The Blood Marriage

The Legend

In the Time of Gods, what may have been centuries, millennia, or eons ago, there existed a Hunter God. Mitsowa the Snowladen stalked the forests of The Seat of Giants, stalking titanic creatures that mankind could not handle themselves, as well as ensuring no overzealous hunter picked the land clean. All knew that within the white covered hills and forests, they would never see him, but if a white feather lie alone on the ground, then hunting would be favorable. Mitsowa was not alone, however, for he had a sister as well, Królytny of Bursting Bounty. Where her brother was a hunter, she was a forager, carrying the same duties as he for those who found the herbs, mushrooms, and flowers for their people. The two cared deeply for one another, and always traveled together across the forests, but it was there that Królytny caught the attention of another, Verfallt the Rot Master.

Verfallt was a lonely god, you see, for few understood the beauty of Decay past its offenses to the senses, but Królytny was one of those few. The Goddess of Foraging had a unique fascination for that which sprung up from rot and decay, and the opportunities that it gave to life. Thus, she was one of the few that Verfallt spoke with, poking their enigmatic face from beneath their moss-and-bark cloak. While Królytny cared for her strange friend, Mitsowa very much did not, and served as a chaperone at best, and an obstacle at worst. He did not trust the God who oversaw the spoiling of meat and minds alike, furthermore he was in the clan of Steinderbruch, the sardonic sower of death to the south of the land, whereas the siblings were in the clan of Matkasfera, the mother of the Sky who watched all life, and the two families did not interact well with each other. Neighbors, am I right?

Verfallt became increasingly irate at Mitsowa's constant interruptions, and he was not one to keep their emotions in check, and so they hatched a scheme. One fateful day, while Mitsowa was doing battle with a mighty draconic beast, a Tygrysmok, Verfallt began to lead Królytny away from her brother. While she was crafty and intelligent, she was also easily swayed by her fascinations, and Verfallt had a bounty to show her. When Mitsowa noticed this, he attempted to stop the God, but Verfallt used his powers to cripple the mind of the Tygrysmok, sending it into a furious rampage. Where once Mitsowa had been fighting a powerful yet observable foe, he was now fighting a force of nature.

Królytny noticed her brother was on the back foot, and attempted to aid him, but before she could, Verfallt whisked her away to Geheimboden, their realm of rot and soil under the earth. In a fit of rage, Mitsowa attempted to fly after them, soaring down at tremendous speed with his mighty wings, but this left him open to a near-fatal wound from the Tygrysmok, sending him far from the grove and nearly to the arms of Reisende Death's-Head to join their forebears.

It came as a surprise to him, then, to wake up in the midst of a cool grove, cradled by a gorgeous figure. Whereas he was dressed in the white feathers of the snow owl, face cloaked save for his burning white eyes, she was in a gown of roots and foliage, and had skin the color of healthy soil, marked with freckles and indentations, with her eyes as soft as the sun through leaves. She revealed herself to be Sămânță of Gentle Groves, the Giant of Growth. He had landed in her domain, and she had bandaged his wounds as to not leave him to die. The Hunter was immensely grateful, and vowed to repay his debt, but his main priority was getting his sister back at the moment. However, he found he could not move with the strength and speed of a God, and he could barely even use his wing or cloak of wind.

At first, he was worried that Sămânță had played a trick upon him, as she like Verfallt was from a different clan, albeit a less antagonistic one to his own, but she explained precisely what was wrong. His Syklus, his Cycle, had been broken. Very few creatures had the strength to do so, even among the Gods, but Mitsowa reasoned that Verfallt's influence on the Tygrysmok had empowered it to do so. Although, if this was true, then there is no way he would've been up and moving, for a Giants Cycle is the core of their very being! The answer was in front of him, Sămânță had bandaged more than just his wounds.

She had given him a piece of her Cycle. She too was now weakened, and away from her true domain. This could not do, and so Mitsowa vowed to find a way to restore their Cycle's, at least hers, to repay Sămânță for her immense favor. With little choice, the two embarked to the south to find Wälzermeister the Lore Lord, the Giant of Order and an agent of knowledge. Surely they would have the answer to cure what had unbalanced their purposes.

When they arrived in the court of Steinderbruch's clan, none were pleased to see children of Biom Bunica and Matkasfera in their midst, especially as Mitsowa was one of the most antagonistic among them towards the clan. Still, even the proud and resolute hunter had humility, and openly knelt before the master of language and knowledge. In respect of this, the erudite Giant set four tasks ahead of the pair. They were to gather fine glass from the sands of the beaches to the far south, harvest pure gold from the mines of the south, find the finest wood among the groves in the center of Edda, and lastly, find Oppfinner the stalwart Inventor, child of Fallen Kvaler, and bid him to join them as they return to their court. Their answer would reveal itself then.

The pair listened, and dutifully began their journey. Spreading far and wide, they found many quarrels amongst Gods, beasts, and men alike, often being the voices of reason to end a conflict to continue on. They also learned more about the state of Cycles, and about each other. Sămânță grew to see Mitsowa as more than just a hunter, a dealer of blood, and saw the wise and gentle soul beneath the feathers and the blades, and so too did Mitsowa find his traveling partner to be prideful, strong, and relentless rather than a gentle waif among the trees. The hunt is not just about the death, it is about the cause, and seeds do not sprout easily, they persist and struggle to survive.

On this journey, the pair found a pristine glass vase from the islands, handfuls of golden ore in the mines, the cleanest and strongest wood that had been felled, and even made their way to the halls of Oppfinner, where they won his attention not just by voicing their plight, but by beating him in a game of innovation, thinking of how beasts could be more than just hunted, but corralled and kept safe to ensure the generations continue.

With all four trials accomplished, the couple returned to the court of the south, bounty in hand, and presented them in front of Wälzermeister, reminding them of the sworn agreement. To this, the lore lord nodded, and took the pristine vase in their hands. They then raised it high, and smashed it into pieces on the ground. Sămânță moved first to try and exact revenge for what was seen as a slight against them, but having gained greater wisdom and perspective through her, Mitsowa stayed her hand. Seeing that both the hunter and the orchardist had grown, becoming wiser and more assertive respectively, they knew they were ready for the answer.

It was then that Oppfinner took the fine wood, and stoked it to create a mighty flame, and melted the gathered golden ore down into liquid state, before carefully taking his tools and the pieces of glass with his innumerable working hands, slowly putting it back together with veins of gold latching between the pieces. When it was done, it held it's shape, and glittered with an imperfect reflection that scattered light of all colors across the hall.

This was the answer to their plight. A Cycle cannot be returned once broken, but it can be reforged from the broken pieces into something new and beautiful, and two broken Cycles stood before them. Understanding the sage's words, the pair looked at one another, and the orchardist found the hunters gaze had softened to a smolder rather than a blaze, and the hunter found the orchardist's eyes blazed with the suns passion rather than only peeking through. And they saw the totality of each other in that moment.

Knowing what was to be done, they departed Steinderbruch's court with their blessing, and with greater knowledge for each piece of the wheel of life they are a part of. They returned to the grove where Mitsowa was returned to health, and knelt over the soft, gentle soil. Sămânță reached into herself, grasping the core of her Cycle that remained, a brilliant seed, and buried it within the dirt. Mitsowa did the same, pulling fourth a handful of the most pristine crimson blood that touched the air, and used it to water the planted seed. With soil and blood on their hands, they grasped them together, and saw each other for every piece of themselves.

And a brilliant light overcame them, as their cores became new, beautiful, and intertwined. Animals were no longer mere predators or prey, but a piece of the well-being of the land. The land too was no longer merely a garden where things grew, but a battleground and competition all it's own. Uniting together, they saw the growth of lineages, the hunt for materials in the forests, the creatures that supped upon the branch and the grass as much as they did on meat and bone, and the pieces of humanity that would make a life from both sides.

When the light faded, their Cycles had been reforged, and they found themselves along the dividing line between the Northern and Central courts, where a massive grove had overtaken what was once a clear plain. This was to be their home, and the home for beasts and vegetation to move amongst them. But, they had little time to celebrate this new union with each other, as Królytny was bound to be waiting for them.

Luckily, the crafty rabbit had made much of her way back from Geheimboden, as she was clever and wise in her own right, but that is a tale for another day. Flora and Fauna alike searched the Seat for her, and the new union provided the final push she needed to return to the world above. She would join her brother in his new marital forest, providing the aspect of foraging into the space, and while it would take much time to mend the wounds, Verfallt would too earn his place amongst them, as from the past springs forward the future.

In time as well, a new Giant would join them, as Byk Regină, the Goddess of Animal Husbandry, Love, and Rebirth would come from their marriage.

The Practice

The ritual practice of the Blood Marriage has been done twice a year in North and Central Magnum Opus for millennia, since it's past as the Seat of Giants. It's hard to trace exactly how long back it was, but idioms hinting towards the ritual appear in pre-occupation writings and records, so it was quite the ingrained habit by that point. General opinion is even harder to track though, as some of those idiom's sound more positive, such as "Go up North with me" being an offer to figuratively bury bad blood between people, but some have lesser connotations, such as "Up north even the trees bleed" As a joke on sensitivity or weakness.

Once the occupation of the Seat begins, however, it's easier to track, albeit colored through the lens of Afallon and Atalanta's reports of the event and their oppression of it. It was quickly found to be barbaric opposed to the congregations of The Ascendants or the erudition of The Cabal of The Night Sky and was one of the first restrictions made on the path to suppressing faith in the Giants overall.

During the Exile's Din, faith in the True Giants came back with full force, and even though many of the rebelling exiles called upon the more direct war Gods in their midst, Mitsowa was called upon too as they hunted their enemies down. This reignited memory and fame for the figure and the ritual as a response.

When Magnum Opus became a full nation in it's own right, the Seated People began the ritual anew all over, especially as much land was to be renewed after damage in the conflicts. However, libel quickly spread about the nature of this ritual, and so piece by piece larger cities and counties stopped performing it. That being said, it is still recognized, and the gods still honored even in areas that do not perform the ritual, and some people especially near The Lover's Forest have not stopped, even if they act a bit more secretly these days.