Marriage
From FiranMUX
Overview
Every Firan clan recognises marriage as the union, both social and spiritual, between one man and one woman who are not related in a direct line of descent (marriage is not recognised between brothers-sister, parent-son, uncle-neice, grandmother-grandaughter etc.). Multiple marriages are not recognised in the Firan lands and bigamy is considered a sin against the gods.
The Hydran and Gold Dragon clans only recognise marriages performed by a priest of Zutiv, wheras all other clans recognise a marriage performed by any priest or priestess of the gods. Within the Eagle Clan, Chimera Clan and the Ticanee, marriage by assertion is also recgnised; namely where the couple hold themselves out to the public to be married, no matter who performed the ceremony.
The Cockatrice Clan believe in arranged marriages and that children of the Clan may not choose their own spouse but must adhere tot he matchmaking of their parents. While this practise is not as prevalent as it once was, it is still law and a couple may be legally forced to marry within the Cockatrice Clan.
Matchmakers, originally most commonly found within the Cockatrice Clan are now found in every clan and, as well as keeping lists of every unwed man or woman within their clan, often arrange matchmaking parties and events to foster unions within their clan. With the Firan People at war, some among society see it as a duty for all Firan people to wed and have children, Matchmakers being seen as an excellent way of faciliating this.
Historically, a woman who married a man from a different clan would then be assumed to belong to her husband's clan. In more recent times, however, the citizenship of each partner in the marriage is preserved. While the jurisdiction of the marriage itself may be muddled by this, the citizenship of the children of such a mixed-clan marriage may be determined by the Ranivor before the age of two. Typically, however, this only occurs if the parents and their respective clan leaders cannot agree upon a solution.
In the case of mixed-clan noble marriages, it is less common to find each spouse remaining with their clan of birth. This makes noble marriages all the more complicated and frequently leads to them being involved political games that make the actual marriage itself seem simple by comparison.
Marriage Guidelines
When a couple marries within the Republic, the tradition is that they will both have the same last name. There have been a few exceptions, but it is still seen as socially unacceptable, in the main, and people can and should diss those who hyphenate.
In the Firan world, a women does not automatically take the last name of the man she marries. Instead, the person of the lesser status family takes the last name of the more important family. If, however, the two families are equivalent, the family can negotiate a to who will take whose name. Ultimately, as circumstances change or one Head of Household or another begins to insist, the people are likely to demand that the name be taken. This can result in an individual moving from household to household and surname to surname as circumstances change.
Most commonly, married couples live together and those who live apart are thought of as freaks or uncivilized. While Royal Households often have meticulous arrangements as to the disposition of children of the union (Girls are Ista Aldrik, boys can be Rissik for example) in the main children are expected to live with the family of the last name they sport when they come of age with their Ceremony of Souls.
