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Description
Having had the good fortune to survive the annihilation of my fellow archivists by the hunters, I set out to recover what scraps I could of such basic detailing as Outsiders would require to understand the place and mentality of the various Races and regards and customs that they would face in a world such as ours; but I have not had such luck in the search itself as I have had in being alive to do it. What paltry recreations of the material I and my assistants could provide have already been displayed here, there, elsewhere, and yon, but further research into your language has stymied, if not entirely barred, some elements of the works.

It is somewhat to my discredit that the latest work then is not a treatise on the Dwarven empires or the exploits of Aridimes or even the natures of the various subcountries that surround and permeate the World Government, but rather, a simple disclosure on wedding practices and attires.

The which I will attend to telling you without further ado, if, indeed, anyone is listening and anyone particularly cares that does not know. I assume it will be foreigners, but of another space and time? It remains to be seen if our cult was correct.

All clothing at a wedding bears a message, whether from more literal insignia and sigils or from the simple color displayed. Each is predominant for a reason. It would be most sensible to present this then in order of colors and work from there. Dresses, suits, and other attire are not restricted by gender or creed.

White represents something unaltered, something unchanging. Humans and Dwarves view this as something pure, or innocent, perhaps virginal would be a better word in your tongue. Whereas Elves as stubbornness and an unwillingness to adapt- in their own circles, a "white wedding" is often as much of an insult as it is a cherished and respected honor in other societies. Then, again in a different view, it means something of trustworthy endurance to the Undead kinds, something that will stand the test of time as nothing else may. A "Bone Wedding" is perhaps even more honored than are the Humans' "Innocent Weddings", because it is an affair that will not be parted, up to and beyond death.

In a wedding, before we go further, not all will wear the same attire, not even among the couple who are joining in hopeful matrimonial bliss; but in order to simplify this docket and my efforts further, we are assuming that the couple at least are usually a matching pair as far as colors go. There might be any amount of white dresses at a black wedding, however, or a red suit at a blue, or- ah, right, let me get back to that then.

Black universally represents a touch of death. It is usually used as a sign of someone in mourning or who has in fact personally died recently, given the number of ghosts that come to weddings to say their last farewells, but is sometimes simply means that someone is grieving the passing of a time in their life as opposed to an actual person. Nonetheless, black weddings or guests in black at another variance of wedding tend to be rather more somber than other affairs.

Red is often the cause of black attired weddings, because it is the sign of a blood grievance. It is not a common color to be spotted and one generally hopes that the guest (god forbid it be a spouse to be) is pacified suitably by the end of the event, one advantage of a social occasion such as this, but if it is not, there will be blood by the night's end. It is a declaration of the intent to finish out the feud by any means necessary, and usually ends in one or more deaths by duel.

It's generally considered more polite than poisoning an opponent in social circles or certainly besieging their estate and killing hundreds if not thousands of their employees with little to do with the actual grudge, but less polite than a proper duel in front of a magistrate or a participation in tourney. Red weddings are almost always tragic affairs for someone and the source of more red weddings if those they are survived by take it rather hard upon the relations and heirs of the instigators. They are also significantly more predominant in aristocratic circles than those of the common peasant.

Still, as a way to meet outside fortified walls and celebrate the joining of lives, Red weddings actually often save a great many more people than they harm. Any number of lords and ladies have gone on record swearing as to having changed their vendetta after seeing exactly who and what they would be affecting if they kept it up. It's a time honored if unpleasant tradition, though again, luckily, rare enough.

Blue is a sign of experience, usually of wealth. There was a point where it was (and still is) the single most expensive ink to make and retain in clothing, and was used by such peasants as had had a good deal of life experience and money, or nobles that could afford to indulge multiple marriages. It is not entirely uncommon even in these more prosperous times to have a white wearing spouse and a blue wedded together, if something has happened to part the more worldly fiancee from their previous affairs, or if they simply wish to display that they have ventured more or survived longer than their spouse to be. Blue is a very proud, but occasionally a sad, color. It assures that one can certainly take care of a partner, whatever the inclination, but it also usually denotes some regret earned in the process of living.

It's a tad more rare to have an entirely blue wedding even among blue-bloods, frankly. Even if both spouses are, many of the guests and servants might not have it.

Green, speaking of the which, is universally 'Loyalty' or 'Service', the color of yeomen, soldiers, and servants. Although in Elven culture the spouses often wear green as well, to represent service to nature and their community, as part of a mixed-color affair with another predominant one as their main-state. On some occasions cheerfully retold in folklore, a blue blood will marry their servant, and a green coat can be traded up for a pretty white or even a blue of their own. It is not entirely as uncommon as most folk myths, either. The World Government encourages supporting and meshing with common folk on the part of their leaders. There are entirely less revolutions that way.

Yellow, Brown, and Gray are 'Day' or 'Travel' colors. They represent folk who are here for the wedding but need to return to their normal lives and have no broad message to send. These are, of course, the predominant colors at most given affairs, alongside Green. Among subcultures like wizarding guilds or the Fae, different colors may mean different things entirely, of course. While the Gray Faerie did mean it in the normal sense in one rather infamous account, her color would normally have marked her as a Guardian, not a visitor, for instance. Druids will often take offense to having their colors noted at all, as will hippies and harpies.

Purple is solely for when Royals wed, sadly. It looks good on many a figure. Of course, what constitutes royalty is anyone's guess. Rumor has it that most spirits engage in it if they do wed whether they have lands or titles or subjects at all. It may be that a better term for it in normal circles is 'truly influential' rather than 'royal'. In ways that can literally affect the makeup of the world at that, though most nobles lack the power to perform more than infrastructure or war of various sorts; that is why Kings and Queens get purple instead.

Orange is a bold color the world over and means 'Adventurous'. In any, many, sometimes plural even at the same wearing, senses of the word. It is the antics of the Orange sort that often cause Red weddings, albeit, not -at- Red ones. Oh yes. But at other times, it might be the color of a knight errant valiant come to witness a friend happily meshing lives, or of an outworlder like the reader being invited to an event they will not have seen in the sense locally.

As a matter of fact,

-actually, I hear something. We will continue this another time.

Description
Having had the good fortune to survive the annihilation of my fellow archivists by the hunters, I set out to recover what scraps I could of such basic detailing as Outsiders would require to understand the place and mentality of the various Races and regards and customs that they would face in a world such as ours; but I have not had such luck in the search itself as I have had in being alive to do it. What paltry recreations of the material I and my assistants could provide have already been displayed here, there, elsewhere, and yon, but further research into your language has stymied, if not entirely barred, some elements of the works.

It is somewhat to my discredit that the latest work then is not a treatise on the Dwarven empires or the exploits of Aridimes or even the natures of the various subcountries that surround and permeate the World Government, but rather, a simple disclosure on wedding practices and attires.

The which I will attend to telling you without further ado, if, indeed, anyone is listening and anyone particularly cares that does not know. I assume it will be foreigners, but of another space and time? It remains to be seen if our cult was correct.

All clothing at a wedding bears a message, whether from more literal insignia and sigils or from the simple color displayed. Each is predominant for a reason. It would be most sensible to present this then in order of colors and work from there. Dresses, suits, and other attire are not restricted by gender or creed.

White represents something unaltered, something unchanging. Humans and Dwarves view this as something pure, or innocent, perhaps virginal would be a better word in your tongue. Whereas Elves as stubbornness and an unwillingness to adapt- in their own circles, a "white wedding" is often as much of an insult as it is a cherished and respected honor in other societies. Then, again in a different view, it means something of trustworthy endurance to the Undead kinds, something that will stand the test of time as nothing else may. A "Bone Wedding" is perhaps even more honored than are the Humans' "Innocent Weddings", because it is an affair that will not be parted, up to and beyond death.

In a wedding, before we go further, not all will wear the same attire, not even among the couple who are joining in hopeful matrimonial bliss; but in order to simplify this docket and my efforts further, we are assuming that the couple at least are usually a matching pair as far as colors go. There might be any amount of white dresses at a black wedding, however, or a red suit at a blue, or- ah, right, let me get back to that then.

Black universally represents a touch of death. It is usually used as a sign of someone in mourning or who has in fact personally died recently, given the number of ghosts that come to weddings to say their last farewells, but is sometimes simply means that someone is grieving the passing of a time in their life as opposed to an actual person. Nonetheless, black weddings or guests in black at another variance of wedding tend to be rather more somber than other affairs.

Red is often the cause of black attired weddings, because it is the sign of a blood grievance. It is not a common color to be spotted and one generally hopes that the guest (god forbid it be a spouse to be) is pacified suitably by the end of the event, one advantage of a social occasion such as this, but if it is not, there will be blood by the night's end. It is a declaration of the intent to finish out the feud by any means necessary, and usually ends in one or more deaths by duel.

It's generally considered more polite than poisoning an opponent in social circles or certainly besieging their estate and killing hundreds if not thousands of their employees with little to do with the actual grudge, but less polite than a proper duel in front of a magistrate or a participation in tourney. Red weddings are almost always tragic affairs for someone and the source of more red weddings if those they are survived by take it rather hard upon the relations and heirs of the instigators. They are also significantly more predominant in aristocratic circles than those of the common peasant.

Still, as a way to meet outside fortified walls and celebrate the joining of lives, Red weddings actually often save a great many more people than they harm. Any number of lords and ladies have gone on record swearing as to having changed their vendetta after seeing exactly who and what they would be affecting if they kept it up. It's a time honored if unpleasant tradition, though again, luckily, rare enough.

Blue is a sign of experience, usually of wealth. There was a point where it was (and still is) the single most expensive ink to make and retain in clothing, and was used by such peasants as had had a good deal of life experience and money, or nobles that could afford to indulge multiple marriages. It is not entirely uncommon even in these more prosperous times to have a white wearing spouse and a blue wedded together, if something has happened to part the more worldly fiancee from their previous affairs, or if they simply wish to display that they have ventured more or survived longer than their spouse to be. Blue is a very proud, but occasionally a sad, color. It assures that one can certainly take care of a partner, whatever the inclination, but it also usually denotes some regret earned in the process of living.

It's a tad more rare to have an entirely blue wedding even among blue-bloods, frankly. Even if both spouses are, many of the guests and servants might not have it.

Green, speaking of the which, is universally 'Loyalty' or 'Service', the color of yeomen, soldiers, and servants. Although in Elven culture the spouses often wear green as well, to represent service to nature and their community, as part of a mixed-color affair with another predominant one as their main-state. On some occasions cheerfully retold in folklore, a blue blood will marry their servant, and a green coat can be traded up for a pretty white or even a blue of their own. It is not entirely as uncommon as most folk myths, either. The World Government encourages supporting and meshing with common folk on the part of their leaders. There are entirely less revolutions that way.

Yellow, Brown, and Gray are 'Day' or 'Travel' colors. They represent folk who are here for the wedding but need to return to their normal lives and have no broad message to send. These are, of course, the predominant colors at most given affairs, alongside Green. Among subcultures like wizarding guilds or the Fae, different colors may mean different things entirely, of course. While the Gray Faerie did mean it in the normal sense in one rather infamous account, her color would normally have marked her as a Guardian, not a visitor, for instance. Druids will often take offense to having their colors noted at all, as will hippies and harpies.

Purple is solely for when Royals wed, sadly. It looks good on many a figure. Of course, what constitutes royalty is anyone's guess. Rumor has it that most spirits engage in it if they do wed whether they have lands or titles or subjects at all. It may be that a better term for it in normal circles is 'truly influential' rather than 'royal'. In ways that can literally affect the makeup of the world at that, though most nobles lack the power to perform more than infrastructure or war of various sorts; that is why Kings and Queens get purple instead.

Orange is a bold color the world over and means 'Adventurous'. In any, many, sometimes plural even at the same wearing, senses of the word. It is the antics of the Orange sort that often cause Red weddings, albeit, not -at- Red ones. Oh yes. But at other times, it might be the color of a knight errant valiant come to witness a friend happily meshing lives, or of an outworlder like the reader being invited to an event they will not have seen in the sense locally.

As a matter of fact,

-actually, I hear something. We will continue this another time.