7. DETAILS OF SOCIETY

Here are a few tips on details of the DragonLands to help in more effective roleplaying.

7.1 Contract Between Warren and Landbound

This is referred to a great deal in diplomacy between the Landbound nation and the Dragonfolk nation. Near the beginning of recorded history of the DragonLands, when wraiths first began to ravage the land, the Humans joined with Dragons discovered that Dragons could fight off the menace. The Landbound turned to these early Dragonfolk and begged for help, which the Dragonfolk agreed to provide-- for a price.

The contract was made so long ago that it is recorded solely in songs of the Bards, and thus its actual meaning is subject to interpretation. However, three basic tenets of the Contract are clear. They are:

The Landbound are pledged to support the warrens in material terms, by providing them with food and other products which, because of the limited land-area occupied by the warrens, the warrenfolk cannot grow or produce on their own (this does not include luxury items, which generally must be bartered for). Common items in the tithes are cattle and sheep, which the dragons feed on, and coal which the dragons need to stoke their flames for fighting wraiths;

The Dragons and their riders, in turn, are pledged to protect the Landbound from the menaces of wraiths and wild dragons, which the Landbound are ill-equipped to resist unaided; and

The Landbound and Warren Nations are politically separate, and neither may interfere in the internal political affairs of the other. Thus, dragonriders are forbidden to take sides in wars between Landbound lords.

As with any rule, there are *rare* exceptions. For instance, if rogue dragonriders involve themselves in a war or other power struggle between two Landbound interest groups, a warren may be compelled to intervene - but only to the extent of neutralizing the rogue riders (as happened when Roland and his band of rogue dragonriders assisted Feldrik the Conqueror in his attack on Ralengarde, thus forcing Keldarra Warren to respond).

Also, Cleft Warren faces its own unique problems with respect to the Contract because the people it protects, the Nomads, are not "signatories" to the original contract and because their social structure is radically different from that of the DragonLands proper. Thus, while the Warren rigorously tries to observe the requirements of the Contract in dealing with the Nomads, the Nomad tribes do not necessarily reciprocate.

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7.2 Gender Roles

Gender roles are a major issue in the highest levels of power in the DragonLands, and it is a source of strain between the Landbound (see section 6 above) and the Warrenfolk.

The Warrenfolk tend to claim a more even-handed approach to gender. It is true that all positions up to and including Wingleader are open to both genders equally, but the positions of Warrenlady and Dragonlady (as the names imply) are almost entirely female-dominated. This is because both positions are dependent upon the occupant being a Queenrider, and Dragons generally join same-gender. The Warren claims that the Queenrider requirement is because of the greater strength and intelligence of the Queens (Queens are, on average, the very largest and smartest of Dragons). Male queenriders are few, and there is currently only one Warrenlord in the DragonLands.

In many ways, the Craftsmen have the most gender-neutral structure. In most Guilds, even the highest levels of power are open to both men and women.

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7.3 Naming Conventions

There are a lot of patterns followed in naming in the DragonLands. Of course, these are not hard-and-fast rules, but they ought to be kept in mind.

Warrenborn males are often given contracted names (M'tan, S'brogh, Al'dairan).

Warrenborn usually have only one name, and tend to forget the surnames of others very quickly.

Landborn tend to have surnames. Among nobles, surnames are hereditary or clan-based. (i.e. a son of Jaldor Almaren would be Reolden Almaren, and his daughter might be Mary Almaren -- until she marries and takes her husband's name).

Among Crafters and Citizens, surnames tend to be more a reflection of occupation or distinctive characteristics (i.e. Ames Blademaster). There are also some hereditary surnames among Crafters. There's a lot of variance in this area.

It is not uncommon for someone from a Landbound family to join with a dragon; when this happens, the new rider will sometimes change his or her name to better "fit in" with the naming conventions of the Warren (for instance, Terell/T'rell or Moressan/M'ressan). However, there is no requirement for this and Landborn who join with dragons often keep their original names.

There are no real conventions for dragon names. Each dragon is named while still in the egg by its mother, the queen, and these names can be anything that has some significance to the queen or simply a name that strikes her fancy. Dragons can be named after common, everyday things (for instance, we have dragons named Amethyst, Cricket, Storm, Starlight, Fern, etc.) which may reflect something the naming queen might have been fond of. Many draconic names, however, have no clear meaning in any human language (e.g. Kaeryth, Alanth, Viktroy, Syren, or Varaenna), and the process by which queens choose such names for their offspring is not clear. In short, this means that players pretty much have carte blanche in selecting names for their characters' dragons, unless it is a name already in use by another player, or a name that other players would generally find objectionable.

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