Serpent's Marriage

Summary

During the conflict with Hilathu between the serpent gods, the Fallen Cobra found her followers especially to be persecuted by Hilathu, and also the other serpents for her passivity against the viper. The other gods refused to listen to her side, that many supported the viper, and her cult was fragmented and small after the many years of war between the serpents- she could not afford to oppose him without assistance from her fellow snakes. The serpents fought more amongst themselves than they did against Hilathu, his power growing by the day by their constant strife, and the followers of the cobra continued to suffer.
"The markets will not sell us wheat for our bread, or water for our animals." "None will buy my linens, for my customers have all gone to the Kingsnake." "Few want to eat meat sold by a Cobra follower, my butchery may close and my meat is all soon to rot."
"Our children are hungry, and our resources are few. We cannot sell our homes and move closer to your temple, for none shall buy them." The cries of her followers echoed in her mind. They suffered, shunned and discarded, as conflict grew ever more, the serpent gods threatening to devour one another and all who stood opposed to their rigid ways.
"How foolish of them, the most flexible of animals, to be stiff as stone- There is but no other choice." The Fallen Cobra noted to her priests, returning from Limbo's Crossing, from yet another failed meeting between the gods. "Tell the farmers and the butchers to bring me their unsold crops, and the sindlewoman her cloth. We shall hold a festival to our suffering, and our last days we are spending under the heel. Soon we shall no more be the Cult of the Cobra."
Her followers amassed every object of theirs they could, every food laden with spice, while The Fallen Cobra spent four days and three nights in her burrow, stitching the fabrics with her shed fangs, while her followers feasted and held somber vigils. On emerging from her burrows, the Cobra confronted her followers on their gloom.
"Why do we mourn, when we are not yet dead?" She asked, laying out the fabrics, stitched to her shed skins, and adorned with shed teeth.
"The other serpents shall be upon us soon, we have little left to do but fall." Her followers replied. "You said it yourself, O' great Cobra, soon your cult shall be gone."
The Cobra instructed her priests to give each of her followers a piece of the clothing she had sewn- she had created veils, elegant and thin, that glimmered in the moon, her shed scales rivaling opals and diamonds.
"It is true our cult is no more, for I declare it to be, but tonight we shall celebrate, as I have found a solution to our woes. From hence this night, I wed every one of you. You shall become my husbands, my wives, my consorts and beloveds- Your children shall become my children, as if raised within my own clutches. No longer are we a cult, no longer are you my followers- You are my family, and shall be protected as it."
Her followers, at first, were confused, barraging their god with a myriad of questions, but yet still adorned the veils.
"Many of us are already married, and we wish to choose our own loves." "I shall do nothing of the sort to stop you- Any marriages you may have already or in times to come, I am simply in blue and do not see it." She replied.
"Our children are to become your children, O' great serpent- What of ones we have not yet had?"
"And why would they be any different?"
Satisfied, though still wary, her followers allowed the ceremony. The Cobra wedded each one, and held a feast, declaring unto the world her decision. As is tradition with the gods, their actions were to be extreme when their mates were harmed- revealing the true purpose of her act. To harm the gods' followers, now her betrothed, or their children, now her children, was to be a declaration of war most foul and sadistic.
The other serpents hesitated in their actions, few daring to test the cobra's limits of her patience. Their followers, terrified by the notion of their evil acts prior now having consequence, spread rumor and gossip of her demanding her follower's hands. The Fallen Kingsnake sneered at her, still adorning the veil over her hood. The Viper spat upon the ground she slithered. Even the Fallen Sea Snake, one so removed from the conflict of the serpents, hissed out frustrations and insults, before he too followed suit with her plan, granting the same protection among his own cult.

Historical Basis

That followers of the cobra gods are considered, legally and socially, married to the god is based in much historical fact, but it is unknown if the practice or the myth came first. Traditionally marriages between followers of the cult don veils and clothing made from snakeskin and often decorated with scales and handspun cloth, which over time have changed in tune with different trends in fashion.
Particularly in Egypt, home of Wadja, God of Cobras, this practice still continues and new followers of her are entered into the cult with a wedding ceremony, often using an altar or statue of the god's divine form in her place, though it is still binding. Her followers are, as those in the myth, free to marry any other they choose, and it is not considered adultery. Like many previous cobra gods following the myth, other marriages are ignored and the gods play ignorance to them, claiming to be "in blue" or in shed and unable to see them when they occur.
Hilathu and his cult in the past have shunned the cult of cobras due to the myth and its associated practice. claiming that it is forced arranged marriages. The current cult of Hilathu still have bad blood with the cobra cult over this, and have made remarks and threats to attack them and their temples for it- most vandalism of cobra alters, shrines, and temples are thought to come from them.

Variations & Mutation

As many of the gods in the myth have since died, their names have been replaced with the title 'Fallen' and their species. Different regional variations may use different titles for the gods, and can be confusing at times, as some refer to multiple gods by the same title. Many accept a version from 14,200, recorded in India, as the most 'correct' version of the tale, as it appears to be the oldest version, though its critics often point out the Indian version of the myth includes many details not present in other versions that are otherwise consistent, suggesting it too has also been heavily altered over time.

Cultural Reception

Mainly in northern Africa, the Middle East, and southern Asia wedding ceremonies regardless of one's affiliation with the cult of cobras will use imagery of the snake, shed skins, or scales to this day. The cobra is considered a protector of marriage, and wedding attire will often feature symbols of it in their design. Marriages that make use of Wedding Crane Chocolates will occasionally use tokens of the cobra as one of the items contained within the chocolate. Women and men alike who are a part of the cobra cult will wear veils in the shape and pattern of a cobra's hood during their wedding ceremonies, and most priests of the cult wear these during all work for the god, festivities, and celebrations. Especially dedicated members of the cult may wear their veils for their entire lives.

Date of First Recording

~12,430 oral retellings, 12,700 first written records.

Date of Setting

Unknown