Skål! [Fireside/Hjarrandi Wedding]

Vikings, Valentine had learned recently, were an especially picky and superstitious lot. If it had been up to him with this whole wedding thing, he'd have just smashed the newlyweds together and declared them married and the merger deal done, but nooo, heaven forbid it be that easy. Firstly, they had to get married on a specific day to get a specific goddess' blessing. Fine, easy enough, right? No, apparently not, because that was only one goddess of many and for a viking wedding to work you had to get the approval of a whole pantheon of deities and dead folks by fulfilling a ton of religious tradition. So, one goddess down, a bajillion more incorporeal beings to appease.

The setting of the wedding day had kicked off the process of readying both the intendeds and the event. Both brides and grooms had to have a weapon of some sort to present to each other. The reasoning, he'd learned, was that by exchanging weapons the intendeds (and their families) were declaring their commitment to protecting each other as though they were blood-kin. Then there were the 'legal' obligations to contend with; the dowries, the assessment of the intendeds ability to provide, and the agreement from a whole range of relatives to assist and and support the newly joined families. Then, because the women were from far away and some sort of ritualistic crown was important to the ceremony, runners had been dispatched to retrieve the sacred pieces.

Finally, almost two seasons later, the day had arrived. The bridal crowns, ancestral weapons and wedding armbands had been retrieved from the homelands, the intendeds had been ritualistically cleansed of their bachelor/bachelorette-hood, and enough food and drink had been gathered to drunken and fatten all of Boreas' inhabitants many times over. Invitations had been sent to all of the packs; the goal of the ceremony was to make it known far and wide that Fireside and Hjarrandi were merging. For that reason, there was more to the festivities than a wedding and feast. Events had been planned that would take up half a season or better.

As the elder of the grooms' family, Valentine had been wrangled into overseeing the event. Like everyone else involved, he too had been cleansed and groomed, and now sat under an arbor woven with some sort of special, symbolic vines. His job was to say all the magic marrying words, oversee the exchanging of gifts and payments between the merging families and kill the sacrificial animals. When that was done he would send the participants off to the feasting grounds and kick off the after party, so to speak.

At a signal from the other planners, Valentine threw back his head and howled to let the people know it was time to start. Those that were to be married today plus those of the family who would be giving gifts (Tyrian and Asvor) were to join him in the front. The rest were welcome to gather in a loose semi circle around them. The sacrificial animals had been subdued and were now laying bound on the ground behind Valentine. All in all, the stage was set and Valentine was ready to go. Bring on the marrying.

OOC: this event is open to the public and marks the beginning of Fireside's season of stuff and things! Included will be a feast and games, and will end in the Hjarrandi's signature market! There will be chances to enter your characters into events (like an items market, hunting and fighting challenges) and other things so if you have someone interested in skill threads, this thread is a good jumping off point for the other activities. It is NOT a good place for anyone who might be auctioned off during the market as Valkyrie wouldn't capture guests. First round ends October 10th!