Society

• Pairings are state-mandated.

  

  • Not considered a legal unit unless Pairing
• Unpaired peoples = Shade
• Formal title for magic users = Kizier (from caesar)
  • What if they're not just considered a legal unit but the the "sorceress" is legally unable to make decisions because they're "unstable"
  • Occasionally Kiziers can keep the magical households for their widowed Tharii and or siblings, or whatever.
    • somebody who doesn't have a knight would have good reasons to consider faking it.
• Formal title for fighters = Tharii (from spatharios)
• Pairing events happen with the solstice
• Each Wave has depreciating returns
  • Wave One: Age 16 - 18
  • Wave Two: Age 32 - 35
  • Wave Three: Age 64 - 70
• Tharii/Kizier is considered the standard dynamic and couples do go against it but it's kind of risqué
• long, elaborate Season of introductions
  • Like Regency courtships / Old South coming of Age Parties
  • Huge Dance elements in courtship
  • Huge coming of age events if you become Paired you are legally an adult
• Having lovers outside of Pairings are common
  • One person can love their partner and not be loved back
  • They can loathe each other
  • They can think each other is "meh"
  • Any combo works
  • You could have the incredibly sappy Pairs and then the ones that can barely stand being in the same room unless they're fighting a common enemy.
• You communicate with your Pair telepathically
  • Talking takes work
    • One couple got it right away and they LOATHE EACH OTHER
  • This can suck big balls
• if you lose your bond tragically it can be very traumatic
  • Could be a serious problem if you were legally and emotionally tied to them
  • Some people may do anything to get that feeling back.
  • This is true even if you kill your Partner
    • You murdered your Pair because you didn't want to be legally subservient to them but then you MISS THEM AGAINST YOUR WILL
    • Like a psychic vampire. You might "use up" your partner.
  • On the upside, society literally doesn't believe you can murder your Pair. So you don't get charged, you just suffer. You can't get charged, you're literally not a person who can be responsible. In the same way women used to not be charged with crimes because they were presumably doing it at the behest of their husband.
• SCAM ARTISTS ABOUND
  • Myths about how if you don't find your bond by x age it's not as strong
  • there are ways to fake the bond if someone hasn't found theirs yet
  • once you've had a successful bond you can sort of replicate it
• Shades tend to get thrown into convents/schools/homes
  • Madame Cross' School for Mismatched Youth
    • if you hit 18 age without meeting your Tharii, off you go to school where you are taught coping methods and basically cared for until you finally meet a Tharii or become a teacher.
    • If you're widowed and lose your Tharii then you can go to a home for Broken Pairings
  • outside the Formal Empire there are presumably countries where the pairs don't happen and they must think it's incredibly weird
    • Some sort of hippie commune where everyone is paired with the WHOLE WORLD
    • "life is my bondmate" 
    • poly is most common but some people are more literal and celibate
• Tharii pre-bonding can have a frat-like existence if not paired in their first wave
  • This results in homoromantic (like with like) ballads specifically about Tharii
  • And homoromantic Tharii relations are considered a good thing to have, provided they are not putting their Tharii "buddy" first once they get a Kizier
  • Though they can put them first in some things, sort of Tharii bonding "poker nights"
  • However, if you are a Tharii that leads another Tharii astray so that they neglect their duties to their Kizier... uh oh
  • There exist no ballads for similar pre-bonded Kizier relationships, because they are not taken seriously as what Kizier would value a relationship with another over their destined Tharii?
• Idealized Kizier characteristics are small hands and feet, slim waists, long hair.
  • This is not found very often. And some of the actual "most desirable" Kizier can have none of these characteristics if they are powerful enough.
  • Or if they are charismatic enough
• Idealized Tharii characteristics focus on physical strength and tactical intelligence.
  • This can result in more dexterity focused Tharii being considered the equivalent of "effeminate"
• Very rarely, a Tharii can have an adverse sensitivity to magic
  • Their pair can Make It Work with a lesser sensitivity to their type, but can still give them a headache
  • For those rare cases, they often aren't believed to be sensitive, as Tharii Are Strong and that's just not real come on