Was talking about marrying odd things like spirits and such in another thread and had enough thoughts on the issue to give it its own thread.

The channelers are way up at the top of the totem poll in this universe, why are they marrying these mortal peasent women. Even spirits are not much better. A decent channeler can call up a dozen spirits before lunch to do his bidding. Why not marry in your own class? Why not try for something above his class. Enter avatars of ideas/concepts.

Example, if you tend to make lots of troops and go to war a lot, perhaps you could end up marrying war not just figurativley but litterally. The incarnation/avatar/embodiment of war could show up and propose to you. Although it would be more like she shows up and declares the two of you joined and brings with her a dozen super-elite berserker handmaidens or something.

Accepting the proposal gets you some bonuses to war-like actions,building troops and fighting and such, and you get the handmaidens and the avatar who can kick ass on thier own as heroes/powerful units. On the flip side, people tend to not to take peace treatys seriously with a guy who bumps uglies with war herself. And if you do make a lot of peace treatys, she might get pissed at you. Your mortal peasent wife getting mad at you is one thing, have War mad at you is something very different. Especially if your sharing a bed.

Or, you could refuse her, at which point she does what she does best, namely, breaks into your bases and starts killing your dudes like its '95 and we are all still noobs at computer games. Jittled women are dangerous, jittled avatars? Prepare for serious pain.

You could have a whole bunch of embodied beings you can shack up with. War, pride, farming, nature, trade. Trade/wealth/gold avatar would be hilarous. Have a big merchant empire and you can marry her. Your merchants do great and everyone wants to make trading deals with you since they always give massive returns. BUT, she claims she needs to swap out her old palace for a new palace every year or so for "Tax Purposes".

Refuse her though, and suddenly your merchants are getting hit by every single con-man in the world.

This would be a major choice though. Embodied concepts don't get old and die, they hang around forever, and divorcing them has some serious reprucusions. If you marry a human, you can trade up after a few years and she dies, or you can just get rid of her, after all, what can one human do to you? But pick up an avatar, and thats where your gonna be 1000 years from now too.

These superior beings could be great for quests, both giving and having quests dealing with them and actually getting one happy enough with you to marry you could be a major questing ordeal.

Anyway, thats my idea.