Marriage/Family/Clan Customs of Eorzeans?

[Anapingofness]

I moved this thread over from the General Discussion forums as this is more of the appropriate place for it.

Ok so the title may not be the right one to use, but I didn't know what to actually call it? Either way I was curious about what each of the races considers "normal" or "traditional" of marriage structure or family structure.

I know that the Seekers of the Sun Miqo'te basically have a harem situation where it is one (breeding) male + many females. If the tribe is big enough there can be several breeding males, all other males are non-breeding and they get no snoosnoo until they defeat the nunh of the tribe and take his place.

I also know that Keepers of the Moon Miqo'te are more solitary and prefer small groups. Usually this means a single family although at times a couple of families may join together. The males are typically solitary wanderers. The Coeurlclaws in the Black Shroud are an anomaly among the Keeper's of the Moon because their society doesn't usually function that way.

Which brings me to the the question- what of the others? They can't all be nuclear type families can they?
I'd really like it if a Dev or Community Rep posted in this tread with an answer but they are busy people, so in lieu of that I was curious if maybe other players knew something I didn't.

Also, I would like to add what one person added in the other thread. He responded to a statement that said that all other family/clan structures are based off of the nuclear family type.

It's a good point. Miqo'te being so different from what's considered mainstream is, no doubt, part of the reason for much of the interest in them. But even within a more traditional family and community setup, there is a lot of room for a culture to blossom.

That said, perhaps looking at is as racial customs isn't the best lens. Perhaps we should instead ask things like "What are Lominsan family customs?" or "What traditional things do Ala Mhigans do?" In other words... maybe, in communities that don't live apart a la Miqo'te, maybe race is a lot less central compared to location/nation/city/etc

Either way, I think he has something here and my questions till stand~ ^^

[Naria]

One thing I find interesting is while Ferne has stated that cross racial pairings are rare are somewhat frowned upon, cross racial adoption is accepted enough that no one in the Hildibrand quests makes any sort of negative comment about a prominent lalafell adopting a hyur. Or perhaps Hildibrand's chivalry is catching. :P

Lalafell and Hyur in Ul'dah seem to have nuclear families, as shown by a number of quests. The Valentine's and Coerthas quests seem to indicate the Ishgard does as well which makes sense with their social structure. I'd guess the best bet for a non-nuclear family structure outside of the Mi'qote is probably the Hellsguard and their clan structure. I could be wrong though, since I know less about them than the other races.

Edit:
Child rearing might be slightly more collective in Gridania, however, we see a several adults teaching/interacting with the kids hanging around outside the Carpenter's Guild but as far as I remember none of them are blood relatives.

[myahele]

I imagine Ishgrdian/Ul'dahn upper classes are more pre-arranged marriages with care-takers helping care for children. Otherwise, I can see the average Marriage and familty to be nuclear and of the same tribe/clan

The duskwight vs woodsfolk elezen in Gridania seem to have a very toxic relationship with each other. I doubt love such as that is forbidden, but others family seems to be nuclear and the whole of gridanian society seem to help take care of children. They have a playground near the CRP guild, there's alot of children in gridania compared to the other city states. I guess since they are ruled by Padjals (imortal kids) they are alot more fond of kids

I do remember in the Ixal quests a hyur female ask you to deliver food to her elezen woodwailer boyfriend. So maybe interracial romances aren't too frowned upon, so long as the Elementals allow it. Not sure about the "noble" gridanians though

Hellsguard Roegs I heard have to resort to leaving their extra offspring to die since they can't provide for the child in such a harsh (volcanic?) environment. I wonder if Hellsguard have less population than their seawolf counterpart? Based on the dialogue of the WAR quest giver it seems like his clan is slowly dying off, since they relied heavily of mercenary work.

[Naria]

I seem to recall something from 1.0 saying the Hellsguard were indeed rarer and more isolated than the Seawolves.

Eternally bonded adventurers aside, there are a few interracial couples in the game. The Miqote/Elezan couple at Drybone and the WP HM quest givers come to mind. I think the idea of there being a cultural disapproval for them though is more about Erozea as a whole not just Gridania. My opinion comes from implications in this post and a few in game comments. I can't really see the elementals caring about who pairs off with who amongst the five in Gridania so long as no one is trashing the forest.

There definitely do seem to be more kids out in public in Gridania than the other city states. Children were prominent in Gridania's 1.0 storyline as well. I wouldn't be surprised if for various cultural and safety reasons children tended to stay at home/close to home and not out in public areas in Ul'dah, Ishgard and Limsa. For Ul'dah the standard is probably something like "Children should be seen and not heard, and preferably not seen". Given that until recently Limsa was a city of pirates, I bet people would move away from the city proper if at all possible when starting a family. The Black Shroud is dangerous, but the Gridania itself seems safer to me than the other cites. The Black Shroud in fact might be why child rearing is everyone's responsibility--kids loose in the forest is a bad idea.

[Anapingofness]

I also remember reading that the Hellsguard are the rarer and more isolated than the Seawolves.

Oh, there was this one quest in Uldah where you actually get to see orphaned children... sadly, SE just used adult Lalafell as the lala children. = =;; I hope that quest when they add more children npcs to the game.
+_+;; Lala kids would be cute as a button!XD

^_^ Thanks for posting though. Some interesting theories in here tho- and they do make sense, I have to admit.