A rigidly stratified class system keeps financial power and political influence firmly in the hands of the aristocracy. While the country has a Parliament in government, the royal family has a great deal of influence over lawmaking and major decisions, and there is major wealth and family gatekeeping surrounding who can go into a political career.
Over the past few years, activism campaigning for more rights for the working classes has risen in popularity. Law enforcement has cracked down on some campaigners, such as Revekah Vasile who is currently imprisoned. By the time of Royal Affairs, voter rights are a hotly debated issue and are being given genuine consideration in Parliament. Currently the vote is only available for landowners who inherited a given amount of wealth, and now have assets over a specified threshold.
Modern Westerlin is mostly secularised, but some schools and churches continue to follow traditional religions. In particular they venerate saints, figures who may or may not have existed in history but who became mythologised through legendary feats or famed kindness.
Some Westerlind festivals are nominally religious in origin, but mainstream belief is more that they are communal cultural, seasonal events rather than spiritual.
There is a scattering of belief in ghosts in Westerlind culture, though the mainstream considers that old-fashioned superstition.
Some Westerlind people tell the future through cards. For most people this is a parlour trick or game to pass the time. Others see it as a meditative activity.
The most commonly used cartomancy deck includes the following cards: