Wedding Punchings
"Mamma, why are they punching that man?" -Dobry, five year old Fumayan boyThe Best Man (with a variety of local names such as Groom's Champion) is charged with protecting the bride and groom. Usually this protection is a farce, standing guard over the wedding cake and other symbolic actions, but it's important to protect the bride and groom against Maylar's wrath. If Maylar feels chagrined at a wedding he can visit disease upon the bride and groom or their first born. Maylar respects toughness on part of a groom, but the groom should not be bruised up for his wedding night, so it's typically the Best Man who takes the hits. A Jórtoca custom that has spread to the Kantoca is to have the bride's male relatives line up to each take a swing at the Best Man. If the wedding party is small the groom's male relatives might take a swing or the bride's female relatives might get a swing too. If the wedding party is large, magical healing might be allowed between beatings. This is considered to be a symbolic act, it's not expected for all the wedding guests to hit as hard as they can, bit there is usually at least one person who cheats. If the groom-to-be fails to get the blessing of the bride's family and wants to proceed with the wedding, it is customary to forgo using the Best Man as a human shield and the groom then lets his in-laws hit him at the wedding reception. If he takes this beating in good humor, it's customary for the in-laws to bestow their blessing on the union.
"Getting to marry my beautiful wife was worth every bruise my in-laws gave me." Havro, Fumayan peasant farmerA great many noblemen in the Kingdom of Kantoc undergo a knight's training as youth even if they don't end up as knights. At the weddings of lords and ladies, the "Punching Man" is often wearing full armor and instead of swinging fists, the "attackers" use sticks and other blunt weapons. Sometimes instead of lining up to take a swing, they might actually have full on sparring matches, typically with the Groom's Champion being horribly outnumbered, but it's often choreographed so the Groom's Champion wins a stunning underdog victory.
Observance
"I've catered hundreds of weddings, for peasants, princes and everyone in between. All but one or two human weddings I've witnessed have had a wedding punching at the reception. I have never seen an elf, gnome, or dwarf wedding do this." -Roodnat, gnome chef
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