Skyrim sells the fantasy of being Dragonborn, but the moment you start thinking about marriage, the game quietly swaps epic destiny for raw mechanics. Romance in Skyrim isn’t a cinematic BioWare-style system with dialogue trees and hidden affection meters. It’s a checklist-driven system that rewards players who understand how quests, factions, and NPC flags actually work under the hood.
That disconnect is why so many players feel confused, disappointed, or outright misled the first time they try to get married. The good news is that once you understand the rules, Skyrim’s marriage system becomes predictable, exploitable, and surprisingly useful for both role-play and gameplay optimization.
Marriage Is a System, Not a Storyline
Skyrim does not track romance through approval, gifts, or dialogue choices. Instead, every marriageable NPC has a simple internal flag that flips once you complete a specific quest or action tied to them. When that condition is met, the game treats the NPC as “friendly enough” to consider marriage.
This means you can go from total stranger to spouse in under five minutes if you know what quest to complete. It also means personality, chemistry, and shared history exist almost entirely in the player’s imagination, not the game’s code. For role-players, this is both a limitation and an opportunity.
The Absolute Requirements to Get Married
There are only three hard requirements to marriage in Skyrim, and missing any one of them will completely lock you out.
First, you must complete the quest “The Book of Love” in Riften. This is triggered by talking to Maramal inside the Bee and Barb. Until this quest is finished, marriage dialogue simply does not exist, no matter how friendly an NPC is.
Second, you must wear an Amulet of Mara and speak to a marriageable NPC who meets their personal requirement. The amulet is not optional. Without it, the game will never surface the dialogue prompt, which is why so many players think a character is bugged.
Third, the NPC must be flagged as marriageable and have their condition fulfilled. Some require a quest, some require hiring them, and others just need a favor completed. If they aren’t on Bethesda’s internal marriage list, no amount of role-play will make it happen without mods.
What Marriage Actually Gives You in Gameplay Terms
From a pure mechanics standpoint, marriage is one of the most efficient passive buffs in the game. A married spouse can open a shop that generates 100 gold per day, stackable if you wait or adventure for long periods. This is free income with zero upkeep.
You also gain the Lover’s Comfort buff when sleeping near your spouse, granting a 15 percent boost to skill XP gain. That bonus stacks cleanly with the Mage, Warrior, or Thief Stones, making marriage a quiet but powerful leveling accelerator, especially on Legendary difficulty.
Spouses can also become followers if their NPC type allows it, and they will defend your home against attacks. While their combat AI won’t rival a min-maxed companion, having a spouse with decent gear can meaningfully reduce aggro pressure during home invasions.
Common Myths That Trip Players Up
One of the biggest misconceptions is that gender matters. Skyrim allows same-sex marriage across the board, with no penalties, dialogue changes, or mechanical differences. The game treats all marriages identically.
Another myth is that divorce exists. It doesn’t. Once married, the relationship is permanent unless your spouse dies, intentionally or otherwise. This makes your choice far more important than the game initially lets on, especially for role-players who value long-term immersion.
Finally, many players assume unique dialogue or evolving relationships unlock over time. In reality, post-marriage dialogue is extremely limited and shared across most spouses. The depth comes from who the character is before marriage, not what the system adds afterward.
Why Your Choice Still Matters Despite the Simplicity
Because the mechanics are shallow, the value of a spouse comes from everything surrounding the system: their questline, their personality, their moral alignment, and how well they fit your Dragonborn’s story. A warrior-mage marrying a blacksmith hits differently than a thief settling down with a former mercenary.
Understanding how marriage works lets you stop fighting the system and start using it. Whether you want maximum efficiency, strong role-play cohesion, or a spouse who feels like a natural extension of your character’s journey, knowing these mechanics is the foundation for making a choice you won’t regret 50 hours later.
What Makes a Great Skyrim Wife? Ranking Criteria Explained (Personality, Perks, Quests, Role‑Play Value)
Once you understand how thin the marriage mechanics really are, the evaluation shifts. A great Skyrim wife isn’t defined by post-marriage dialogue or unique cutscenes, because those barely exist. She’s defined by what she brings to the table before the wedding and how naturally she integrates into your long-term playthrough.
These criteria focus on tangible gameplay impact and intangible role-play weight. When ranked properly, the best wives elevate immersion, reduce friction in your build, and feel earned rather than checked off.
Personality and Moral Alignment
Personality is doing most of the heavy lifting in Skyrim’s romance system. Since dialogue barely evolves after marriage, the voice type, attitude, and moral compass of your spouse determine whether returning home feels grounding or awkward.
A morally consistent partner reinforces role-play cohesion. A Vigilant-aligned Dragonborn marrying a ruthless assassin creates constant narrative dissonance, while a mercenary-turned-settler or a disciplined warrior settling down feels organic. These details matter far more than the game ever explains.
Voice type also matters mechanically. Some spouses use aggressive combat barks and charge enemies, while others hang back and pull aggro poorly. Over dozens of hours, those behavioral quirks become impossible to ignore.
Combat Utility and NPC Perks
While spouses aren’t designed to be top-tier followers, their NPC class still matters. Combat-capable spouses can equip upgraded gear, scale decently, and contribute real DPS during home defense or follower rotations.
Certain NPCs benefit from hidden perks tied to their class. Trainers-turned-spouses, blacksmiths, and warriors often perform better than purely civilian characters. A spouse who can tank a hit or draw aggro can buy you precious I-frames in cramped interiors.
This isn’t about min-maxing a follower slot. It’s about avoiding dead weight when dragons, vampires, or hired thugs decide to crash your domestic life.
Quest Involvement and Narrative Weight
Quest relevance is one of the biggest separators between forgettable and top-tier spouses. Characters tied to meaningful quests feel earned, especially if marriage comes after shared hardship rather than a single radiant objective.
A spouse connected to faction storylines or personal redemption arcs adds retroactive weight to those quests. The relationship becomes a narrative payoff, not just a dialogue option unlocked by wearing an Amulet of Mara.
Players who value immersion will feel the difference immediately. Marrying someone you fought beside hits harder than marrying someone you barely spoke to.
Role‑Play Flexibility Across Builds
The best Skyrim wives adapt cleanly to multiple playstyles. They make sense whether you’re a Nord warrior, a stealth-focused Nightblade, or a morally conflicted mage walking the line between power and restraint.
Characters with grounded motivations, flexible alignments, or neutral worldviews fit into more Dragonborn stories. This makes them ideal for long saves where your character evolves over time rather than staying locked to a single identity.
Rigid or extreme personalities can still work, but they demand commitment. If your playthrough pivots hard, those marriages can start to feel narratively wrong.
Home Integration and Daily Utility
Marriage turns your spouse into part of your economic loop. Daily gold income, home defense, and shop functionality all contribute to quality of life, especially on survival or higher difficulties.
Spouses who logically belong in certain homes enhance immersion. A city-born merchant running a shop in Whiterun feels natural, while a hardened warrior settling into a remote homestead reinforces the fantasy of earned peace.
These details don’t change stats, but they change how the game feels hour to hour. That’s the difference between a marriage you forget and one that anchors your playthrough.
Longevity Over Novelty
Because divorce doesn’t exist, longevity is the final filter. A great Skyrim wife is someone you won’t regret after 50, 100, or 200 hours.
Flashy first impressions fade fast. Consistent tone, believable motivations, and mechanical usefulness endure. When ranked properly, the best spouses are the ones that still make sense long after the wedding dialogue stops firing.
This framework is what separates a convenient marriage from a legendary one.
S‑Tier Wives: The Best Marriage Options in Skyrim for Story, Gameplay, and Long‑Term Value
When you apply the framework above, only a handful of candidates truly hold up. These are spouses who deliver on role‑play logic, mechanical usefulness, and narrative longevity without forcing your Dragonborn into a narrow identity.
S‑Tier wives don’t just tolerate your adventures. They feel like they belong in them.
Aela the Huntress
Aela is the gold standard for warrior-focused playthroughs and still works shockingly well outside pure melee builds. As a Companion, a lycanthrope, and a hardened Nord, she already lives the life most Dragonborn grow into.
Mechanically, she’s an aggressive follower with solid DPS and reliable aggro control, especially early to mid-game. Narratively, marrying Aela feels earned because you’ve bled with her, hunted with her, and reshaped Skyrim’s oldest warrior circle together.
Long-term, she never feels out of place. Whether you lean into werewolf dominance or eventually settle into Hearthfire domesticity, Aela’s arc supports both without breaking immersion.
Mjoll the Lioness
Mjoll is S‑Tier because she represents moral consistency in a morally chaotic world. She’s one of the few NPCs whose values stay intact no matter how long your save file runs.
As a follower, she’s tanky, durable, and unkillable, making her ideal for higher difficulties where positioning and survivability matter more than raw burst damage. Her hatred of the Thieves Guild creates natural narrative tension if you play a reformed rogue or conflicted antihero.
Marriage with Mjoll feels like a statement. You’re choosing principle over convenience, and that choice continues to resonate long after the wedding scene fades.
Lydia
Lydia earns S‑Tier not because she’s flashy, but because she scales perfectly with the player’s journey. She’s your first housecarl, your first real companion, and often the first NPC to see you fail and grow.
Her combat role is straightforward: frontline pressure, shield usage, and dependable presence. She’s not optimized, but she’s consistent, which matters more across 100-hour saves than theoretical peak DPS.
From a role‑play perspective, marrying Lydia feels like rewarding loyalty. She makes sense in every major home, fits nearly every alignment, and evolves naturally from sworn protector to partner.
Sylgja
Sylgja is an underrated S‑Tier pick for players who value grounded storytelling. She’s a miner with family ties, clear motivations, and a life that exists independently of the Dragonborn.
She doesn’t come with epic questlines or faction drama, which is exactly why she works. Marrying Sylgja feels like choosing stability after chaos, especially for characters transitioning out of constant warfare.
Her utility is quiet but effective. A clean home integration, believable dialogue, and zero tonal whiplash make her one of the safest long-term marriage investments in the game.
Muiri
Muiri is S‑Tier for darker playthroughs where morality is flexible and consequences matter. Her involvement in the Dark Brotherhood gives her narrative weight without forcing you into permanent villain mode.
She fits assassins, spies, and morally gray mages who operate in the shadows but still crave connection. Mechanically, she functions well as a home-based spouse who supports your economy while your character handles the dangerous work.
What elevates Muiri is commitment. Once her arc resolves, she stands by the Dragonborn without hesitation, making the marriage feel intentional rather than transactional.
These wives don’t just check boxes. They reinforce the fantasy Skyrim is trying to sell, from epic heroism to hard-earned peace, and they keep paying off long after the ceremony ends.
B‑Tier Wives: Solid Companions with Niche Appeal or Situational Strengths
After the emotional payoff and long-term consistency of S‑Tier marriages, B‑Tier wives occupy a more specialized space. These characters shine when your build, faction alignment, or role‑play concept lines up with what they offer, but they aren’t universal fits for every Dragonborn.
They’re not mistakes or filler options. They’re deliberate choices for players who know what fantasy they’re chasing and are willing to accept tradeoffs in mechanics or narrative depth.
Aela the Huntress
Aela is a powerhouse on paper, especially for warrior or stealth‑archer builds that value raw combat competence. As a high‑level archer with aggressive AI, she contributes real DPS in outdoor encounters and holds aggro better than most spouses.
The catch is narrative friction. Her identity is inseparable from the Companions and the lycanthropy arc, which can clash hard with lawful, scholarly, or anti‑Daedric characters. If you lean fully into the warrior fantasy, though, marrying Aela feels like doubling down on strength over sentiment.
Jenassa
Jenassa appeals to players who prefer pragmatism over romance. She’s a Dunmer mercenary with flexible combat roles, dual‑wield potential, and no moral judgment baked into her dialogue.
From a role‑play angle, the marriage feels transactional, almost contractual, which can work for morally gray or survival‑focused characters. She’s reliable in combat and low‑maintenance at home, but emotionally distant, making her a clean fit for Dragonborns who don’t want domestic softness interrupting the grind.
Mjoll the Lioness
Mjoll brings strong personality and moral clarity, which immediately sets her apart. She’s a justice‑driven warrior with a heroic backstory, solid tanking ability, and a clear stance against corruption.
Her limitation is tonal rigidity. Mjoll struggles to fit criminal, assassin, or morally flexible playthroughs, and her constant righteousness can feel restrictive over long saves. For players role‑playing a classic noble hero, though, she provides thematic reinforcement and dependable frontline presence.
Camilla Valerius
Camilla is often chosen early, especially by first‑time players, because her quest is accessible and her personality is approachable. She embodies the small‑town Skyrim fantasy, grounding the Dragonborn in Riverwood’s humble origins.
Mechanically, she offers standard spouse benefits with no combat upside, and narratively she lacks long‑term growth. Her value is situational but meaningful for characters who want their marriage to symbolize leaving the road behind and protecting a simpler life rather than chasing power or legend.
Unique & Non‑Traditional Romance Options (Faction‑Locked, Morally Gray, or Lore‑Heavy Choices)
After the more straightforward warrior and civilian spouses, Skyrim’s marriage system gets far more interesting once you dig into characters gated by factions, ethical compromises, or dense regional lore. These aren’t just boxes to check for Lover’s Comfort buffs; they’re narrative commitments that can reshape how your Dragonborn fits into the world.
Muiri (Dark Brotherhood – Morally Gray)
Muiri is the most ethically loaded marriage option in the game, full stop. Locking her romance requires advancing the Dark Brotherhood questline and making a very specific, optional assassination choice that exposes just how ruthless your Dragonborn is willing to be.
From a role‑play perspective, marrying Muiri feels like choosing complicity over heroism. She’s not a fighter, offers no combat utility, and exists purely as a narrative mirror for assassin characters who see vengeance and loyalty as transactional. If you’re running a stealth DPS build that thrives on moral ambiguity, she’s thematically perfect, but she will hard‑lock your character into a darker legacy.
Brelyna Maryon (College of Winterhold – Lore‑Heavy Mage Choice)
Brelyna is faction‑locked behind the College of Winterhold, immediately filtering her toward magic‑centric playthroughs. Her quest highlights raw, unstable talent rather than mastery, reinforcing the idea that the Dragonborn is mentoring, not just courting.
Mechanically, she’s a serviceable mage follower with scaling spells but limited survivability in late‑game encounters. The real value is narrative: marrying Brelyna feels like investing in the future of magical Skyrim rather than settling down with a finished hero. For scholarly or arcane Dragonborns, that long‑term growth angle adds weight other spouses simply don’t offer.
Sylgja (Shor’s Stone – Grounded, Regional Lore Pick)
Sylgja isn’t tied to a major faction, but her story is deeply embedded in Skyrim’s working‑class mining culture. Helping her recover from injury and protect her livelihood frames the marriage as mutual survival rather than destiny.
She provides no combat advantages and minimal narrative follow‑up, but the role‑play payoff is subtle. Marrying Sylgja anchors your Dragonborn to the economic backbone of Skyrim, not its legends or guilds. For characters tired of world‑saving and more interested in legacy through community, she’s quietly one of the most authentic choices.
Shahvee (Windhelm Docks – Cultural and Moral Depth)
Shahvee stands out as one of the few Argonian marriage options and one of the most emotionally sincere NPCs available. Her optimism contrasts sharply with Windhelm’s racial hostility, making the relationship feel like a moral statement rather than a convenience.
She offers no combat support and minimal mechanical benefits beyond the standard spouse loop. What she delivers instead is thematic contrast: marrying Shahvee positions the Dragonborn as a protector and ally to Skyrim’s most marginalized people. For role‑players prioritizing compassion over power, that choice resonates far beyond stats.
Taarie (Solitude – High Society with Sharp Edges)
Taarie is often overlooked because her personality is abrasive and her questline is brief. That sharpness, however, makes her one of the more unconventional spouses for players who want friction instead of devotion.
She’s embedded in Solitude’s merchant elite and Altmer cultural hierarchy, which subtly reframes the Dragonborn as a political and economic actor, not just an adventurer. There’s no combat upside and little emotional warmth, but for characters navigating Skyrim’s power structures, marrying Taarie feels like aligning with influence rather than affection.
Marriage Benefits Breakdown: Shops, Combat Support, Hearthfire, and Daily Buffs
After weighing personality, lore weight, and narrative chemistry, it’s time to strip marriage down to mechanics. Skyrim’s marriage system is deceptively simple on the surface, but the benefits quietly shape your economy, survival loop, and even combat pacing depending on who you marry and how you use them.
This is where role‑play meets optimization. Every spouse follows the same core rules, but the way those rules interact with specific NPC backgrounds can dramatically change how valuable the marriage feels over a 100‑hour playthrough.
Spouse Shops: Passive Gold Without Grind
Once married, your spouse can open a shop that generates 100 gold per day, stacking up to a week if left untouched. This gold is flat, unaffected by Speech perks, RNG, or world state, making it one of the most reliable income sources in the game.
What matters is access, not location. Spouses living in player homes or Hearthfire houses are easier to check in on than those stuck in cities with load screens, which is why remote role‑play picks like Sylgja or Shahvee still work mechanically despite their humble origins. Over long playthroughs, that gold quietly offsets repair costs, potion restocks, and early‑game training fees.
Combat Support: When Love Follows You Into Battle
Some spouses double as followers, and that’s where marriage can directly affect combat flow. Spouses like Aela, Mjoll, or Lydia bring full companion AI, meaning they draw aggro, soak damage, and contribute consistent DPS without morale penalties.
Marriage doesn’t buff their stats, but it removes the friction of choosing between romance and utility. You’re free to take them into dungeons without breaking role‑play, and their essential status while married makes them far more forgiving in high‑chaos fights with bad hitboxes or AoE spam. For survival or Legendary difficulty runs, that reliability matters more than raw damage.
Hearthfire Synergy: Domestic Stability as a Gameplay Loop
Marriage shines brightest when paired with Hearthfire homes. A spouse stationed at Lakeview, Windstad, or Heljarchen Hall will manage the household, unlock home‑cooked meals, and provide emotional grounding between long dungeon crawls.
This isn’t just flavor. Coming home to a spouse after a brutal Dwemer ruin or dragon ambush creates a natural gameplay rhythm: loot, build, rest, repeat. For role‑players, it transforms Hearthfire houses from storage hubs into lived‑in spaces, reinforcing the idea that the Dragonborn has something worth protecting.
Daily Buffs: Lover’s Comfort and Survival Efficiency
Sleeping in the same building as your spouse grants Lover’s Comfort, a 15 percent XP boost for eight in‑game hours. This stacks cleanly with skill grinding routes and makes crafting, training, or dungeon runs significantly more efficient.
Unlike temporary potions or shrine buffs, this bonus is reliable and free. For players optimizing leveling curves or juggling multiple skill trees, it’s one of the strongest passive buffs in the game. Marrying early and sleeping often is a quiet power move that pays off long before endgame.
Why Marriage Choice Still Matters Despite Shared Mechanics
On paper, all spouses offer the same benefits. In practice, how often you access those benefits depends entirely on who you marry and where you place them in your world.
A combat‑capable spouse supports aggressive playstyles and survival modes. A city‑bound merchant spouse reinforces economic dominance and political RP. A Hearthfire partner anchors slower, legacy‑focused characters. The systems are uniform, but the experience isn’t, and that’s why marriage in Skyrim remains one of the most quietly impactful decisions you can make.
Role‑Play Recommendations: Best Wives for Warriors, Mages, Rogues, and Evil Characters
Once you understand how marriage feeds into combat pacing, XP efficiency, and home placement, the final step is matching a spouse to your character’s fantasy. This is where Skyrim’s otherwise uniform marriage mechanics suddenly feel bespoke, reinforcing your build, morality, and narrative arc.
Below are the strongest wife picks for each major role‑play archetype, judged not just on stats, but on personality, quest context, and how naturally they slot into your day‑to‑day gameplay loop.
Best Wives for Warriors and Front‑Line Bruisers
A warrior benefits most from a spouse who can survive chaotic fights and hold aggro without folding to splash damage. Aela the Huntress is the gold standard here, especially for Companions playthroughs. She scales well, favors light armor and archery, and her werewolf identity pairs perfectly with aggressive, honor‑bound characters who live for battle.
Mjoll the Lioness is another standout, particularly for justice‑driven warriors. She’s essential, meaning she cannot die, making her ideal for Legendary difficulty or survival runs where follower deaths feel punishing. Her moral compass also reinforces a heroic Dragonborn fantasy, especially if you’re purging bandits and cleansing holds.
For darker or more militaristic builds, Borgakh the Steel Heart offers raw physical presence and Orc stronghold RP depth. Marrying her feels earned, and placing her at a Hearthfire home creates the vibe of a fortified outpost rather than a pastoral retreat.
Best Wives for Mages and Arcane Scholars
Mage characters thrive with spouses who feel intellectually aligned and geographically convenient. Brelyna Maryon is a top‑tier choice, especially for College of Winterhold graduates. Her quest involvement, magical aptitude, and understated personality make her feel like a genuine academic partner rather than a tag‑along NPC.
Brelyna also fits naturally into crafting and leveling loops. Sleeping for Lover’s Comfort, enchanting gear, then heading out for spell testing creates a clean, believable routine for magic‑focused Dragonborns. She reinforces the idea that your power comes from study, not brute force.
For morally flexible mages, Muiri offers a darker alternative. Her alchemy background and ties to the Dark Brotherhood give necromancers, poisoners, and shadow casters a spouse who doesn’t flinch at morally gray decisions.
Best Wives for Rogues, Thieves, and Social Manipulators
Rogue characters benefit more from location and personality than combat stats. Ysolda is an excellent pick for economic domination and urban RP. Her merchant ambitions align perfectly with thieves who launder gold through legitimate fronts while maintaining underworld connections.
Camilla Valerius works well for early‑game rogues who want a Riverwood base of operations. She’s centrally located, easy to marry, and fits the fantasy of a charming scoundrel maintaining a respectable public image while sneaking through shadows at night.
These spouses don’t need to tank damage or cast spells. They anchor your character socially, giving meaning to gold income, property ownership, and the quieter moments between heists.
Best Wives for Evil, Amoral, or Power‑Hungry Characters
If your Dragonborn embraces assassination, manipulation, or domination, your marriage should reflect that ruthlessness. Jenassa is arguably the best wife for evil characters. She’s pragmatic, morally detached, and openly acknowledges that killing is just another job. That honesty makes her feel like a true partner in crime.
Muiri deserves special mention here as well. Her marriage is locked behind betrayal and murder, making it one of the few unions in Skyrim that feels genuinely dark. For Dark Brotherhood loyalists or revenge‑driven characters, marrying Muiri reinforces a narrative where love and violence are inseparable.
These spouses don’t judge your choices or pull you toward redemption arcs. Instead, they validate your path, turning Hearthfire homes into command centers rather than sanctuaries.
Final Verdict: Choosing the Right Spouse for Your Playthrough and Personal Narrative
At the end of the day, Skyrim’s marriage system isn’t about raw stats or min-maxing a passive buff. It’s about reinforcing who your Dragonborn is when the swords are sheathed and the dungeon music fades out. The right spouse should echo your choices, your moral compass, and the kind of legend you’re trying to leave behind.
Think Narrative First, Mechanics Second
Every spouse provides the same core benefits: a Lover’s Comfort XP bonus, a shared home, and a steady gold income if they run a shop. From a mechanics standpoint, that’s flat value across the board. What actually separates the best wives is how naturally they slot into your character’s story.
If you’re playing a battlemage obsessed with knowledge, marrying a fellow scholar reinforces your identity far more than squeezing out an extra follower with decent DPS. Likewise, an assassin marrying into darkness hits harder than any spreadsheet-friendly choice ever could.
Location and Lifestyle Matter More Than You Expect
Where your spouse lives affects how often you interact with them, and that matters over a 100-hour save file. Urban spouses support trade routes, fences, and social manipulation RP. Rural or Hearthfire-based spouses emphasize homesteading, family life, and the illusion of peace between wars.
A Windhelm or Riften spouse supports power plays and criminal empires. A Lakeview Manor marriage sells the fantasy of a warrior trying, and maybe failing, to live quietly. Skyrim rewards consistency, even when it’s subtle.
Alignment Is the True Endgame Choice
Good-aligned characters thrive with spouses who believe in stability, kindness, or honest work. Neutral characters benefit from pragmatic partners who don’t ask questions. Evil or amoral Dragonborns feel more complete with spouses who accept violence as currency and ambition as virtue.
When alignment and marriage clash, the relationship feels hollow. When they sync, even routine dialogue gains weight, turning fast travel stops into moments of role-play instead of menu management.
The Best Wife Is the One That Makes You Care
There is no single objectively best spouse in Skyrim, and that’s the point. The strongest choice is the one that makes you pause before a risky quest, glance at your home on the map, or justify a terrible decision because it fits your story. That emotional investment is what elevates a playthrough from efficient to unforgettable.
Choose the spouse who complements your Dragonborn’s journey, not just their build. Skyrim is at its best when mechanics support role-play, and marriage is one of the few systems that quietly does exactly that. Make it count, and your legend will feel complete long after the final dragon falls.