Coronation of the Valòmar
The coronation of the Valòmar is the ceremony in which the Valòmar, the Elf leader chosen as the mortal representative to the Wild Dynasty, is elected and presented to the worshippers at the Citadel of the Wild.
Execution
The ceremony begins in the central square of the Citadel, outside the Taras Telüme. On the day that the election is slated to begin, the bells of the Taras Telüme are rung three times as they are for morning service, but no traditional worship service is held. Rather, this is the sign for the faithful to gather around the Fount of Many Blessings in the central square.
Shrouding of the Shrine
As soon as the bells of the Taras Telüme ring for a second time, a flat white mist begins to rise throughout the Citadel. To mortals, the mist is warm and faintly sweet-smelling; to any Fiend, Undead, or Aberration, it burns like acid and is deadly within seconds.Witness of the Tale
Only those who have formally graduated from and been ordained by a temple-campus may enter the main chapel at the third sounding of its bell. Upon entering the temple and taking their seats in the pews, they soon begin to find themselves humming at the same frequency as the tower's bell rings. The Lebemnë are gathered at the front of the chapel. Four of them pass a number of smooth white stones through the congregation, while a fifth reads aloud the Prayer of Saint Scala, in a magically amplified voice that is carried out to everywhere the mist touches. As the myth is read, the stones are passed across the chapel and blessed by each monk, cleric, and scribe. Once the legend concludes and each stone has been touched by as many holy hands as possible, the Lebemnë collect them and ascend the stairs behind the altar, followed by five representatives from each temple-campus in Scalados.Casting of the Stones
At the top of the stairs—in a chamber none besides the Lebemnë and the Valòmar are otherwise permitted to enter—a series of platforms shaped like a seven-petaled lotus blossom surrounds an iridescent, swirling pool known as the Pool of Discernment. Each temple's five-person group stands on a petal, joins hands, and prays as the candidates wade into the pool. The Lebemnë pass the blessed stones to the temple heads. Each prays for their choice of candidate, which turns the stones in their hand a pre-ordained color associated with their candidate, and then casts their stone into the pool. (An undecided voter may choose to cast an untinted stone; similarly, a Primë who does not feel strongly about their vote may choose to tint only one of their stones.) The Lebemnë and the Valòmar candidates step into the Pool of Discernment—in reality, a portal to a holy demiplane—and submerge themselves fully. They wait and pray together while angels of the Wild Gods gather up the fallen stones. Of the seventeen votes cast, a quorum of nine must be reached to crown a Valòmar. If this does not happen, the candidates and Lebemnë remain within the demiplane indefinitely, sometimes using the time to question the candidates and argue amongst themselves. A Lebëmya may change their vote within this time; a Primë must wait until the next day, when the ceremony is repeated. Observers from both within and outside the Pool of Discernment report that time seems to pass erratically in this stage of the election. Still, if a verdict has not been reached by the time several hours have passed, the white mist across the Citadel darkens to a soft grey and lifts enough to provide visibility to the city, and the faithful know to return the next day. Once a verdict has been reached, a green light illuminates the mists, and they begin to lift.Granting of the Garments
Once a quorum of nine votes has been reached and confirmed by the angelic servants of the Wild Gods, the angels take the candidates aside and tell them the results. The losing candidate may be given the option to briefly confer with the god to whom they are pledged, and will then be sent harmlessly and discreetly back to either the Citadel or their home temple, so as to avoid any shameful march of defeat. The winning candidate will be granted the three vestments of the Valòmar; the tiara of calas, the sword of gwyar, and the orb of nwyfre. From this moment until they die or are deposed, they will be the only mortal allowed to touch these artifacs.Sounding of the Voice
Finally, the mist begins to rise as the Valòmar is allowed to emerge from the demiplane where they are blessed and give a speech to the faithful gathered in the square. The speeches tend to be hopeful in nature, expressing the newly crowned Valòmar's desires for the future of Scalados. Once the speech has concluded and the mists have fully dispersed, the ceremony is complete.Components and tools
None may enter the main chapel of the Taras Telüme without the appropriate symbol of an officially ordained cleric, monk, or scribe. Monks wear chokers of amber or lapis lazuli, clerics' pendants are made of gems that differ from one god to the next, and scribes have their mark of ordainment tattooed across their upper arms in enchanted ink made from Ithilgraine. Anyone who attempts to enter the chapel by any means without one of these signs is immediately rebuffed by magical wards.
The polished stones passed among the faithful, and later cast into the Pool of Discernment as votes, are hewn directly from the summit of Caelestë-Materiae.
The three artifacts bestowed upon the new Valòmar by the angels in the Granting of the Garments
Participants
The voting body for the coronation consists of each head of the six Wild Dynasty temples, plus the five Lebemnë. The Lebemnë each receive one vote, and the temple heads (owing to their closer connection with the various regions of Scalados) each receive two. The Valòmar candidates are often temple heads themselves; this does not preclude them from voting, nor from voting for themselves.
Each temple head traditionally brings four other elders from their worship practice to the Pool of Discernment along with them. Since temples will typically have six elders (including their leader), and one will usually remain at their temple to watch and ward it in their absence, the other elders of each temple typically round out the cohort invited to witness the Casting of the Stones. On rare occasions, one or more of these positions is instead filled by another distinguished guest of the Primë.
Observance
The first possible day a Valòmar may be crowned is one hundred days after the death of the previous Valòmar. The position lies vacant for those hundred days, and the duties of the office are taken over by the Lebemnë on a rotating basis, though one Lebëmya may sometimes take on more of these duties than others. When the coronation draws near, heads of the satellite temples may also lead worship services once they and their temples have completed their pilgrimages to the Citadel.
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