A Union of Laws
Twenty Seventh Day of the Eleventh Month 293 AC
Inheritance has been a headache for every Targaryen king, and likely for every king that came before them down through the ages from the Long Night onward, but you would wager it has never been a concern in quite this manner. With the return of magic, and the opening of the ways to the Elemental Spheres and the cosmos beyond, the world is changed in ways that is no respecter of laws and traditions of humankind, so they too must change. More than that, in your troubles you have seen the ways in which even the most commonplace of restrictions can lead to pain and heartbreak.
Lady Shyra Errol still lives in fear that her affections for Elys Penrose will be revealed and you are not so naive as to think that is the worst such circumstances can lead to. A noble has the protection of his or her name and House, and the wealthy can buy privacy and peace of mind both with silver, at least to a degree, but for the poor or those simply making due, what relief if they should love not as others expect or wish? So you have gathered in your council chamber at this early hour, Dany for her passion and cleverness both, Tyene to speak of the Westerosi perspective of which you are not as acquainted as you might like, Malarys for his legal mind and insight into the workings of the Freehold, and Ser Richard to make sure that if the rest of you build castles in the air at least the cloud will be thick enough underfoot.
"On the matter of marriages that cannot produce offspring by the most common way, the Freefold's law was clear," Malarys begins. "An heir is defined by the will of the one bequeathing whatever title or possession is at stake. Adopting one's nephew to pass over a spendthrift son was common enough that complaints regarding such arrangements became short-hand for uninteresting, unfulfilling work. 'There's a nephew for you to handle' was something of a jest among the Essarian legal counsel of all stripes. This was by no means the full extent of the law on adoption. There were cases of people passing over hundreds of family members to elevate some obscure cousin who had shown exceptional promise. Indeed, one of my mentors encountered a case where the head of a middling noble house elevated his most favored slave to succeed him through adoption, though he was not in the least related. The young man was of the blood of the Dragonlords enough to bond a dragon, so the matter was settled and opposing claims tossed out, though the intrigues that marked that house were still raging when I took my first case forty years after the fact, so I would not call that a wise choice on the part of the patriarch of the time."
"So if someone went to the flesh-crafters for a baby..." Dany began.
"He or she would be discretely checked for mind magic or other compulsions," Malarys interjected dryly, eliciting a laugh from Tyene. "The flesh-smiths were not trusted, and given the philosophies we have discovered they held to and how far they were willing to go following in their wake, I would say neither were they trustworthy." He waves the matter aside, spell-forged rings glittering in the unwavering magelight. "That aside, yes, if magic were required in the conception of a child than he or she would have to be formally adopted by the parents shortly after birth. As for the nature of said parents..."
He shuffles though his papers. "The Freehold and most of its colonies at the time of the Doom recognized unions of two or more citizens who wished to unite their fortunes and lineages as being married, the law did not concern itself with any other quality other than citizenship in good standing. As the usual purpose of marriage was propagation of the bloodline and the passing of inheritance to the new generation, most marriages were not that different from the norm today, though few would gainsay a dragon rider who wished more unusual arrangements.
"The law is still on the books in that form in Volantis, though according to Wisdom Zherys it has been little used over the last two hundred years. In Tyrosh and Myr it has been changed to a more restrictive form, while Lys recognizes a 'lesser form' of marriage between two men or two women." You suspect his disdain is more for unneeded legal complexity, which he has tried to work against ever since becoming Lord Justice, not the unfairness of the treatment that brings a frown to Dany's face.
"That won't be easy to swallow in the Seven Kingdoms, not if we present it as Valyrian law," Tyene notes thoughtfully. "You could throw a bone to the faith and disallow close kin marriages."
"Which would create legal distinctions between different parts of the realm and further deepen cultural cleavages," Dany cuts in with Malarys nodding in agreement. "No one is forcing them to marry any differently than they did before, it only opens the way for other options in an empire that will be as much Essosi as Westerosi. It's..." she cuts off searching for words. "Look at the changelings, they do not have a set gender only a preferred one. Should they then be forced to remain in the shape of a man or a woman if they wish to wed? That would go against Scholarum rules by restricting a benign magical ability for no discernible reason." She snorts. "For that matter, consider how Amrelath or Relath would take the notion of restraining shapeshifting on the basis of human cultural norms."
Tyene nods slowly. "I think what all this needs is a bit of a polish. the changes are not motivated by any Valyrian model... Perish the thought. No, instead they are meant to cover instances that previous laws did not address, like what Dany mentioned and to respect the privacy and self will of individual citizens." A smile begins to bloom over her face, one that if replicated in ink upon parchment would likely come with the warning: 'beware the Dornish hatching schemes'. "Most of them are going to hear lordly privilege, not citizen rights, and as we have seen with Lord Bracken. there will be quite a few who fancy being able to decide upon their own inheritance as they please with the full might of the law and the legion behind them. By the time they realize the full import, many of them will weigh real and present benefits against the potential advantages of returning to how things once were."
"Assuming they could somehow change the law, which is not a power they hold to begin with," you finish grimly. "A forlorn hope opposition might be appealing to those directly interested, like someone making a claim against a theoretical marriage of lady Shyra, but they would hold no water with most."
What changes do you make to the marriage law of the Empire, systematizing and superseding previous legislation on the matter?
[] Write in
OOC: I decided to make this a write in only vote since writing full proposals would lead to some very complex and long vote options that would get superseded by a write in anyway. Not yet edited.
