I think of magery in this world as being available to anyone but requiring a great deal of education. So it’s not hereditary, but it does end up similar to doctors and lawyers in our world, with families where it seems every first child goes into the family business and is perhaps even more skilled than their parent. Common folk can become wizards… if they can afford tuition or find a teacher willing to give them a discount.

The world building elements had some freshness to them. The Song, the dwarven shroom ale, the altitude sense. Great. Some exploration of the technical bits of resurrection magic and hints toward how that sort of thing would affect a society at large appealed to the sci-fi nerd in me.

The implications of a combination race/class hierarchy and the fairly obvious social commentary within the idea was only semi-interesting to me until you mentioned the dearth of pure-bred humans and described Mercha in terms of her cross-racial features. A novel approach.

I’m sensing you had some influence from Dragon Age as several of these ideas seem to be alternative or extended and more detailed takes on their core setting features. Heavily stratified classes (upper versus lower not healers versus fighters), bards are incredibly skilled assassin types (your version was much better than theirs) and the seeming limitation of magehood to certain aristocratic bloodlines. To be extra clear, I approve of this. After all good artists copy, great artists steal.

The minutiae of the dialogue between characters is proficient although a little too predictable at times for my taste. Maybe I just read too many of these kinds of stories.

Cheers.

Would love to read a novel or short story collection in this setting someday.