A Drakkun's Crew

The Crew of a Drakkun is a group of Drakiss bound to the service of the Drakkun. The origins of this service are obscure but seem to be more cultural and based on mutual benefit than a form of slavery. Certainly there are Drakkun who have no Crew - and this causes them many inconveniences as can well be imagined when we look at the role of a Drakiss Crew. Likewise there are drakiss groups not linked to a drakkun - these tend to be small - rarely more than a single Writhe and limited in thir culture and specialisms. Such drakiss are usually referred to as feral.
Though there is variation in practice, a Crew is normally formed when a drakkun's egg shows signs of being near to hatching and the Crew plays a significant part in the rearing and education of many drakkun. As the drakkun matures so the role of the crew changes and by the time a drakkun flies the parental roost the crew will often number 20 to 30. As this will have taken several generations of drakiss this evolution of role is mainly through the death or existing crew members and their replacements.
The organisation of most Crews is split between the social organisation (the breeding groups, or Writhes) and the role based, or "professional" organisation of the gangs. In all but the smallest of crews care is taken to maximise the mixing and the social order can easily break down too many members of a writhe are in the same gang. Given the feral drakiss, most scholars (whether drakiss or otherwise) believe that the key to a drakiss society larger than a writhe is dividing the individuals so that they are bonded into a "cross-linked" matrix that stabilises what would otherwise fragment into independent writhes.
So, the gangs are essential to a Crew - but exactly what gangs there are will vary between crews and depend heavily on the character and mode of life adopted by the drakkun. The one consistent component is the gang of Writkiss whose role is to manage the Crews knowledge and ensure that it is passed across the generations - an essential given that a drakkun will often live to a thousand years, but an individual drakiss will rarely live much beyond fifty. In smaller crews this gang will often be part time, helping other gangs, but will rarely number fewer than 3 to ensure continuity of the valuable knowledge of their drakkun, its history and the areas they operate in.

Notable Crews

Sbrithnir's Crew
Morton Drakiss

Size

20 and upwards, 50-60 is typical and several hundred not unknown

Leadership

The organisation of crews into gangs and writhes is a constant; but the leadership of the crews is as variable as the leadership of groups of humans. The relationship with the drakkun favours systems that allow for long periods of continuity of leadership with the leader of the Crew being the main communicator with the drakkun. You may encounter autocratic, oligarchic, monarchial or democratic approaches and no crew's approach remains unchanged as the centuries pass.

Relationship with the Drakkun

Mediated by the leader of the Crew the relationship between crew and drakkun is a key one for both parties. It is rare for it to break down completely for life is much harder for a drakkun without a crew and a crew without a drakkun soon disintegrates. Disingenuous leaders will often find themselves remembered by history as a snack (whether for the crew or the drakkun depends on which was displeased).

Interchange Between Crews

Meetings of drakkun, particularly matings or formal alliances, provide an opportunity for the exchange of drakiss between crews - partly to cement the links, partly to reduce the risks of inbreeding and partly to make good any gaps or surpluses of skills and abilities.

Gangs of a Typical Crew

HoardkissThose who manage the both the crew's hoard and the drakkun's.

BurrowkissRepairing, improving and extending the roost.

KinkissExperts on the crew's geneology. They often persue a low level struggle with the Writkiss for control of geneological records.

ClutchkissLook after the crew's eggs and the young of the other gangs while their writhes are at work.

Scalekiss Attend to the person of the drakkun - cleaning, dealing with loose scales, tending to wounds and cleaning/tidying the roost chamber itself.

Messkiss Dealing with feeding the crew; their role varies between individual crews - they may have sub-gangs of forragers for example.

Alkiss The Alkiss specialise in chemical assistance to the crew - in matters of lighting, explosives and processing of minerals or waste.

Meckiss Deal in matters mechanical; from the traps and alarms on the roost's entrances to pumps for drainage or mechanical devices to entertain and amuse.

Writkiss Manage the Crew's archives and knowledge - of their drakkun and of the wider world. See also Drakiss Script

Within each gang are three ranks: with the exception of the Ken (for there is only a single Ken at any time in a gang) there is a heirarchy within each rank: seniority plays a part but so too do skill and prospects.

Ken

The leader of a gang was known as a "ken". Although many gangs were split into sub-gangs the Ken was the leader of the whole speciality. Leaders of sub-gangs were formally "kiss" though would be informally referred to by their subgang as ken.

Kiss

A specialist in the trade of the gang, a "kiss" had normally completed a five year apprenticeship in the gang's business and demonstrated a good degree of competency. Elevation from "wyrm" to "kiss" was a hugely important step for a young drakiss.

Wyrm

An apprentice to the gang; learning the trade or not yet deemed competent to be elevated to "kiss". Some will spend their entire careers as wyrms struggling to avoid being returned to the unganged; most will make kiss within two years of completing their apprenticeship.