Salons

The ultimate place to encounter the Dalethian culture is the salon. Originally, “the salon” was the salon in the imperial palace, where the Emperor used to receive his guests and had them be entertained by artists and scientists in an ambiance of wealth, intellect and exclusivity. Of course, during the entertainment, many political items would be discussed among the guests and the host.

The imperial salon is still the most fashionable salon, although the room itself has changed place according to the taste of the emperors. It has been enlarged with a music or auditing room, a dancing room, a separate room for the company of the guests that didn’t want to be involved with politics. Eventually, the salon of the imperial palace was as large as a whole wing of the building, with bedrooms for the guests upstairs.

The idea of a special room to receive visitors soon became fashion in the upper class of Dalethian society. All palaces in Ildritz soon had a semi-public salon, the mansions followed, the idea was exported to the regions, the provinces and other countries. The middle class adopted the idea not much later, and soon even the lower classes had their salons in the local taverns (the so called “tavern salons”).
Now, the salon in general is the regular place to encounter culture, politics and science and fashionable entertainment.

The program

In many salons, the arrangement of the program is the same, more or less standard, and accepted by everyone. The standard makes it easy to hold on for the débutants in the salon - you never get a nasty surprise.
It starts with The Handshake, where the guests are welcomed by the hosts and introduced to the other guests. Before this occasion, the guests leave behind their capes, cloaks, hats and gloves in the cloakroom to make the meeting more casual, although in summer many guests won’t have this clothing. One can only enter a salon with hat and gloves to apologise for leaving so early, which is chic in some circles of the middle class, for it says the person is very busy and therefore successful.

After the introduction, while the other guests are coming in, the guests have drinks (usually wine or fireberrywine) and a little to eat, such as the balls-and-stick (nicknamed “Royal Jewellery” in tavern salons), the Spomlor eggs (on toast with sour cream, known as “Salty Pearl Bread”) or Kukjan and apple salad (“Naglani Romance”). Because most salons are after dinner, the host does not have to serve large quantities of food and can concentrate on quality. Special cooks may be invited, but many hosts and hostesses will take pride in planning the menu themselves.

All the time, some music will be played. This can be done by one of the children of the host, a servant or a group of musicians. Because everybody is talking, the music is not loud and the quality can be low - it doesn’t matter at this stage.

The main part or the theme of the evening will be the introduction of the main guest, a politician, a scientist, an artist, sometimes a popular musician - any body who has a story to tell or can show something might get an invitation to entertain a salon, and will gladly accept because it pays good in most of the cases. During the theme, the back ground musicians will have something to eat and drink, and can rest for the later part evening.

After the end of the main part, there are several possibilities: the young might want to dance as soon as the background musicians have taken their place again, the elder might want to talk about politics and other things they find important, some might want to play games. Most companies get separated at this stage, for there is something for everyone.
It is this part of the evening where people might get to know each other better. It is not impolite to talk to strangers here, on the contrary, the host and hostess will try to make it a wonderful evening for everyone and introducing strangers to one another is just a part of it. Many will grab the occasion and work their way into new networks of friends to gain social status, find a wedding partner, fish for a new job, or just make new friends.
In the more upper class salons, people get the chance of changing their dress and fresh up before they start dancing and socialising.

At the end of the evening, the host and hostess and the entertainers are thanked for the wonderful evening. A few skilliggs (in tavern salons: kintus) are left in a closed box to pay for the evening, although this is not obligatory. The guests get dressed and leave the salon to go on the nightly street, where their carriage will be ready to carry them home.
The young might decide to walk home and take a stroll in the dark lanes and alleys of the town. The hosts will not like this, for it gives them status to have as many as possible carriages and coaches in front of their house, and the walkers run the risk of getting robbed, which is not good for the standing of the salon which they visited.