Vavardi Customs

From The Inquisition Legacy
Jump to: navigation, search
This page is in need of format revision; help us by editing.


Contributions

As a society focused on both wealth and appearances, public contributions have become a popular way to show one's importance. The more visible and glamorous the cause, the more favor it finds with the Vavardi elite. Thus the arts, public monuments and the church see much more in the way of contribution than do simpler causes like the poor, who try to hide their needs. A person wishing to gain recognition will often go to elaborate lengths to make their giving large and noticeable, and anonymous contributions are viewed as foolish and suspect, rather than noble. This custom has built up Vavard as a center of culture and refinement with names and histories attached to nearly everything.


Patronage

With a good deal of prestige associated with having talented people in ones employ, it has become very common for wealthy Vavardi to offer patronage to all manner of craftsmen, artists and performers. Often starting as soon as a student shows promise early in their schooling, the relationship is more complicated than simply being hired to do a job, including additional perks and expectations of loyalty. Though it is understood that many will seek better offers, leaving a patron before a couple of years of service have passed, or directly after some special favor has been offered, is viewed with contempt.


The Arts

The arts enjoy an elevated position in Vavard not often seen in the other duchies. Nearly all members of the gentry or nobility learn some musical instrument or creative art to a passable level during their school years, and bards enjoy a warm welcome in any circle. Due to an abundance of artists and performers, the bar for fame is held high, and the favorite darlings of society change with the fashions. This leads to intense competition in the artistic community and a strong pressure to maintain ones novelty. Though performances are common throughout the year, Vavards high theater season starts with the New Year celebrations and provides the elite with several celebrated shows every week until Spring to get them through the drab Winter months. These shows begin just after dusk, while cheaper shows are offered just once a week in the afternoons, when the added expenses of lighting arent necessary, providing an opportunity for those who cant secure more expensive and prestigious tickets.


Public Recreation

Leisure and recreation are viewed in Vavard as justly deserved by those who are successful, celebrated rather than derided as lazy or a waste of time. While not fashionable amongst Vavardi women, gymnasiums and varied sports enjoy much favor among their male counterparts. On the other hand, both genders enjoy games of dice and cards, horseback riding, time in the park, or any number of other activities.


Bathhouses

Most Vavardi make heavy use of public baths as a social gathering place to soak, talk, read and relax. Vavardi bathhouses are mixed gender, not at all shy about the mixing of nude men and women. Patrons travel between three different sections of the bathhouse: warm, hot and cold water baths. However, the bathhouses are about more than just bathing, favored for the social experience and as a hotbed of local gossip.


Betrothals

Matrimony is viewed as a business transaction or political alliance, complete with contracts. Once the details are agreed upon by both parties, it is customary for the signing of the contracts to take place at a ceremony in the presence of friends and family. A formal exchange between the couple is part of the tradition; the man will offer a cloak to his future bride, and she will then in turn pour and offer him a glass of wine. This symbolic exchange indicates a willingness of each party to provide not only for the necessities of life, but the pleasures as well.


Wedding Gifts

The Vavardi do not generally exchange nor wear wedding bands, supposedly as a reaction against the Lithmorran fondness for the tradition. However, it is customary for each party to grant the other a significant gift on the day of the wedding. This gift is not a part of the contracts signed, but it is also not considered a romantic gesture; instead, it is an additional display of wealth and a popular topic for gossip.


Feasts

Elaborate dinners are held as a part of any big celebration. The meal is served starting late in the evening, after the main entertainments and dancing, with the expectation that further delights are either culinary or firmly relegated to the background. Courses are served one at a time in an order carefully curated by the host. The grandest affairs include more than a dozen courses of only a few bites each, and it has become a sort of informal contest between hosts to see who can draw out the party the longest. This rivalry has led to a general acceptance that is not impolite to leave any party once the sun has begun to rise, and some hosts have even taken to preparing small, packaged breakfasts for their departing guests to take with them.