The Celebration of Ascension
The Celebration of Ascension marks the joining of wives won in an honor duel to their new husband. It is so named because the wives are said to have “ascended” to a stronger, more fit male. It is a relatively simple and straightforward ceremony, resembling a shorter, less formal wedding ceremony. At the end of the ceremony, the presiding authority decides what (if any) assets will also confer to the victor. If the victor is of limited means, he may be granted money or lands such that he may support his newly enlarged household.
The ceremony is (as most things in Aluvia) nuanced in posturing and dominance. When the defeated male is still alive, he may choose to participate in the ceremony, he is then referred to as the Digong (pronounced ‘die-gong’). In essence the Digong publicly relinquishes his wives to the victor in an acknowledgement of the victor’s superiority. Doing so bestows great honor upon the Digong, as it shows that he is willing to honor tradition and place his people above his own pride.
As a reward for doing so, the Digong suffers minimal loss of prestige or social standing, retains his titles holdings and lands, and in some rare cases, may even extract a dowry from the victor or his family (particularly if the Digong is much older or of significantly higher title than the victor). If the Digong must present himself as truly willing to do what he is there to do. Any hint or suggestion (by tone of voice or some non-verbal/body language) that the digong is less than sincere will be costly in social capital. If the behavior is severe, the Digong can be cast out of the ceremony, and in extreme cases can be executed.
If the Digong disputes the result of the challenge, he may do so at the ceremony by declaration. He presents whatever evidence he may have and the presiding authority (usually priests or priestesses of the temple) will determine the validity of the claim, either ruling then and there, or halting the ceremony and passing the matter to a higher authority. If the Digong fails in his dispute, he is cast out of the ceremony, punished and dishonored severely.
The ceremony also presents an avenue for the victor to decline the acceptance of one or more wives. Rejecting a wife outright is a major taboo and scandalous act, and has far reaching social consequences. Depending on the social status of the parties involved, the victor may be seen as unkind, picky or otherwise cruel. A rejected wife may be regarded as unfit, ugly or unruly. In extremely rare cases, a victor may ask that one or more wives remain with the digong. This is sometimes done in cases where a victor has a large harem, and adding more wives would be impractical, and as such is regarded as a wise choice on the part of the victor.
As nearly everything in Aluyian society, what appears on the surface to be a simple matter belies a complex socio-political calculus that can (and often does) have drastic and far reaching consequences for all parties involved.
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