Drakiss Egg Shell

One of the common themes of the cultures of different groups of the Drakiss is the value that they put on their egg shells. In many egg laying species the shell is discarded, left where the fragments fell at the time of hatching. For the drakiss however their shells are seem as a crucial part dof their lineage, linking the individual to the parent. The ways in which the shells are used and this value is displayed vary betweern different crews and clans, but the value remains and few drakiss can feel comfortable not knowing where their shells are.

Properties

Material Characteristics

Drakiss egg shell is not heavily mineralised, but is a tough, leathery material - though with age it does harden, though never to the point of becoming brittle. The shell will rot, but only very slowly and their more normal fate is being eaten by Shellbugs. The natural colour of the shells varies from white to light brown with a pattern of darker patches, thought to have evolved to allow indivudual eggs to be recognised.

Cultural Significance and Uses

Their shells are one of the ways that drakiss mark their identity as part of a line of drakiss - unlike other manifestations of this the shells usually remain limited to the individual that hatched from them. In some cases the shells of notable drakiss are honoured as relics of the great ones - though customs for this vary with some crews favouring the shell from which the individual hatched, others the shells of the eggs they laid.

Some Examples of Different Traditions

Morton Drakiss

In their earlier existance as Jorrath's crew they began to decorate the shells of the eggs (see Egg Decoration by the Morton Drakiss). Like most other drakiss groups, the egg shell is retained and given to the younf drakiss as it reaches maturity but because of the records retained of egg decorations the egg also serves as a formal proof of identity in much the same way as the Lineage is by many other groups.

Sbrithnir's Crew

In Sbrithnir's Crew, after the drakiss has died, the egg is kept by the eldest "laid" descendent passing around the siblings until the last one dies and only after this does the egg pass to the Great Clutch. They are also unusual in consigning to destruction the eggs of those guilty of the most serious offences through then use of Shellbugs - a risky proposition which requires careful control to avoid the bugs breaking free and infesting the rest of the Crew.

Hrafkell's Crew

With the The Devastation of Naros destroying not just most of this crew, but also their Great Clutch, Hrafkells crew are unique among the known drakiss groups in routinely discarding the eggs of their deceased. This happens annually, on the anniversary of the erruption with the shells burnt and the ashes scattered to the wind

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