The Realm has always set the standard for
appropriate pomp, and it is the chosen destination for
many celebrations.
Birthdays
On these occasions, they spare no expense
to ensure that their guest have the best, most unique,
and exotic experience. This tradition is also taken up by all aspiring nobles,
some of whom squander their entire fortune in a – most
often futile – attempt to be on par with high Fae society.
Of all the birthdays in the life of a citizen of the Realm,
the most important is certainly the sixteenth, marking
their entrance into adulthood. At that age many young
littlings leave their family home to venture in the
world and go to the academy, or to university.
And on this ever-so-special occasion there are many
traditions to uphold, some shared, some family specific. Firstly, the littling turning sixteen should pay a
visit to the oldest member of their family, traveling to
wherever they may be in the Realm or the House, and
share a feast with them.
Secondly, they have to sit for a portrait, which will
be added to a gallery of all their family portraits, and
handed down through the generations. Then, they
have to take the time to write a heart-felt and poetic letter of thanks to their parents, one they’ll have to give
a very emphatic reading of in front of all guests.
Other than that, the birthday-littling usually has to
perform a dance and, if they’re going on to a military
career, challenge someone to a duel, or accept the first
gauntlet thrown down.
To uphold all the traditions, sometimes the celebrations last for more than a week, during which the
birthday-littling must always be dressed up to the
nines, must never eat alone, and must always pay the
bill for everyone at their table.
Weddings
Let us begin by saying that the citizens of the Realm
look at marriage like a form of contract that never gets
formalized, as such it can always be rescinded without
falling afoul of any Terrible Terrible Thing worse than
an angry spouse. Quite the opposite it is all around seen as improper to ask
for a littling to tie themselves indissolubly to another
through the counterpart of their Hereditary Contract.
Fae tradition sees
marriage as a union between two littlings who commit
to their union and their children and their relatives
much like the stars unite to form constellations, each
of them becoming a beacon for the others.
A surname carries much weight in the Realm, as all assets
and titles belonging to the family are tied to it. As
such, weddings are seen as a way for families to unite
and forge alliances, to share their respective power and
build foundations for what is, hopefully, a new step in
the social climb of the family.
Funerals
The funeral ceremony of the winged Folk is also known
as “the Return to the Stars” as it promises to lead the
departed upward to the sky where they can rejoin the
light of the stars. As part of the last rites, the body
of the deceased is cremated and their ashes placed in
an urn made of an extremely thin material, like spider
web, butterfly cocoons, or honey film. In this urn they
enclose a tiny seed, which blooms and gives birth to
a special kind of flower, a white dandelion clock still
holding the urn among its roots. When the flower
develops, those who loved the deceased place a small
light within the now-empty urn and on the first clear
night, they let the dandelion take flight so that it may
find its way to the Stars without getting lost.
It can only take place in Faeriyev, where
there’s a special window in the sugar-glass panes, created to allow dandelions to leave the House.
