Lineage

Almost all drakiss take an interest in genealogy - pride in their ancestors and knowing that they are part of the wider community may have been the original drivers; but administration and the avoidance of inbreeding have formalised this, especially in the more isolated Ccews, and this has given rise to the "Lineage" a record of a drakiss' ancestry, recorded in Drakiss Script as knots on lengths of cord.

Though the materials used may range from the meanest string to fine wrought gold wire this is not necessarily reflective of the wealth or status of the individual; some gld sections are handed down as heirlooms while in some crews emphemeral materials are favoured for the regular repair and replacement of sections affords a chance to recall ones ancestry and fix it in the mind as well as the material. Many drakiss will keep several copies - a fine one for frmal occasions, and a more workaday one to carry with them.

When drakiss meet they will often compare their lineages - a shared heritage is a bond to strengthen, and if you do share a common ancestor then your new acquaintance may have detail of generations as yet unknown to you.

Originally, and in more traditional crews the lineage recorded is a simple chain along the line of the layer of the next generation's egg - in this form a lineage takes the form of a single strand (albeit, perhaps of many sections). Those crews that are more isolated or have other reasons to be wary of inbreeding track both parents, but this is a matter of guesswork in the more traditional form of Writhe. In this instance, the section with the child's name will be joined to the centre of the section bearing the parents' - and so on to the limits of knowledge.

In crews where the Lineage forms a formal part of the bureaucracy, the Writkiss or the Kinkiss maintain formal records which are made when an egg is added to the Crew's clutch and authenticate the copies carried by individuals with seals at each junction.

A poor frellow you must be if your only necklace is a tatty piece of knotted string

— Connor Enna Caddock, Militiamn or Morton

To you, sir, it may just be a tatty piece of string, but it records my accestry to 10 generations; how can you call yourself civilised when you cannot even name your great grand parents?

— Eascroygat, Tunneller, form Morton