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The Dinganni have very close bonds to any in their family. The closest bonds are between those that didn't begin as family though. Dinganni ritually bond those who they feel especially strong about. This bond technically is making another your brother or sister. However the bond tends to be even stronger than typical relations between brothers and sisters, even within the Dinganni.
When two Dinganni grow particularly close, or desire to create something stronger than peace between them they go through the Ritual of Kinship. This is not to be confused with marriage. That is an entirely different matter between a man in woman in love. This is a bond of blood, not love.
It could be expected that this ritual would involve heavy blood magic. It doesn't. The ritual is very simple, and very profound. The two who wish to bond this way each construct a formal gift with their own hands for the other person. This gift is normally some article that can be worn for ordinary use. Clothing and jewelry are the most common. However, sometimes weapons or armor are exchanged between members of certain Societies, particularly the Steel Hands. These articles are made over the course of a full year. No pain or expense is spared to procure the finest material.
While I use the word finest material here, this does not have the connotations you and I put on it. Elfweave clothe for instance would almost never be used for a gift such as this. The Dinganni value durability as much, if not more, than beauty.
When the year is almost up people from other clans usually start to drift in. By the time the gifts are complete and the formal ritual is to begin there are usually two or three clans worth of Dinganni present to bear witness. The making of relatives is very important to the Dinganni, and something that few will not go out of their way to witness.
When the day comes that the two are ready they come out of separate tents before the gathered people. They approach each other in silence. They stop four steps from each other and hold out their gifts for each other. At this point one of current relatives of each one comes forward. Shadow Jar has told me that the person to come forward is not pre-arranged in any way, but the one who is closest to the person involved in the ritual steps forward. I cannot help but think that this act in itself could cause fights in most families. Shadow Jar claimed that it never did, whoever was closest was usually obvious. I have never seen the ritual done, but have trouble believing that no hard feelings emerge from this point.
To continue though, the ones to step forward go to their respective relative and take the offered gift. They then present the gift to the other that is being made a relative. The two who stepped forward then step back into the watchers again. The two becoming relatives then approach each other and embrace.
While embraced they each whisper a name to the other. This is a ritual naming and the whispered name becomes a part of the others Name. The knowledge of it remains between the two only though, and is never told to another, except a wife or child.
I believe that between Pattern Keeping and the Making of Relatives, Dinganni can come to develop very long names. They usually go by their original given name however, and only use their full formal Name on ritual occasions. Here they still leave out parts that are bound to a specific ritual. Such as this one, or joining a Society, as I will explain soon.
The Dinganni realize that they are a small people surrounded by richer, more populous peoples. As such they are quite willing to become relatives with one who is not of the Dinganni. Any non-Dinganni who does this is considered to be one of the Dinganni henceforth, and is held up to all of their standards. Shadow jar assures me that no discrimination occurs towards anyone who becomes Dinganni this way, as compared to being born Dinganni. He claims that even non-humans have occasionally been made relatives in this manner. The number of times this has occurred he can count on his fingers, however. As he counted for me he remembered each name, and approximately when it occurred. None were made prior to the Scourge.
The Making of Relatives is a formality only. There is no magical bond of any type created between the two. It is a very serious undertaking between the two that do it. The ritual is performed very rarely, partly because of the expense of the gifts, and partly because of the very seriousness of it. Not all who are friends can become relatives. All who do it are remembered by the historians.
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