Marriage & Family¶

"Anyone can flirt across a tavern. Living under one roof, sharing the rent and the cold mornings - that's the part that takes a true heart. Bring her a ring when you mean it, lad, and not a day before." - Goodwife Pell, who has married off four daughters

Flirting and party romance are the start of something. This article is about the end of that road - the deliberate decision to settle down with one person: court them past friendship, share a roof, and one day put a ring on it.

This is a different mechanic from companion romance. Travelling with a lover, building a bond on the road, the flirt-and-trust dance - that's covered in Romance and Relationship Dynamics. What follows is the "put down roots" layer that sits on top: moving in, proposing, marriage, and inheritance.

One thing to hold onto throughout: none of this is something you do to a person. Every step is gated on how they actually feel about you. You don't decide you're married - you ask, and they answer based on real affection, trust, and time spent. Push for more than the relationship holds and you'll simply be turned down.

At a glance¶


The arc	Friend → dating → lover/partner → live together → married
Before you can court	Be at least a friend - strangers can't be asked out
Moving in	A close friend (or better) can be asked to share your home
You need a home	Cohabitation and marriage both require a property you rent
Spare room	A single-room rental can't take a roommate - you need bigger
To propose	Be their lover or partner, living together, deeply in love
A token	Most partners expect a gift - usually a ring - to propose
Their answer is real	Every gate reads their feelings; consent is never assumed
Jealousy	A possessive existing partner can refuse to share you
Marriage gives	A spouse who lives with you, tracks your home, shares your life
Inheritance	A spouse is first in line to inherit property
Children	Not a player-raised family system - see "Family, honestly" below

The long road - how you get to "yes"¶

There are no shortcuts. Each stage unlocks the next, and each one is gated on the other person's real disposition toward you.

Get to know them. A complete stranger isn't a candidate for anything. Talk to them, do things together, treat them well - see Talking to People. You're building the three things every later gate checks: affection (do they care for you), trust (do they rely on you), and familiarity (have you spent real time together).
Become friends - then more. Romance can only begin once you're at least a friend or close friend and there's genuine romantic interest on their side. You can't ask out someone who has no such feeling for you; the game will tell you plainly that you're "not close enough" or that there's no romantic spark.
Start dating. Asking someone out is a real ask with a real answer. If they're fond enough of you it lands; if they're on the fence, your charm and their affection decide it; if they barely like you, it's a no. Once you're dating, spending quality time together - a drink at the tavern, a walk somewhere green, an afternoon at the market - steadily deepens affection, trust and familiarity, and naturally carries the relationship up toward lover and partner.
Cohabit - share a roof. See the next section. This is the real threshold most people skip on their way to a proposal.

Throughout, the door swings both ways: neglect them, get caught flirting elsewhere, or break their trust, and the relationship can cool right back down. Status is earned and can be lost.

Moving in together¶

Before anyone marries in Ghelmyon, they live together first. You cannot propose to someone you don't share a home with - settling down is a thing you do, not just a vow you make.

To ask someone to move in, use Move In (movein <name>). Three things have to be true:

You're close enough. They must be at least a close friend lovers and partners obviously qualify too. Ask a mere acquaintance and they'll decline; you "aren't close enough."
You have a home. Cohabitation needs a property you rent. No home, no move-in - rent a place first. See A Place to Live for how renting works.
There's room for them. A cramped single-room rental can't house a roommate. If there's "no spare room," you need a larger property before anyone can move in.

Moving in is never quiet - the neighbours notice, and word gets around town. Once they've moved in you can check Roommates (roommates) to see who lives with you, in which property, and how the household is getting on. Sharing a roof has its own texture: roommates with clashing temperaments rub each other the wrong way, while a full house can actually soften the rent - more hands to share the cost. If it isn't working out, Move Out (moveout <name>) ends the arrangement.

You can live with someone who isn't a romantic partner - a close friend can be a housemate. Cohabitation is the practical step; marriage is the romantic one on top of it.

Proposing - the gates, honestly¶

When you're ready, Propose (propose <name>) pops the question. It's the most heavily gated thing in the whole romance system, on purpose - marriage is a once-in-a-playthrough milestone, not a thing you stumble into. Every one of these must be true, and each reads the other person's actual state:

They have to be here. You propose face to face - they must be at your location.
You must be lovers or partners. Dating isn't enough; a friendship certainly isn't. The relationship has to have grown to lover or partner first.
You must already live together. If you haven't moved in, the game points you straight at Move In - that's the missing step.
They must love you deeply. There's a high bar of affection here. If they "don't feel strongly enough about you yet," the answer is no - go spend more time together and come back.
You usually need a token. Most partners expect a gift to propose with - typically a ring, and the more materialistic the heart, the finer it had better be. A romantic soul will accept any piece of jewellery; a grounded, practical partner may want no gift at all - just you. If you're missing the token, the game hints at what this particular person would want. (Some folk dream of one specific keepsake.)
No one else can veto it. If you're juggling other partners, a possessive one can outright refuse to let the marriage happen - they will not share you. A merely jealous (but not possessive) partner won't block it, but they'll be hurt, and you'll hear about it.

Clear every gate and they say yes: the gift is presented, you're wed, and the whole town hears the news. Fall short on any one gate and the proposal simply doesn't go through - the game tells you which gate stopped you, so you know what to work on. It never forces a yes; their feelings have the final word.

You also can't propose if you're already married, or if they are - Ghelmyon marriage is one spouse at a time.

What marriage actually changes¶

Marriage is a real bond in the world, not a label:

They're your spouse. Trust and affection lock in at the highest level, their mood toward you turns delighted, and the bond is mirrored on both sides - you're each other's married partner in the eyes of the game and the gossip mill.
You live together, for good. A spouse cohabits with you by definition. If you later upgrade your housing, your spouse's home tracks the move - marriage remembers where home is and follows you to a better one.
A settled life. A married partner keeps to a home-centred rhythm around the household rather than drifting off on a stranger's schedule. They're yours now, and the world treats them that way.
The town remembers. Your wedding is recorded as real news, the same as any other notable event - neighbours, acquaintances and rumour-mongers all know you're married.

And if it doesn't last? A marriage can be ended - amicably or bitterly. An amicable parting is gentler on both hearts; an ugly one costs far more affection and trust, and they'll move out. Either way the bond, the shared home and the news of it all unwind. (Look for the divorce/break-up verb in Relationship Dynamics.)

Inheritance - when one of you is gone¶

Marriage isn't only about life; it's about what happens after. Ghelmyon tracks who inherits a person's holdings when they die, and a spouse stands first in line.

When a property-owner dies, the world resolves an heir in a strict order of priority:

Spouse - the married partner inherits first, ahead of everyone.
Eldest child - if there's no surviving spouse.
Eldest sibling - if there are no children.
A named heir - a specifically designated successor, if the family line runs out.
The town - with no heir at all, holdings revert to public hands.

So a marriage is, among other things, a will. Wed someone who owns a home or a business and you become their first heir - and they become yours. When the inheritance falls, the holdings change hands and the world quietly updates ownership: the new owner is recognised everywhere it matters. See Death & Consequences for the wider picture of how death ripples through the world.

Family, honestly - what's here and what isn't¶

Be clear-eyed about scope. Ghelmyon models marriage, cohabitation, and inheritance as a succession line - a spouse, and a heir-order that already understands children and siblings as existing family relations in the world. NPCs have families; those family ties decide who inherits.

What there isn't is a player-raised family system - there is no mechanic for the player and a spouse to have or raise children, no growing-up timeline, no family tree you build over a playthrough. "Family" here means your spouse and the inheritance bond between you, set against the families NPCs already carry. If you're hoping to start a dynasty of your own offspring, that's not a thing the engine does today. What it does do - courtship that has to be earned, a home you share, a marriage the whole town knows about, and a spouse who inherits - it does for real.

Quick reference - "I want to propose, what do I need?"¶

You want to…	You need
Ask someone out	Be at least a friend, with romantic interest on their side
Move in together	Close friend or better, a rented home, and a spare room
Get to lover/partner	Keep spending time together - dates raise affection & trust
Propose	Lover or partner, living together, deep affection, a token (usually a ring)
Avoid a veto	No possessive other partner standing in the way
Make a spouse your heir	Just be married - a spouse inherits first, automatically
End it	A divorce/break-up - amicable costs less than a bitter one