Virjilan Vrekason is an average Vrekan citizen. He is 34 years old, married with a five year old child and works as a skilled labourer, helping to rebuild the ruined city of Venalanium. Virjilan and his family live on the third floor of the Ver’Ktisia, a seven storey block of flats, in a three bedroom house.
At 6:00am, Virjilan is woken up by his partner Ingivia and they both get up. While Virjilan washes himself with a damp cloth in the bathroom, then brush his beak with a small brush, wipe his horns with a polishing cloth and brush his tail feathers, Ingivia heads into the kitchen/living room and puts a kettle of water on their electric-powered stove. Once Virjilan has washed himself, he puts on some clothes – a large, linen cloth that wraps round the neck, covers the chest and groin, then ties up just above his tail. He then puts on his shoulder and leg pads, which are made of heavy leather wrapped in linen. Virjilan then wakes up their daughter Invilan, helps her put her wrap on and takes her to the kitchen for breakfast.
Breakfast consists of a porridge made with hot water, ground oats and flaxseed, flavoured with salt and occasionally meat stock. The adults drink mead watered down with warm water, while Invilan drinks warm water flavoured with a powder made from dehydrated fruit juices.
After breakfast, Ingivia will help Invilan pack her bag and make a packed lunch. The packed lunch contains a crisomil, a type of gold, peach-like fruit, a small pack of various dried fruits and a pouch of porridge to be made at school. Virjilan will prepare a similar lunch, but with pieces of meat jerky that had been made the previous weekend.
At 7:00am, Virjilan and Invilan leave the house. Normally, the wife takes their children to school, but as Virjilan’s current work site is located nearby, he walks Invilan to school and drops her off at the front gates. The school has high fences and does not let adult Vrekans in, apart from teachers. Virjilan watches as Invilan plays with her friends before the school bell rings at 7:25am.
Virjilan arrives at the work site at 7:35am. He is currently working with 20 other labourers to help rebuild a block of offices and flats. His team are in the process of putting in the foundations for electricity and plumbing. Virjilan in particular specialises in electrics, and maintains the equipment used by the other workers. The team works until 7:00pm, with 45 minute breaks at 10:00am, 2:00pm and 5:00pm. Virjilan has lunch at 2:00pm and at 5:00pm, he calls his wife to see if they need anything from the shops.
Invilan finishes school at 5:15pm, and is picked up by her mother. Occasionally, they will take a detour to walk past Virjilan’s place of work and say hello during his last break. Other times, Invilan will play at a friend’s house and be picked up by Ingivia at 6pm.
Virjilan walks home, stopping by a ‘peript’ or small supermarket if he wants or needs to buy anything, and arrives home at around 7:30pm. He will briefly wash, remove his armour padding then join Ingivia and Invilan for dinner at 8:00pm.
Dinner generally consists of a large piece of meat, generally a cheap cut of aggelad meat boiled with root vegetables, with plain porridge and a warm salad of green leaves and dried fruit. The entire meal is chopped up into small pieces and mixed together for easier eating, due to the small beak mouths Vrekans have. Drinks vary, Invilan has her fruit juice drink, while both Ingivia and Virjilan will have watered down mead or a glass of malt and oat beer.
After the evening meal, the family will relax. For half an hour after dinner, once Ingivia and Invilan have tidied up and washed up, they sit around the table and discuss the day they’ve had, and make plans for the next day. Afterwards, they watch television for a while, while Invilan plays with her toys in the living room. Their preferred programs of choice are, like most Vrekans, competitive fighting shows, particularly the Vrekan Wresting Federation and the mixed-species Dessaron Battle Arena.
Rarely, they will go out to the local bar to meet with Virjilan’s work friends, or meet up with the parents of Invilan’s play buddies. At weekends, they may not return home until 2:00am, but they are generally back home by 11:00pm
Invilan goes to bed at 9:30pm, and Ingivia and Virjilan normally go to bed at 11:30pm. Before they go to bed, they all brush their beaks and swirl water in their mouths. Virjilan and Ingivia kiss each other goodnight, make a small wish that the next day is productive and fruitful, then climb into bed with their separate blankets and pillows. They sleep on their sides facing each other and do not move until the next morning, when their day starts again.