“ Marraige custom. The groom must prove his worth to the friends, family, and future wife. The best man is obligated to challenge the groom to a duel and the best man chooses the weapons. (can be anything, toothpicks, cotton balls, anything) If the groom wins then he proves his worth. If he loses then the bride will accept him for his faults and could sometimes gives him a task to accomplish before the wedding.”
“ Some parallel worlds have different time-flows, like the fabled dwelling-places of the elves: those who visit them under the hill for a night return to find that years have passed in this world. Perhaps it is the gate leading between the worlds which causes the alteration. If a gate were 'misaligned', the shift from '| |' to '| \' or '| /' as it were would lead to that difference, much as a light-beam split and bent by a prism ends up taking a longer path. There might even be a mathematical function linking degree of misalignment to alteration of time-rate.”