For the clan questions thing, how about 1, 7, 17, 22, 25, and 32?
Wow thanks for all the questions!
1. Which dragon is most likely to stage a coup and take over command? And how would they do this?
Noir already did this actually! She completely undermined the former leader’s credibility by “helping along” some problems that were already festering under that regime and manipulating the courtly gossip to swing in her favor. It was a sweeping victory for her which took several troublesome parties out of play without spilling a drop of blood.
Kevgru tried to do the same thing but he sucks and is dumb. Noir used his ambition to achieve her own and tossed him :)
7. How are familiars treated?
This will depend on the familiar and the individual dragon it is bound to. For animal-like familiars they are treasured pets and companions. For sapient beastclans the “familiar” is usually an ambassador under the protection of a dragon in the clan and/or being hosted at their residence. In this case they are treated as honored guests and shown every courtesy. In other cases, they are brought home as war trophies and treated as indentured servants. Outright cruelty towards them is rare and frowned upon, but not unheard of.
17. Do dragons hold ranks and titles or are they free to choose?
They definitely hold ranks and titles. The clan was originally very structured, everyone strictly assigned to their caste. Under Noir’s new reign, the common people are much more loose in their designations, but it still an adjustment to let the old ways go. Noir’s title as Empress is ironclad, as are the higher-ranking noble families beneath her, which is a huge change from the old rule by council. The farther down the ranks you go, the less important the ranking gets. Those who were once separated into castes of hunters or craftspeople are now a single fluid lower class. They are not as privileged or respected, but they have more freedom to pursue their own interests, and may even rise up the ranks now that they are not stuck in the caste system.
22. Does your clan have any customs that would be considered shocking to others?
Yeah. One probably.
*cough*
So... There are obviously a lot of Imperials. This is necessary for the powder trade, with which the clan makes most of its profit. But everyone knows having lots of imps close together is bad planning. Since the clan is now settled, this is even more problematic, as they can no longer just migrate away from where an imperial has died.
So they have Vincenzo, who is a very specialized undertaker. Vincenzo was trained with the skills of an Emissary of the Flamecaller, and can wield the fire element like an extension of his body. I’ll just say, his process for taking care of the imperial dead involves complete consumption and destruction of the body, one way or another, in whichever form the imperial perished in.
25. Have there been any events that have drastically changed your clan’s way of thinking?
First settling in Light changed them from air-headed nomads to builders intent on creating their own community. The reign of the first royal family firmly enforced the clan’s dislike of an absolute power, which ushered in the age of rule by council after that line of madness died out. Now that Noir has reinstated a monarchy, things are changing again.
32. Is there any event that would cause complete chaos in your clan?
Since they are so economically reliant on the antler powder trade, anything that throws a wrench in that industry could cause them issues. A disease which impaired antler growth or targeted imperials could be catastrophic, especially since the clan does not host even one single magical healer (they have brewers and witches and herbalists but no serious, elemental healer). Similarly, any natural event which cut off trade routes would be very bad news for this very mercantile clan. I think this would have to be a lengthy season of storms though, since they can just fly over most environmental hazards. Maybe tall wildfires or a warzone could prevent them from crossing trade routes as well.
