Clarice, Friendship, Courtship and Marriage

The characters who are not available early in the game are important.  Clarice is the last of the eligible partners to become available as you must defeat her at the Dragon's Tomb, basically saving Azuma, before she will move to the Winter Village and become some one you can befriend and potentially marry.

As you raise her Friendship Levels she gives you Recipes for two of the best items in the game.

The Commander's Cap at Level 4 and Clarice's Sabre at Level 5.

Later at Level 12, she gives you a Lifesized Cutout of herself.

At Level 15, she surprises you with the Lifesized Cutout of Veyron.

I have been writing about Bonding Events peripherally but I am beginning to see how so many fit together in a complex design in this game.

There are a number of events that involve Suzu going walkabout and some of these are Bonding Events for characters other than Suzu or even Iroha.

Two of Clarice's Bonding Events involves finding Suzu:

'How Should I live my Life? 1'.

'How Should I live my Life? 2'

Walk out of the Spring Dragon Shrine to find Clarice.  Together you go to Iroha's and declare you will find Suzu who once again is missing.

Go then to the Abandoned Shrine.

I will complete this little walkthrough for Clarice later.   I went through ALL her bonding events in my first game before proposing to any one but did not keep a log.  In fact, not being familiar with the Orb, I went through all the events for every character

Clarice is one of the most interesting characters in my view.  I think I will go ahead and start a Fate in my advanced game as a female and marry her mainly because I would be able to court her without any delay.  

I have started a new game as a male named Freyr, the name I always used for Harvest Moon and Rune Factory long ago.  It is interesting to compare his responses with those of his female counterpart and not only verbal ones.  When he falls into deep water, he just grunts.  When, as a girl I fell into deep water, I screamed!  My other reason for playing as him is to marry the eligible females.  The would be interested to see if our relationship differs at all.  I do know that one cannot produce children naturally but must plant a fruit instead that becomes a child.

There s a cultural precedent for the use of a fruit in certain situations.  In the Newar traditions of Nepal, a girl will be married to a fruit when she enters puberty.  It is a real wedding with pomp and circumstance but he reason for it is to protect her from ever being forced to become a widow with the restrictions that has in Hinduism.  If she marries a man when she becomes an adult, his death never can make her a widow.  You need to remember that there was a practice wherein a woman would follow her dead husband onto the funeral pyre and do so while alive.  Although the practice now is illegal in Nepal, there still is some pressure in a few Hindu families to follow it.

Returning to Azuma, however, it is fascinating to discover how Clarice gradually adapts to life in the Winter Village after gradually finding forgiveness for herself in her own heart.

From the moment you insist upon sparing her life and taking her back to Azuma with you, she is embraced wholeheartedly by gods and mortals alike.  In fact, there is admiration for her fighting skill as well as understanding of her tragic past and the effects of her possession by Kamurosaki.

She develops strong friendships in particular with every one in the Winter Village.

More aspects of her relationship with Fubuki are disclosed if you place them together at the front of your Party.

Remember how Clarice embraced the little Woolies of Azuma even while vowing destruction to the gods and people.

There is another interaction that is quite amusing where Clarice rebukes Fubuki for his actions and calls him a ‘Bad dog’!

One of her more heartrending Bonding Events involves her remembrance of the tradition of the ‘Happiness Cake’ from her childhood.

Another unusual aspect of Clarice’s life in Azuma is the presence of Veyron.  He remains in the shadows and you cannot interact with him directly, but he still remains Clarice’s protective guardian in a sense.

He will be present at every important event in your life as well, from your wedding to the birth of your child.