Troll rituals and ceremonies

Ryleen was talking to a sin'dorei friend of hers, who showed her an expensive ring and told her about how her boyfriend had proposed to her.

This got me wondering, what are the troll's habits concerning partners, marriage and such things? Someone told me that they mate for life, once they found the one they love they never leave them again. Might just be a rumour, but I like the sound of it. And I bet there is some kind of ceremony once they've chosen that partner, even if it's probably different from the human's, right?

Oh, and this might just come in handy in a not too distant future, too.. Considering Gando&Ryleen and all.. ^_^

As your a part of the Zandalar 'tribe' I guess Yojamba is a most, Zanza's blessing would be really good, as he's the 'Loa from Zandalar'. Not sure about any special cermony, guess something abolishing Hakkar ?

I think most trolls choose a lifetime partner just like humans do. If they're more loyal to their mate than humans, I don't know. Their marriage is blessed by their tribe's Loa, which is Zanza in the Zandalari's case, but the ritual's accurate details differ from tribe to tribe. Although I could easily imagine troll chieftains having multiple wives, I have noticed poligamy nowhere in the lore yet. On the other hand, according to Ashya, the priests of Hakkar don't have lifetime mates, but have children from their female slaves.
Actually we've tried to make a "troll wedding" with one of Snicka's former troll girlfriends, but we had to cancel it. It would have been led by Kemsha, as she was the High Priest that time, and it would have been quite a brutal ceremony, because it involved cutting each other's hand and drinking each other's blood. The ritual was finally cancelled when Snicka and the wo'mon broke up.

I seem to recall from somewhere that when trolls get married they wear a nose-ring. Or maybe that's just for the female troll. Perhaps the male troll gets a piercing somewhere else . . . I will try to find out where I read this.

Where would the male trolls get their piercings? *is scared*

As you probably already know, Ryleen and Gando will get married sometime not too far into the future. We've dsicussed how we want the ritual to work a little, and I'd love to hear your ideas.

So far we have three base parts of the ceremony; An symbolic exchange of gifts, vows to eachother and blessings from a higher power of choice.

The classic gift to exchange would be rings, but we haven't decided on that yet. It should probably be something you can wear, but has not real practical use except showing that you belong to eachother, so I guess it will most likely end up being jewelry of some sort.

As for vows and blessings, I've been googling "pagan wedding rituals", lots of useful stuff there and it could easily be modified to fit a troll wedding.


We will also need a nice place to have the ceremony and celebration in. Yojamba is nice, I guess, but the temple is small, and we have the regular excecutions and all that. Some pretty place, not to close to alliance settlements and preferably free of roaming mobs would be best. We'll go looking ic soon, but does anyone of you have any ideas? Or just general suggestions?

Congratulations Ryleen.

I think Boulderslide Ravine in the Stonetalon mountains is a nice place, there are very few mobs in there and they will be low level.There is a hillock in the middle of the ravine suitable for the ceremony which would raise you and Gando up and into view, there is also a lovely cave with a fire for a more intimate atmosphere, perhaps 15 people could sit in there.

I think you could both wear bright wedding robes and have a shaman or priest officiate( to call upon the Loa,etc) and each have a best man and bridesmaid, exchange rings of course, but also offhand flowers.

Good luck to both of you )

The ziggurats in front of Zul'Aman are very good places for rituals, they're large and very trollish, and there are no mobs, but on the other hand the place is often visited by the Alliance who raid the dungeon, and they'd likely stop there for a bit of ganking. I think Kemsha or Umagaur should lead the ritual, or if you want someone not in the Heritage, you can ask Kaali from the Ashen Order, she's a bit eccentric but experienced in leading ceremonies.

What do trolls traditionally do to their dead? In tauren graveyards you can see that they seem to mummify their dead, but what do trolls do? Personally I feel that burning would be very fitting, but does anyone know?

Sometimes they place the bones in a pot-type thing.

Ryleen wrote:What do trolls traditionally do to their dead? In tauren graveyards you can see that they seem to mummify their dead, but what do trolls do? Personally I feel that burning would be very fitting, but does anyone know?

I've heard about a Papuan tribe in New Guinea who, unlike most cannibalistic tribes who cannibalized their slain enemies, used to cannibalize their own dead. You showed your grief and respect towards the dead by eating a piece of him. It would probably fit some of the more savage troll tribes like the Witherbark, Vilebranch or Bloodscalp.
For the more civilized troll tribes like the Zandalar or the Darkspear... yes, it's probably burning. Also, let's not forget there are tombs in various troll cities, most notably Zul'Farrak. So at least the Sandfury trolls practice mummification.
Trolls' relationship with the dead is very much unlike that of humans, anyway, since their voodoo priests are able to summon their spirits and talk to them anytime.

Well, if you look in the tomb in Ghostlands thats filled with Troll dead, they are mumified ( quest is to burn them) so to me at least thats how the trolls would deal with the dead.

Also, Sunken Temple undead Trolls, and in fact any undead trolls are always seemingly mummified. I'm not sure about the burning of the corpses though, asif they seemingly preserve the remains, maybe cremation could be seen as desecration of the body. If they believe in a spirit/soul (which they seem to) maybe they encase the body to protect it, so that it is kept safe for the spiritual journey. But I could be wrong.

From wowwiki:

"Troll death rituals used to involve ritual mutilation of the body. The trolls believed that simulating the sacrifice of a corpse distracted nearby malign spirits. The spirits, drawn to the pretend sacrifice, would fail to notice the new spirit entering their world. This allowed the deceased’s spirit to pass more easily into the next world and find a place for itself without harassment. Now trolls avoid these rituals because the Horde finds them disturbing and the rituals evoke unpleasant associations with the Scourge. Trolls frown on cremation, as they believe the body provides the spirit with a tie to the mortal world, and to destroy it sets a spirit adrift and confused for eternity. Recently the trolls have taken to cutting the eyes out of a corpse, thus opening a path into the skull where the spirit resides. Often a witch doctor sacrifices an animal nearby to distract any hungry spirits; if the mourners have no time for such a ritual, they may instead cut their arms and let their blood spill to achieve the necessary distraction. To avoid the possibility of undeath, trolls either bury their comrades’ bodies in hidden places or in sections (usually the body in one place and the head in another)."

Link to the article (voodoo): http://www.wowwiki.com/Voodoo

Ooh, thanks Vypra, I'll have to go read that page later. But that's good, then it makes total sense what Ry did to Barz's body and head. ^_^