Marriage Ceremony

Traditional Marriage Ceremony

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he Unified Religion introduced a new marriage ceremony to the folk of the New Realm. High-priests believed it was important to unify the families to create harmony and balance. This union also helped merge families together for political and trade advantages.

Old Tradition

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he ceremony of the old religion differed from the Unified ceremony, in terms of equality. The old religion believed that both partners had equal say in the day-to-day needs of the family. Priests taught folk to value each other's strengths and support each other's weaknesses. They believed that each family was unique, and they encouraged families to blossom into their own uniqueness. The northern dragons used the analogy of a snowflake in which every family was different.

New Tradition

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he Unified Religion believed in structure. The man was the traditional leader of the family. He sheltered his family and protected them. The wife was subservient to her husband, and he protected her. Then the wife sheltered her children. The analogy that the Unified Religion used was that a family is like a seed. It has a hard protective layer on the outside, with a softer inner layer.

Advantages

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his belief system was useful during times of conflict. It gave precedence to protecting the children and was easier to communicate to families as there was only one member, the father, to speak to. The Unified Religion referred to families as trees in a forest in that the mightiest trees all began as a seed.

It also was easier to create political marriage arrangements and to keep noble families together.

Criticism

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n the beginning, many women folk protested at this tradition. They preferred the balance approach of the old religion. The Unified Religion saw this issue and High Priest Apis of Thebes created a successful campaign to spread the support of this marriage arrangement. They found that introducing a bride price to encourage fathers to force their daughters into marriage worked well. Besides the bride price, the campaign also highlighted the failed attempt to travel to the New Realm by the elite omega dragons. The story was told repeatedly as people grieved. This fueled the folk’s anger, and they demanded retribution.

Omega and Alpha Marriage Traditions

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he marriage contract between omega dragons and alpha dragons differed from the marriage contract between common folk. Since both the omega and alpha were powerful magical beings, the Unified Religion decreed that omegas were to transfer their power to the alphas, rendering them powerless. The common folk approved of this transfer in power, as they wanted to avoid another disaster.

Criticism of Omega Marriage Arrangements

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here were omega dragons who disapproved of this arrangement. They knew that a transfer of power like this was dangerous. So, the Unified Religion created another campaign to educate young omegas about the benefits and importance of giving their power to their alphas. Any omega that still disagreed was sent away and never seen again.

Today’s Omega and Alpha Marriage Traditions

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vertime, the folk adjusted to the tradition. They sent the omegas to specialized schools where they learned the ways of an omega. The curriculum includes proper etiquette, various skills, and submission. Once an omega reaches the age of marriage, the community conducts a marriage ceremony in front of all. During the ceremony, the omega willingly gives her power to her Lord Alpha.

Folk have practised this tradition for over 2,500 years.

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