#miriamisms

like, the assembly is a political entity founded by and made up entirely of members from the socioeconomic mage class. mages make up the aristocracy, and to be part of the aristocracy one is either born into it, or could potentially buy into it if one has accumulated sufficient wealth; a highly financially endowed merchant from trostenwald or port damali might want to send their children to the notoriously selective soltryce academy as a way to cozy up to the high class mages of the empire. as seen in the real world, the chance at a higher education gets bigger the richer you are. in both scenarios, wealth remains concentrated mostly in the mage class.

an exception to this is obviously caleb, who entered the soltryce academy because of his great magical potential, not because his parents could afford to send him there. his individual case would not be common among academy students because of his poor background. trent ikithon saw this potential in him and took him into his tutelage so he could control him and have another mage who would further the already established aristocrat ikithon's political goals. trent also used the massive wealth gap between him and caleb to strengthen his iron grip on the boy's fragile and impressionable mind. trent's abuse of caleb to serve his own goals is a clear example of the exploitation of the peasant class by the aristocracy.

the soltryce academy is also closely affiliated with the cerberus assembly, with professors such as trent ikithon also holding positions as some of the most politically influencial mages in the empire. this creates a cycle that serves to perpetually restrict and strengthen the mage class. arcane research would necessitate exploitation of the peasant class, as the natural resources needed to fashion magical instruments would have to be extracted from the earth by people who work the land. this exploitation also serves the empire, because arcane research at the time of the second campaign is heavily focused around the use of magic in war and the training of war mages. the assembly works to advance the imperial goals of the dwendalian crown, and as a result enjoy liberties in their research to the point of being unethical. case in point: the volstruckers that we do know of, bren (caleb), astrid, and eadwulf, were experimented on by trent to fashion them into dogs of the state who would use magic to suppress dissention within the empire.