The wedding ceremony
Good. This is a treatise about how plan about the wedding ceremony Tarisa is going to do for Tashry and Laenshir. Like I said, I'd like to hear your comments, especially about things you think that don't fit in the world.
Preperation
First things first. There need to be, of course, the two partners. So far, this has been accounted for :D
The wedding is sealed with exchanging jewelry. This can be rings, but armbraces or necklaces are popular as well. Tattoos are not unheard of, but also not very common.
It's normal - though not formally required - that both partners give the same kind of jewelry to each other. If they have choosen to give tattoos, normally they'd hire one artist who gives both partners the same tattoo. But again, nothing says they can't do it differently.
According to wikipedia :P *both* partners giving each other a ring is a recent innovation, and I want to go with the old-style customs here. That makes it easier for everyone as we don't have to worry about breaking into the palace again to find Tashry's jewellery.
There must be three to four witnesses: one for the idividual partners, a third one for the whole of the couple, and a fourth one for the cleric, though he or she can choose Samnar to be his/her witness. This happens so often that many people think that the cleric actually doesn't need a witness of his own.
The parters need to arrange their three witnesses themselves, the cleric takes care of his/her own witness.
That seems like overkill to me. But I like the idea of both partners needing an individual witness; Laenshir will choose one of the party, of course, and Tashry can drag along the guard who acknowledged her at the end of the last session. And the cleric should have Samnar as his/her witness; wouldn't it be insulting not to do so?
The partners must bring a sacrifice to the ceremony. Mostly, this is an animal like a sheep or a goat which will be ritually slaughtered by the cleric. But they may also choose to offer something that holds great personal value. Examples include, but are not limited to, a sword that was given to you by your father, who recieved it from his father, who recieved it from his father, who r... you get the pattern; the first garment your mother ever made for you; an amulet that was given to you by your diseased sibling; a book you have carried with you for as long as you can remember; and so on, and so on...
That's an intriguing idea, but where will you get an animal in a hurry? I'd rather make that an old custom that was *replaced* by the custom of sacrificing personal possessions. Royal weddings would probably still use an animal, as they like to do things in style, but obviously this isn't a typical royal wedding. Tashry, I think, will sacrifice the clothes they made her wear in prison....
If the partners decide to offer a thing of personal value, they both need to do so. If they decide to bring an animal, just one suffices.
The sacrifices are offered in an appropriate way: living animals are ritually slaughtered, burnable stuff is, well, what do you expect, burned, metal objects will be made so hot that a blacksmith can tear the metal apart and render the object useless - note that the couple need to arrange a blacksmith to be presence at the ceremony for this sort of thing.
The groom needs to be an adult male who is not serf to anyone. If he, however, is serf to anyone, his master/mistress needs to be at the ceremony as well to give him away to his bride.
The bride always needs someone to give her away. Usually, this is her father. Sometimes her mother does this. When both are not available, grandparents, uncles, aunts, or brothers can do this. When it is really needed, a sister will do too. If none of these are available, the bride needs to find someone else to give her away. This can be anybody except the witnesses, but it could be the cleric if the groom agrees with that.
Tashry would find it difficult to find someone, but fortunately, there is one person who can give her away -- Hoyt. The fact that the Queen's spirit spoke through his voice gives him the necessary authority.
Last, but not least, the cleric needs to be told the full names of both partners.
Thanks for warning me. I imagine Tashry will have lots of middle names. Her title will also include the fact that she's the widow of Prince Rafuz and *his* full name.
The cleric is responsible for finding out about the choices and desires of the couple and the couple are responsible for making sure the cleric is aware of their wishes. The cleric should make sure the partners know what they need to do for the actual ceremony.
The cleric is responsible for bringing the required attributes to the ceremony, such as a knife and a bowl for the sacrification, the Books he needs,
The ceremony
The partners, witnesses, cleric, and audience gather in an agreed upon location (usually an open field), a few minutes before sunrise. For light and warmth, the cleric has somehow made sure there is a fire. He can either do this himself or have someone do it for him.
You've just missed sunrise, so let's say it doesn't *have* to start before sunrise, it just has to be complete before noon, while the sun is still rising.
First, the cleric will cite phrases from the Three Books which he/she thinks are relevant for this marriage. Since not much of the text of the books is actually known to us Out Of Character but Tarisa ICly knows the books by heart, I think I can safely assume I am allowed to create a short speech myself here? -- Also, this is something I still need to do. I intend to keep it short because this IRL is usually the most boring part of a wedding :)
Sure, go ahead!
The cleric plans his speech in a way that it ends when the sun is visible above the horizon.
When the sun is present - when Samnar can witness the ceremony - the cleric turns east to fase the sun. He/she lifts his arm to the sun and declares that the wedding will be held in Samnar's seeying eye. He/she then turns back to the third witness and asks if he agrees.
Note that clouds preventing the sun from being actually visible don't pose a problem here.
The cleric then asks if there is anyone who is opposed to the marriage and requests them to stand up and speak now. If this person is somehow significant to at least one of the partners, the wedding can not be held. Significant people include, but are not limited to, parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, siblings, and local and national authorities.
Assuming no one objected, the cleric proceeds by addressing the bride by her full names and titles and asking her wether she is willing to take the groom as her spouse. The expected answer here is obvious, and "no" is considered blasphemous.
Next, the same question is asked to the groom. Same conditions: full names and titles, "no" at this point is considered blasmemous.
All three (or four) witnesses are now required to swear in Samnar's name that they have heard the partners want to marry, and they come in the order of third witness, bride's witness, groom's witness, (optionally cleric's witness).
Then the cleric slaughters the animal or burns the offer (isn't it convenient a fire was already there?) or asks the blacksmith to destroy the metal object.
Now the partners exchange jewelery (or the tattoo artist makes his body drawings. Bride first, then groom).
When this is done, the cleric declares the partners "husband and wife", he asks them to kiss each other, and with this, the marriage is sealed.