#shazzar

[nicoandmara]

Vladari Marriage, Gender, and Sexuality

Vladari are able to marry upon reaching adulthood, which is at age sixteen and after their coming of age ceremonies. Vladari marriages are usually not arranged by the parents -- rather, Vladari youths may begin courting each other prior to reaching adulthood.

Same-gender marriages and polyamorous marriages -- marriages with more than two partners -- are common among the Vladari. Additionally, these are common among Shazzarans as a whole.

Prior to the wedding, the people who will marry each other work together to build their new home. They are given some combination of land, building materials, and goods by each party’s parents. The new home should ideally be finished the week prior to the wedding.

Two individuals preside at each Vladari wedding -- the village holy person, or K’loharanma, and the village chief. The village chief’s role is for the civil recognition of the marriage, and the holy person’s role is for the spiritual recognition of the marriage. Afterwards, there is a huge celebration with feasting and dancing. At sunset, the newly married retreat privately to their new home and are given space and privacy for thirty days. During this time period, they do not work or typically conduct any legal business unless absolutely necessary.

Amongst Shazzarans -- including Vladari -- gender is not determined by what sex organs the person possesses. The child determines their own gender, usually by age five; they will tell their parents what they are. Sometimes, they realise their gender over time -- their preferences may naturally arise as to what clothes they prefer and what pronouns they use for themsleves. Thus, it is entirely possibly for same gender marriages to be able to biologically have children on their own -- or different gender marriages to not be able to have children without assistance. Those who require assistance to have children may choose a friend to help them -- the friend will either carry the child to term or sire the child, depending on whether they have a vagina and uterus or a penis. For this reason, it is entirely possible for a Shazzaran man to give birth, or a Shazzaran woman to get someone pregnant.

Shazzarans -- including Vladari -- recognise three genders: males, females, and androgynes. Androgynes can be born with penises and testicles, vaginas and uteruses, or what is considered on 21st century Earth to be intersex characteristics. It is possible for a Shazzaran child to decide that they are an androgyne, because gender is not binary on this planet. None of the genders are given legal or social preferences over the others. Also, same-gender love and affection is not penalised or forbidden.

The Vladari have no concept of adultery or infidelity. Marriages are usually open, and as long as the partners communicate openly and honestly, its is not unusual for married Vladari to engage in sex with someone other than their spouse(s). However, some Vladari choose not to do this, only having affections with their spouses.

When a Vladari person dies, their spouse(s) usually do not remarry.

[nicoandmara]

Shunning Among the Vladari

If a Vladari violates any of their culture’s major taboos, they can be subjected to shunning.

A public trial must be held for an accused person. The trial must be held by a judge -- usually a member of the village’s council -- and jurors, who are usually the remaining members of the council. In order to establish that the accused is guilty, usually three witnesses must independently testify to having seen the accused perform the act. If the accused is found guilty, they are then shunned by the village. 

A shunned Vladari ceases to exist in the minds of their fellow villagers. It is as if they were never born; their name is not spoken, no one will acknowledge their presence if they enter a room or common space, and no one will speak to them or even look at them. They lose their right to live in their homes or conduct any sort of trade with other villagers; also, if they are employed by anyone, they are automatically sacked. They are also not permitted to inherit any property or goods from their parents -- their inheritance will be given to another family member or redistributed equally among the remaining children.

Also, their marriages are immediately dissolved; their spouse, if innocent, may opt to allow someone else to stand in place of the missing parent for any children born of their union. The new parent they name in the shunned person’s place is now considered one of the parents of the children in question. 

Upon their deaths, no one will bury or cremate them -- if they have the misfortune to die in the village, their bodies will simply be disposed of as garbage. No one will receive their final testament recording -- if a shunned Vladari is ever foolish enough to record and send one back to their village, it will be immediately destroyed or refused. Also, they are forbidden to visit the Grove of the Ancestors to mourn or pay respects to their dead family or ancestors.

Also, a shunned Vladari is literally erased from their village’s history. Their families will delete their names out of their genealogies. Also, their names are deleted out of the village’s historical records. If they ever held public office, any actions they performed will be deleted out of the village’s historical records along with their name. Whatever this person has done -- either good or evil -- will usually never be spoken of again. It doesn’t matter if, for example, they saved their village from a flood or did something else noble -- their actions will never be mentioned again.

Usually if one is shunned by the village, they are unable to continue living in the village due to losing their home and their inability to find food, work, or conduct trade. If a shunned Vladari does not opt to leave, it is likely they will die within a week or two due to malnutrition, dehydration, exposure to the elements, attack by wild animals, or some combination of these factors. Also, a shunned Vladari will usually be unable to settle in another village, as their reputation typically will follow them and in fear of making K’lohara (the chief Vladari deity) angry or in fear of that person committing similar acts in their village, they will also be ignored in the new village.

Shunned Vladari usually resettle in other nations on Shazzar. They will be permitted to take any personal effects or worldly goods they’ve accumulated so far -- namely, because the rest of the villages wants any evidence of them gone. Some who are shunned opt to leave the planet altogether and settle on other worlds, since it is very unusual for a Vladari to live outside their tribal lands and those who do are usual considered foreigners by other Shazzarans.

[nicoandmara]

The Naming of Vladari Children

Vladari children are given their names when they are twelve days old. Their parents and the village holy person -- the K'loharamna -- are the active participants in a naming ceremony which the entire village attends. Just before sunrise, the entire village gathers at the new parents’ home and the holy person publicly asks them to declare the child’s name. One of the parents speaks the child's name to the holy person, who in term publicly announces it to those gathered for the ceremony. Then, the child is brought outside to allow the rising sun’s rays to touch their face. There is usually a celebration later in the day which involves lots of food; gifts are usually given to the new parents at this celebration. The families of the new parents are usually the ones who arrange and hold the celebration for them, as well as prepare all of the food.

[omgdevin]

"There've been all these hints, but has he actually fucking stuck his fucking tongue down your fucking throat?" Shazzar makes a good point.