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So, as we know, Vesuvia is heavily based off Venice, Italy, between the time of the Black Plague and the Renaissance, and it's really fun to me to analyze what we know about how social structures rebuild after a non-violent lethal disaster like an epidemic. If you've ever noticed, the cultures in different parts of Vesuvia vary drastically (much like it does in any city) depending on the neighborhood, but I really enjoy analyzing it in the context of a global port city that's just gone through mass trauma and loss and is on the brink of exploding with intellectual/cultural progress (because MC and the M6 don't exist in a vacuum).

Center city, where the shop and town square are located, actually reminds me quite a bit of how western culture responded to COVID. The red plague was the worst disaster to befall them collectively in recent memory, so their understanding of life's suffering is heavily shaped by that. They're distant. They don't talk to each other much. They make nice, but generally keep to themselves, because they're stuck in a world where being exposed to someone puts you at risk of disease. It explains a lot of why MC is so incredibly isolated at the beginning of the novel.

The south end looks very different: they're close to the flooded district and the docks, meaning that that population is already familiar with personal disaster and suffering. They've watched unhoused, orphaned kids fight each other for food, they've watched an entire neighborhood and its occupants sink under the water from neglect, etc, etc. They knew what collective suffering was like before the Plague, and they have a broader understanding of how important community is when it comes to survival. It's why characters like Julian, Mazelinka, and Portia fit in so naturally there, and why Asra's pretty comfortable in that atmosphere as well. The South End also has the most unfiltered global exposure. It's not where cultural exhibitions happen or where merchants sell their finest goods, but it's where sailors spend their nights and where travelers disembark. If Lucio had come to Vesuvia as a mercenary and not the previous Count's heir, it's where he'd be the most comfortable (and probably why we see him hanging around there in the Travel at Night tale).

When you get up in the richer part of town, it's where the unease from center city turns into fear. There's this undercurrent of anxiety and insecurity and isolation all over the rich neighborhoods and through Nadia's route, and it's not just because those are her personal emotions. That's the attitude of a group of privileged people who've had reality slap them in the face when it comes to how easily things can fall apart. The city under Lucio's reign wasn't well managed, and hundreds of citizens in the Flooded District and South End suffered greatly because of it. The bad feelings were kept at bay by Lucio's parties, but after his death and Nadia's coma, the city's been half governed by proxies who don't know what they're doing. Valerius is the only semi-useful one, but imagine all the nobles who went to meet with their government to discuss post-plague strategies and got stuck with Vulgora, Volta, Vlastomil, or Valdemar -- that would be terrifying for them!

Nadia's way more of a hero in the Arcana story than she claims credit for, in my opinion. As much as the other M6 help, she steps into a massive leadership breach and successfully pulls a global port city from the brink of an economic free fall and potential revolution and onto the cusp of a Renaissance in less than a year. That's huge!

For some quick background on Vesuvia's loose inspiration, the Italian Renaissance was majorly fueled by new/revitalized exposure to ancient Greek and Roman culture and to the ways in which foreign nations further east had preserved/developed those ideas through a thousand-plus years. It's why Renaissance art, technology, and philosophy draw heavily on old Greek and Roman work. So if we were to chart that boom onto Vesuvia -

The Vesuvian renaissance would pick up under Nadia's reign as she would work with Portia to negotiate international relations with surrounding countries, and that would rely heavily on her position in the Prakran royal family. Assuming that that's where the aid is coming from and that's the culture Nadia can most easily expose Vesuvians to, the renaissance that likely happens 5-20 years post-routes would be largely Prakran inspired. In the same way that the IRL Renaissance in Italy had lots of contemporary Italian interpretations of Greek and Roman culture, the Vesuvian renaissance could look a lot like Vesuvia's interpretation of Prakran culture. (Not only Prakran, of course, it's a major port city. It's already a melting pot and with trade resuming post-plague we'd see a lot of influence from countries like Zadith, Firent, etc)

But imagine - MC learning to speak Vesuvian, but raising kids who learn Prakran in school? A Prakran street food vendor setting up next to Selasi, selling local fish with Prakran spices (instead of the traditional swordfish)?

And, in typical renaissance fashion, this wouldn't just be a period when Vesuvia suddenly gained lots of cultural and intellectual exposure, it would be a period of developing it really, really, really fast - Muriel remembers back when sewage was managed with chamber pots. Now there's a city-wide sewage system that flushes.

For characters that don't like change (Muriel again), it means culture shock. You know how when you talk to your older generations, they talk about remembering a time when having a cell phone wasn't a common thing and the internet didn't exist? MC is already an adult when this starts. Especially if they're with someone with a lot of local influence (Nadia, Julian, Portia), they're going to be a big voice in navigating how much progress is too much progress. We're living through that right now with AI (current brainrot note, this ramble happened in January of 2024) - but -

Imagine being Nadia's advisor as she tries to decide whether continued research into the magic of psychology and how it could be applied to mind control is ethical.

Imagine being Julian's partner as medicine advances by leaps and bounds and he's tasked with administrating/mediating Vesuvian medical training. Imagine listening to him going back and forth on whether it's safe to adopt a new surgical technique yet, and what kind of tests and checks it needs to pass before it becomes standard Vesuvian practice.

Imagine being Portia's partner as Vesuvia becomes globalized and travel gets faster and more efficient, helping her figure out what needs to be preserved and what's good to let go in a rapidly shrinking world.

And Lucio - oh goodness, he's a journeyman in his upright route, and that means him having to face the partial trauma of never coming back to the same place. Every town you revisit together has changed rapidly in the six or so months since the last time you passed through, until you're at risk of feeling like the world just moved on and left you behind (which is hell on his personal trauma).

Asra ... would be fine, let's be honest. They thrive in changing and unpredictable environments and would probably be a social advocate for not trying to slow or limit progress. The downside is that he's more sentimental than most people realize, and he often doesn't realize he has a good thing until it's gone. That's the most I could see the social change affecting them personally.

And Muriel, as I mentioned, wouldn't take easily to change that big and fast very well, but he's already ideally situated to handle it. He and MC live out in the woods and have a calling to preserve the Kokhuri's past. It would still affect his social reputation - immediately post upright route, he's the hero of the city. As the city changes, however, he becomes less of a social figure and more of a cultural one. Fewer people know him or expect him to show up to stuff, but anyone who comes to Vesuvia learns about the retired hero in the woods who can be counted on if the world ever falls to pieces again.

As for Portia -- her upright ending has massive implications for Vesuvia's future, because it involves Tasya:

While Tasya is not a politician and doesn't claim to be, she's a major force in international trade and that is by default political. She needs to have governmental favor/trust to be allowed to trade in countries because of the sheer amount of wealth involved, and that can quickly make her a vital part of that country's economy.

And Tasya isn't Prakran.

If we're talking about Portia's upright ending, then you've got Portia as an acting ambassador who, yes, will rely heavily on Nadia's ties to Prakra (strengthened by Natiqa joining her on her first voyage). But Portia's going to be focused on reaching out to previously less connected countries. Tasya meanwhile is pouring literal boatloads of aid into Vesuvia, as she helps rebuild it after the disaster she caused, which means that large sources of Vesuvian income, cultural exposure, available groceries/resources, etc, are all going to be coming from her trading fleet -

Which is Southern by nature (like Nevivon) and not Northern (like Prakra).