Marriage in Aylendyl

[starbornchild]

 Marriages in Aylendyl is dependent on both culture and race. Most often marriages are used to unite families together and to form alliances. Traditionally marriage is a union between a male and a female, but in places like Jiang Shi, and Corobra, a marriage can be between same sex partners. A union of families and a formation of alliances. A child is then adopted either from an orphanage, another family member, or from the village and raised to be the successor to the family. Alternatively a man or woman may be brought in as a concubine and used to produce a child of the 'bloodline'.

Fae Touched:
Among Fae Touched, marriages are rare, almost to the point of being unheard of. Among Fae Touched, there is no distinction between gender pairings. If two people fall in love and decide to be together, it is accepted. They are very open of their sexuality. There are some fae that are required to take lovers of the opposite sex in order to reproduce, but many such fae do not view the act of finding a mate to be a binding thing. Those that have decided either to be with one mate or to enter into a marriage do so of their own accord.

Dwarves:
Dwarves care only about maternal lineage and clan names. It is not uncommon for dwarven children to be raised by two female dwarves. One dwarven female, usually with the better lineage will be the female while the female with the poorer lineage will fulfill the roles of a male. The female preforming the role of a male is not allowed to bear children.

Males will compete among each other in tasks of bravery and daring to win the eye of females in hopes of becoming chosen to be her partner. A female can have multiple partners, but may take only one 'husband' be it male or female.

Male dwarves often form fraternities or brotherhoods amongst themselves when competing for the rights to procreate. It is not uncommon for male dwarves to become lovers within these groups. If two male dwarves wish it, they may join together in union, but forgo the right to breed with a female to do so. Dwarves do not use the term marriage, instead they use the word 'Union'.

As far as clans go, no dwarf is forced to be part of one clan or another. Usually the clan name indicates what the dwarves of that clan are best at. At a young age, Dwarves may enter a journeyman status and learn of other clans if they find that their heart is not with their clan. Should a dwarf find another clan more to their liking, they are then adopted by that clan. They are not forced to forgo all ties to their former clan, but they are encouraged to embrace their new clan wholeheartedly.

Elves:
Elves believe quite strongly in a marriage between a male and a female. It is because Elven society is so complex that it is important to have a clear lineage of Houses and bloodlines. It is also frowned to have multiple lovers. Those who do fall in love with the same gender and are discovered are often exiled from their houses and named Houseless. The same goes for Elves who embrace multiple partners, they are stripped of their House names and declared Houseless.

In Delphinia Dace and Laurelei are working hard to restructure Elven society to embrace things like same sex marriages and multiple partners by borrowing a page from the traditions of Jiang Shi and Corobra. However 10,000 years of tradition is difficult to overcome.