Dress Appropriately For Your Wealth

Male dress in Egypt is usually simple. Loose trousers meet the standards of modesty required by Islam, but to wear only trousers is a symbol of poverty or menial work, so other garments are added. A long,

often hooded, robe and a head covering, tough slippers and a jacket usually complete an Egyptian man's wardrobe.

Women in the presence of men not closely related to them are required to cover their bodies and arms in garments loose enough to be unprovocative, but not so loose as to make them indistinguishable from each other. They must also cover their hair. Styles of clothing vary widely, particularly in those areas where merchants bring contact with other civilizations.

Clothes are a useful way to express social distinction. The clothing of rich people is brighter and has finer embroidery than that of the poor. Rich people have larger and more expensive accessories. In a deliberate reversal of this, characters on pilgrimage all wear white, unadorned clothing.

Strict sexual segregation gives female characters useful opportunities when gathering information or exploring the homes of non-player characters. Women often socialize at the baths or while performing chores, either in their homes or on their rooftops. They are expected to exchange useful information with each other; failure to gossip is odd, and probably rude.

Haram

It is forbidden (Arabic: haram) to breach the privacy of the women of a house. Their quarters are called "haram." (The term harem, and the use of the word to refer to the people who live in the harem, occurs after 1220 and is Turkish.) The haram's residents include all of the women of the household, such as relatives, children, wives, concubines and servants. Political rivalry between the women of a household appears in many folktales.

Men are permitted four wives, provided they treat them all equally well, and can afford to maintain them. Men are effectively permitted as many concubines as they can afford, although it is not pious to keep concubines. A slave-concubine who bears a Muslim's child is automatically freed, and must be maintained, so offering marriage is usual.

All of the earlier notes on playing Egyptian characters, save those which are noted as specifically Muslim, are suitable for Coptic characters. The following additions are small cultural differences that the companions of magi might note.

Copts are even more curious about foreigners than Muslims are. The more a Copt can learn about foreigners, the more likely it is that he can arrange for their needs to be met by someone of his acquaintance. Copts trade with outsiders more than Muslims, so the social circle of any given Copt is more likely to contain people who can aid, and be paid by, foreigners, than a Muslim of equal status. This benefits the Copt, as it makes him a man who knows people who can get things done. Such approaches are usually made to the servants of great men, companions or grogs, because great men have servants to deal with practical matters.

Rude people are almost always forgiven by Copts. Under the dhimmi law, they need to allow Muslims to berate them at will, and in some areas even spit on them. This training means that if a foreigner causes them to be shamed, they are more willing to assume that in the distant land from which this person comes, their actions are polite. If a shaming action does occur, although a character will be forgiven, an intermediary will still be sent to explain the mistake, so that the character can remove the shame on both by a rectifying act.

Coptic priests have more influence on individuals than Muslim clerics. This is so for two reasons. Copts use membership of their faith as a way of identifying themselves as a separate group, which gives them a social life and legal protection if their dhimmihood is ever challenged. Christians also have geographically-hierarchical priesthoods, whereas Muslim can swap mosques and teachers more easily, particularly in the large cities.

Although Muslims are very familyoriented, the Copts are even more so. Difficult, embarrassing matters are best dealt with inside the community.

Copts host regular festivals at the tombs of local saints, and during these festivals, the world does not work in its usual way. For example during the moolid (festival) for Sitt Dimiana, no thief can successful steal anything, and any man who looks on a woman with the intent to harm her is wounded in his eyes or…other parts. These miracles always work: there is no record of a clever sorcerer ever stealing or raping during the festival. During the Festival of Saint George, no person may remain possessed by evil spirits. Similarly, although there are stories of people being tricked into possession immediately after the festival ends, there is no record of a demon managing to avoid being forced out. This sort of guaranteed miracle is considered theologically problematic by the Western Church, but not by Copts. Muslims and Christians tend to attend each other's festivals, and on years where the Nile's inundation seems poor the Sultan orders combined religious processions.