they "build" this city? Building usually requires both skilled (architects) and unskilled (construction workers) labor, and needs building materials. Perhaps they have some method of only relying on skilled labor (such as golemancers, or wizards who can shape trees or stone to make their buildings)? Answering these questions will tell you a lot about what kind of society this is.
*As a poet who really loves classic poetic forms, like sonnets and villanelles, I've had to deal with some of this. It's perfectly fine to say, for example, "You have shown mastery in these controlled forms, have you considered working on more freeform things?" It's less fine to say, "Don't you get bored writing all these rigid, stale styles?" Or worse, to say, "So...it's just a rhyming poem about a sunset?" I had an actual literature professor say that exact thing about a poem I wrote. Needless to say I was not keen on their commentary going forward.
As others have noted above, you are very likely to have at least two factions: those who favor "traditional" work and those who favor "avant garde" work. Sometimes, this may result in one side or the other taking hegemonic control, or in accepting/rejecting things based on how much they adhere to the faction's doctrine, rather than a fair assessment of the effort and quality of a piece. A very "traditional"-dominated culture, also as noted above, tends to be one that makes "safe" art, that doesn't take risks, and can become uncreative or even anti-creative (because, of course, anything that disagrees with the ways of the Old Masters is automatically bad, right???) A very "avant garde"-dominated culture, on the other hand, becomes scattershot and haphazard, never stopping to iterate or reflect, and in extreme cases may ignore or be outright hostile anything that is "outdated" or "passé" (because, of course, anything that agrees with the Old Masters is automatically bad, right???)*
I want to be clear, here, that neither of these states is INHERENT to being "traditional" or "avant garde." Instead, they occur when one side becomes absolutely dominant and no longer permits self-criticism. Such things have happened in history, generally more with the "traditional" faction having control because tradition has the past to draw on more. But the other direction happens sometimes too.
Other questions to think about:
1. Is food preparation considered a valid art form? This could result in significant changes to how this society gathers and consumes food.
2. How much do the philosophers care about history and recording things? If they're big on keeping records of everything, this will require that they have a source of paper or other materials, and inks for writing with.
3. Is everyone literate? I could see an intentional stratification of society where the literate have power and the illiterate are second-class citizens who do all the manual labor needed to make this culture work. If everyone is literate, though, you'll probably need to do the golem thing, or else have some serious social tension between those who must do manual labor and those who are free to do art/philosophy.
4. How do they "build" this city? Building usually requires both skilled (architects) and unskilled (construction workers) labor, and needs building materials. Perhaps they have some method of only relying on skilled labor (such as golemancers, or wizards who can shape trees or stone to make their buildings)? Answering these questions will tell you a lot about what kind of society this is.
*As a poet who really loves classic poetic forms, like sonnets and villanelles, I've had to deal with some of this. It's perfectly fine to say, for example, "You have shown mastery in these controlled forms, have you considered working on more freeform things?" It's less fine to say, "Don't you get bored writing all these rigid, stale styles?" Or worse, to say, "So...it's just a rhyming poem about a sunset?" I had an actual literature professor say that exact thing about a poem I wrote. Needless to say I was not keen on their commentary going forward.
