The Formalities of Mirth [added]

[immortal_pigs]

The Formalities of Mirth

by Draler Ilvi

"Gravity is the essential seriousness of life."

Such is the creed of our Redoran brothers. Yet gravity is something that unites us all. There are few things so serene as the collective gravity of our House. We do not laugh in public.

The foreigner does, and it is a vulgar scene to watch. Their stoic facade is repeatedly broken and replaced by baser displays of levity and mirth. In public. The apparent preposterousness of this outlander custom needs no further explanation.

Diplomatic interests may, however, warrant participation in this outlander formality. Just as we have our customs, so does the outlander, as laughter is to them as titulature is to us.

This brings a religious issue to the forefront. Public displays of laughter are impious. Recall this passage from The Sermons. "There was much biting and the earth became wet. And this was the last laugh of Molag Bal."

There is further association of laughter with the House of Troubles. Sheoth is nothing but mania and mirth. Malacath's outcasts are ridiculed and being laughed at. Mehrunes embodies the chaos and disorder of unrestricted displays of merriment.

So how does one partake in purposeful impiety? Spiritual precautions are in order. First, if one knows displays of laughter will be expected during the day, it is best to take to the knees and call to Saint Aralor, as preemptive penitence for the transgression to come. Second, count the times one laughs, taking into account both duration and frequency, and make financial amends in accordance to The Temple.

The practice of laughter is a necessary evil when dealing with foreigners. It is gross and improper. Even so, it can be a valuable asset in diplomatic dealings. To paraphrase the warrior poet:

"A laugh to your face and a spear in your back."

[gro-Dhal]

Logging on quickly to say: good work. Will have some more relevant comments and suggestions later.

Suggest you search for 'laughter' and similar terms at The Imperial Library and see if anything interesting pops up. That's how I cheat these things

[gro-Dhal]

eg. Molag Bal laughs in the Sermons, and I think most will associate Sheogorath with mirth. Laughter could be seen as mildly impious for a Dunmer. They should probably take spiritual precautions.

[immortal_pigs]

Thanks for the comments, gro-Dhal.

I would also like some feedback on the following things.

1) I purposely tried to avoid using the word "I" in this text, as Indoril are supposedly more collectivistic than individualistic. Also this is why the author uses a lot of "we" and "they". Is this obvious and does it add to the text?

2) Does it make sense that the Indoril would consider adapting such a foreign custom as laughing for diplomatic interests? Isn't this more of a Hlaalu thing? However, this text does give the Indoril more nuance.

3) Reading this text would make the Indoril seem a bit foolish and laughable. As they have no idea how to laugh or how it works. Is it a bad thing to make fun of the Indoril in this way? Does it make the Indoril look like a bunch of aspie's?

4) Would the Indoril refer to Vivec as "the warrior poet"? Does the sentence "A laugh to your face and a spear in your back" work?

5) For the author of the text I chose "Draler Ilvi", who in the Great House Indoril questline is one of the councilors. Personally I like it when ingame authors are actual NPCs, as it gives a feeling of immersion. However, is it ok to choose an Indoril councilor for this text? Perhaps it should be just a random author?

The reason I chose Draler Ilvi as the writer is because it allows for more characterisation. The idea would be that Draler Ilvi is a prominent author on texts regarding Indoril formalities and social customs. His books allow for exposition of House Indoril, while also fleshing out the character.

[gro-Dhal]

1. It makes it seem slightly pretentious, which is fine.

2. I'm sure they laugh, it's a natural thing to do. But it may be considered vulgar and people will want to be sure they're doing it according to proper etiquette.

3. Perhaps you should concentrate less on the actual mechanics of laughter and focus on the social conventions governing levity among the Indoril. When it is acceptable to laugh, how much, how often etc. Look at the strict rules about music that exist in some Muslim societies for an IRL analogy, or the highly prescribed social etiquette between men and women in Orthodox Jewish communities.

4. That's fine.

5. Also fine.

Imagine if suddenly you were invaded by a culture that used flatulence as a form of social communication. It seems gross and improper, even though you do it yourself sometimes in private. You'd need a handbook to tell you how to overcome disgust, and when and how it is appropriate to break wind in front of others. That's the direction i'd take this book in, myself.

[Yeti]

2. I'm sure they laugh, it's a natural thing to do.

But is a natural thing for an Indoril to do? The Dunmer are described as being a very grave humorless people, and I'd imagine the Indoril would be even more stoic in regards to emotional displays.

Anyway, this is a great text, IP. Gro-Dhal's suggestion to incorporate a spiritual angle is a good idea.As someone who wrote the dialogue for Draler Ilvi, I can lend my support to him being the author.

[immortal_pigs]

Major Rewrite reporting in, Corporal Originaltext signing out.

Some points for feedback:

1) Changed the title to "The Formalities of Levity". Is this better?

2) The text now has a very strong spiritual angle, not so much a social-cultural angle. Is it perhaps too strongly spiritual? As it now seems implied that laughing is basically a sin.

3) Is it o.k. to refer to Sheogorath as "Sheoth"? Also, would it be o.k. to refer to Molag Bal as "Bal"? And Malacath doesn't have a synonymous name does he?

[gro-Dhal]

1) Formalities of Levity is fine, or just Formalities of Mirth.

2) You'd expect religion to feature in this, but maybe it's more like gross bad manners than an actual religious sin. There's a blurry line between the two though, where the Indoril are concerned.

3) I guess it's ok to use alternative names, but I don't really see the need. Personal taste. I would definitely shorten it to Dagon rather than Mehrunes though.

There are a few places where I would tighten up the language, rephrase a few small things. I can wait until you're done or do that now, whatever you prefer.

I really like the concept of this btw

[immortal_pigs]

Go ahead and change whatever you like. Formalities of Mirth sounds a bit better than Levity.

[Gnomey]

Keep in mind that "Bal" just means stone. Not to say it can't be used as shorthand for Molag Bal, but on the other hand I'm not sure whether an Indoril would shorten the name of a Daedra in the first place. What would be the purpose of using an alternate name? Titles like "Prince of Plots" seem to be the norm as far as Dunmer euphemisms are concerned.

I'm also wondering whether "warrior poet" shouldn't be capitalized or something. As it is, the reference seems a little too casual to me, and one could miss the fact that Vivec is the one being quoted.

I like the spiritual angle. I don't think laughter is treated too harshly; Indoril don't strike me as the type to easily forgive actual sins. If it's the sort of thing you can be forgiven for after donations and penitence without lasting shame, it's probably no more than the Indoril equivalent of a faux pas.

[immortal_pigs]

Does this text need any further editing?

[gro-Dhal]

Maybe a little. I'm thinking about it.

[rot]

This brings a religious issue to the forefront. Public displays of laughter are impious. Recall this passage from The Sermons. "There was much biting and the earth became wet. And this was the last laugh of Molag Bal."

Is this meant as a huge stretch from the author? that one is the only sermon I know (because yeah) and it doesn't have much to do with laughing. The use of 'laugh' there rather seems to be more as a figure of speech

edit: also Vivec does his fair share of laughing in those same texts (not that cherrypicking from scripture is unheard of...)