Tropes-a-Day: Hobos / Romani

NOTE: These are TROPES and or Fantasy Counterpart Culture ANALOGIES. No real cultures were harmed in the making of this fiction.

Hobos: Some individually-wandering members of the Traveling Houses (for more on which see Romani); while generally better off and by no means living a wealth-free life, even back in the day, some other aspects of the lifestyle and reason why one might take it up are similar.

Romani: The Traveling Houses do have some cultural elements in common with the traditional Fantasy Counterpart Culture – a nomadic lifestyle, for one, starting with caravans – although also barges and later, starships – but also have their differences.  They’re not known/stereotyped for fortune-telling, for example, and are known for delivering the law (in the shape of wandering deemsters), education (in the shape of traveling teachers and new books), exotic speculative trade goods, and in some cases, the mail.  And some members wander individually (hence the reference from Hobos).

And, of course, the Empire’s culture is much worse at sustaining wacky prejudices against people and altcultures who/which prefer to wander than to settle.