I think it’s a mixture of the two: I think a lot of their “courtship” will be based around wealth, power, alliance etc (much as European monarchs’ heirs used to) in semi-pre-arranged marriages. However, on the same note, I think they will marry those that are appropriate/practical/fitting, but aren’t overly “romantic” in the sense you mean.
In summary: they’re not big on Valentine’s day, but it’s not purely power realy. (Similar to dwarfs basically…)
im not sure you know. in a society like this one IMO there would be almost a bidding war if you know what i mean. to me it seems right that a chaos dwarf parent would almost prearrange a marriage or courting with th highest bidder?
it just seems right that a race that functions the way CDs do would treat their private life in a similar fasion to the rest of their society. but then this is my opinion
Kera, it sounds like you see it as quite a matriachal situation, but the sorcerers are almost entirely male, so that, combined with various other dwarf stylings held onto by the CDs (even if not their traditions and other such things), the CDs are likely to treat marriage in much the same manner. More of a duty to keep the race going than because they feel incredibly deep emotions. They would of course only marry those that have their respect and I’d imagine are quite loyal, but it’s also possible that there is some kind of socially accepted adultary limit (not that I’m saying that would be right, lol) due to their twisted nature and distatse for dwarfs and their oaths and loyalties, since they received none themselves.
There is such little information that this thread is pretty much guesswork. If we based it on middle eastern culture rather than European, then they’d have hundreds of concubines, or at least several wives each. This could raise the question of interracial reproduction, which is something GW have stayed away from.
In there Dwarf women don’t normally get a completely free choice over who they marry.
The way it works there is that a Dwarf woman of a suitable age agrees with her clan that she want’s a partner. The clan elders go looking for suitable husbands, and the clan matriach approaches her opposite number in the other clan to basically find out about the potential husbands. They then each build something, which is supposed to impress the lady and her clan elders and help them decide who is best.
The bride to be can veto a decision, so I guess romance would come in at that point.
Dwarf women often have several husbands, taking a new one if one dies.
I imagine stone and steel (although non canon) probably is representative of how dwarfs are portrayed generally. In that it says female births are rare. If it was the other way around then they would stand a small chance of being a growing race (as each dwarf could have a child or two before he died), but most dwarfs are batchelors.
Also, because of the rarity of dwarf women they marry quite young generally compared to the males.
Overall I would say this set up is probably quite similar for the Chaos Dwarfs, as I still see the clan system as being important. The clan sorcerer wouldn’t be able to veto a decision, but compared to the dwarf equivalent he would probably be able to exert a lot more pressure. Maybe making the potential husbands do a lot more to prove they are the best. After all, he would only want the strongest CD to be the future of his clan.
Dwarfs treasure their women because they are rare. Judging how CDs tend to twist Dwarf values, I don’t think their women would be treasured so much as carefully and completely controlled.
I think marriage would be very much subject to clan relations, a similar situation to that in many feudal kingdoms of the past where the daughter of a powerful individual becomes akin to a bargaining tool to seal alliances with other clans. Arranged marriages would be the norm among the rich and powerful, less so amongst the lower castes where they have less to gain or lose. Political maneuvering, price fixing, gifts and other gestures of good will would be used by competing clans to sway the mind of a powerful clan lord with a suitable daughter.
I simply can’t see a CD sorcerer lord like Ghorth the Cruel placing any worth at all in the personal preferences of his daughter concerning marriage; she is his property, just like everything and everyone else in his clan, a commodity to be bargained with. His warriors and servants damn well do as he says, even unto death, I see no reason why his womenfolk would be treated any different. Perhaps his wife would hold some influence, but it certainly wouldn’t be the daughter’s choice. I don’t think women’s rights would get very far in Zharr Naggrund… they’re not big on being PC.
Just my viewpoint, but I think it fits well… until Kera starts dangling me over the side of the ship…