PlaneShift
Fan Area => Roleplaying (Communitive Storywriting) => Collaborative Stories => Topic started by: jaycol on October 27, 2007, 01:40:49 pm
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[I started this thread as a reference thread to anyone who wishes to post ideas and/or developed ceremonies or festivals that can be used in role playing.]
Joining of the ways (A clan wedding)
Circle of Joining - A circle made up of various items in which a marriage will take place.
Joining of the ways - a marriage, joined through a mix of clans, race, or culture. of different backgrounds
Seer of Ceremony - the designated individual who is to perform a ceremony
Guards of Honor - a maid or man of honor for a marriage ceremony, They are responsible for the welfare and protection of the bride and groom for the day of the wedding
Clans Honor - the protection of the wedding and their responsibilities to see it through.
Clans - Different races, village, guilds, family, or represented group
Law of Steel - an unwritten law among clans that forbids a married couple to wield steel or to do battle on the day of joining
Over the ages, the different races of Yliakum struggled to exist among the other. Many cultures and clans fought against each other. The Joining of
the ways came about as a political ways to establish peace, and alliances through marriage from each party involved. As Imperial rule brought some
resemblance of peace throughout the regions the ceremony became more common in it's use. It is still used as a diplomatic measures, but is relished by most
as ceremony of acceptance to another's way or culture.
The circle of joining started out as a simple drawing of a circle within the earth. A center point of focus for two rival clans. It later developed by
the use of swords. (With is still used by many warrior clans) As peace settled over the land it became more political and was refined to be made up of more
valuable items. The circle itself was open on two opposing sides allowing for the wedded couple to enter with their guards of honor who would see the circle
closed for the ceremony.
The Law of steel became an unwritten law by the clans to help protect their interests and future by protecting the wedded couple for at least a day.
Forbidding that couple to wield steel on the day of joining in the event hostilities continued between members of the clans. It helped to serve for the
wellbeing of the couple and sometimes the existence of a clan. In some instances the law was extended by the clans until a child was produced from the
joining. The law of steel was a negotiated issue before the ceremony.
The Guards of Honor and the Clans Honor are simply put. It was the guards responsibility to protect the life's and welfare of the married couple for
the period designated by the clan leader. They were selected however by the bride or groom, either for their fighting skills or out of trust. The clans honor
was its responsibility to uphold the joining under the terms of negotiation and agreed upon issues of the treaty
order of the Ceremony(in general by common use)
The gathering - the clans gather from opposing sides and the circle is drawn.
The Approach- The selected individuals and a small party of individuals approach the circle' openings
Guards of Honor - The predesignated Seer of Ceremony warns of the Law of Steel, the party stop and the bride and groom select a guard of their choice. The individual is asked to except. Upon selection they are given a dagger as a gift which is their's to keep.
Closing the Circle - The bride and groom enter the circle after selecting their guards and handing over their weapons. The guard then follow and place the gifted dagger into the openings of the circle closing it to all by the wedding party. They then draw their swords and post themselves beside the bride and groom.
Challenge of the Joining - The Seer of ceremony then announces the closing of the circle. He adds that any who opposes the joining may remove one of the placed daggers. He also remind the clans of their honor to the joining. The removal of a dagger is an insult to both clans and the joining couple. As only few ever dared it is seldom done. The clans usually see to the issue in number rather quickly so that the ceremony is no longer interupted. In such few cases only the clan leaders were permitted to stop the joining from being made. Often resulting in further fighting between the rival clans.
Purification - The Seer woulds ask the joining couple to kneel. At which time He/she would cast a spell of purification on those within the circle.
He/she would then follow in a prayer to the honored gods of the assembled clans. Afterwards the couple is asked to rise.
Submission- The couple is asked to join hands by crossing their arms. This is used as a sign of submission to the other. The crossing of arms
without weapons being a sign of peace or proof that one means no harm.
The washing - The seer washes first his hands, then the joined hands of the couple. This represent the washing or cleansing of all bonds or oaths that the couple may have had prior to the joining. By doing so it allows them the freedom to pledge themselves to each other first above all others. It is a matter that is respected by all clans.
Pledging by cord of binding- A cord that is used for the joining ceremony. It is wrapped around the couples joined hands and allowed to hang freely on
either side. The groom is asked for his pledge, and the bride asked if she accepts it. If she does the cord is tied into a half knot. Then she is asked for her pledge, and the groom asked if he accepts. If he does the cord is tied into a knot. The cord represents their plrges or oaths to each other and is used
so all can see that they are bound to the other first by the binding of the cord.
Sharing of water - Water is the essence of all life. The Seer offers a cup of water to the lips of the bride and groom to share. By sharing the water they
except to share each others life together, and the differences they have as their own.
Cutting the cord - The Seer indicates to the Guards of Honor in some manner. The guards then sheath their swords and retrieve the daggers from the circle. They return and post themselves on either side of the Joined couple. The Seer announces them as man and wife or as a joined couple. The Guards then cut the cord freeing the couples hands.
Joined - The couple then embrace and kiss at their leisure, often presenting each other with gifts of jewelry.
New Blood - The final act of the ceremony. The bride and groom leave the circle with their designated Guard of Honor through the opposite opening in with they entered. Allowing for clan to welcome them as their one of their own. After the greetings are finished the clans greet each other to celebrate the
joining and the new period of peace.
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While I like the inclusion of Imperial (:P) I do think that this sort of thing should be religion specific and endorsed by the settings department, neither of which this is.
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It is designed as a common ceremony not a specific religion. For that matter religion can be excluded from use in it. It is a simple designed outline that can be pieced from for use in many ways. I could just post it as a story and leave it be as that, either way it'll be there.
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Don't get me wrong, the idea seems great but I was personally waiting for the settings department's decision on such issues as my character is training to become a priest of Laanx and I think any religion-non-specific ritual might interfere with that. It does seem well thought out but at the same time it seems to impose an unheard of sort of tradition on those taking part which is what I'd take issue with.
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I do see your point. But it is hard to role play in a world with very little points of reference. As for traditional aspects. the stories are laden with them. In one form or another. Of which I may yet take part. However I have no wish to do so with my character. I would be more interested in a past tale, or legend. Which brings me back to gee there is no history between long ago to now. Except a few tidbits to dig from the forgotten years. I am still digging for info to work with. That can make role play open a bit more. If it needs censored so be it. I have no control of that delete key. I won't lose sleep from it. Until then if you can use some of it have at it. Hope you have luck with your character sounds interesting. Your comments have made me decide to hold on some other things I'm working with. I think we'll test the waters first.
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Is each epoch not one hundred years old which should have the most recent settings part as being as recent as the industrial revolution in RL? That should be recent enough. Anyway, I love this sort of thing. I just wish setting could make clear what is the rituals of the only relgion with a presence in game :P
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There are many example of marriages that used a non-religious form. And to be truthful I as a player would appreciate the option even if My character would prefer a religious marriage.The idea of clan involvment is good as well as the ceremony itself.
jaycol. dont give up being creative. I am sure more than just myself appreciated Your post.
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Do you think that if there was an official format dependent upon religion there would have been such marriages? I am in no way trying to diminish his efforts, if thats what you're getting at.
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Hmmm. There are "Official" formats depending on religion even today. And yes there are such marriages even today. The game has atheists which means of course there HAS to be an option for non-religious marriages. Or do Atheists not marry?
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Hey dont hate on my wedding :P
/me stomps off to beat up fragnetics some more.
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Oh, I won't, may change direction though. As Far as a Hundred years go. Did you ever stop to wonder what happened to the individual soldiers who fought for the security of the Bronze doors, or what happened to the villages that they were from. Now, other then being warriors. Were they farmers, smiths? Did they all have the same traditions, from the same race, the same interests. Popped in for a quick battle and popped back out. My point is a source of reference for players to work with. I wrote this ceremony for some friends. I posted it for others to use and provided some background to explain the actions. It is my hope that it will be build upon. and as a player I hope to see more of the other wedding, guild, race, city, clan ceremonies as well. The do's and why's that make them what they are. It's those little things that make us characters. [Jaycol notices his mug is empty and frowns]
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I'd love it to see a religious ceremony. I just fear that the OOC Atheist is being put before the IC theist with posts like this.
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What would you like? Challenge, my mental stamina
What religion?
What gods?
Temple based?
Individual or mixed race?
Culture (city, farm background)
Large or private?
particular way? (red, crystal,dark)
Large or small wedding party?
rich or common?
Shoot out some ideas and see what we come up with
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I'd love it to see a religious ceremony. I just fear that the OOC Atheist is being put before the IC theist with posts like this.
OOC?! How so? If it is OOC then please tell Me WHY they have it as a religion selection at character creation time? Just because some people prefer to use characters of a certain in game religious doctrine does not make the other doctrines or beliefs(even of non-belief) OOC in any way. Now having said that, jaycol chose to share witj us all something to enhance play. I am sure that if someone who is zealous about a religious ceremony could do the same thing as jaycol. Provided of course it is worth it to them to take the time.
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I wish the post before mine wasn't changed :(
Anyway, the character creation now states that atheism is totally illogical. Therefore I think IC beliefs in terms of IC religions, particularly Laanxism given that it is the most prominent in Hydlaa, should come before ceremonies for all the population.
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Ok I need to stop this here. I didn't want this in this thread. I'll open a discussion thread in "general discussion' for this topic so this one will be used as it was intended. I always hated scrolling through discussions when trying to read stories and such.
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Don't fret it Jaycol, what you've got here is great - and easily adapted to whatever circumstances a character may desire.
Parallo, I think your wish for religious clarification has been made. Maybe get in touch with Jeraphon or Xililx and see if Settings might not be willing to offer some suggestions for a more theistic adaptation? I think we're still a ways off from any "official" standpoint, as new Gods are still being added. Heck, we've only got what, about an eighth of Yliakum's uppermost tier for a game world? I think there's a lot of room left to grow yet.
And just so I'm reading this right, Jaycol, this was posted as a framework resource upon which to build, yes? So whether your characters are religious or not, they should be able to work with it simply as a basic structure for a ceremony.
And of course, not being official, I would think you're all equally welcome to include other adaptations, interpretations, or entirely new ideas.
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Yeah, I was thinking of getting in touch with Xillix but I was scared :P He doesn't seem the type that likes to annoyed and I don't want to get on his bad side :P
Yeah, anyway, what I meant was that I don't feel right practicing any sort of ceremony that isn't something Sharven would do as well. I mean rituals are a huge part of religion and making up your own religious ceremony is tantamount to making up the history of the church. As for non theistic rituals, I'm not that bothered.
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This is a good initiative but everyone that uses this should keep in mind that it will most likely become invalid in the future. In my opinion a better way to go about this would be to back ceremonies with in-game sources like books, quests, NPC comments and slowly work out the player creations to exchange them with settings approved ceremonies.
One such example would be the Laanx contrition ceremony, for people who have fallen out of the grace of the Masquerade God, which can be experienced in a quest (can't say which one since that would be a spoiler :P)
Player created ceremonies and festivals are fine as well in my eyes as long as you don't clame them to have a long history but take them how they are. Newly created ceremonies and festivals. Take my old Festival of the Hunt, it was great and lots of people enjoyed it but I never claimed it to be something from long ago .. I just was the first one to implement it, hoping it might catch on as a regular thing. Sure, the Festival of the Hunt may have only been held once but there were loads of tournaments and festivals organised by others soon after it so my plan succeeded.
P.S.: Parallo, don't be scared to talk to Xillix or Jeraphon about settings stuff, they're good people, who like constructive feedback from the players.
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They may be good people and all but this would pretty much be just asking for more settings stuff that will be here in the future which is, in my opinion, tantamount to asking the devs for more skins and that sort of thing.
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I'd see it as asking if there is perhaps something that they already have lying about and wouldn't mind sharing ... or suggesting an area of future development to them. The Devs do what they think is best in the end anyway, they won't go out of their way for you but it can't hurt letting them know you're interested in their work.
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If I wasn't interested I'd hardly be playing :P
I suppose I should or maybe one of them will stumble across this thread and give their thoughts aswell as any info they have.
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No problem folks, we are currently working on material to add body to all religions. It will take time of course. As you all know I am very partial to Laanx and I have been very strict on my authors to make sure something of high quality makes it to you. The wait for this information is largely due to strict insistence on quality for the Laanx religion. Anyone who would like to pm their thoughts on any of the faiths is hereby welcome to do so.
More broadly we will give you some festivals and such as well. Ideas welcome in my pm box, or Braineel@gmail.com
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this thread was meant to suggest festivals and ceremonies right? All I have read is a bunch of stuff on weddings, does anyone have ideas for holidays? Maybe the Lemur creation day? Seriously though, we've discussed one ceremony in a thread meant for many.