Draconian

Naming Traditions

Family names

Clan names, derived from the surname of a common ancestor, altered with the suffix -und, -ung, -ing, or -enr.

Culture

Major language groups and dialects

Draconic; Common

Shared customary codes and values

The most fundamental unit of Draconian society is not the family but the clan. Clans are usually comprised of dragonborn of the same or similar coloration, and vary in size, averaging three to five bloodlines. Some clans value purity in both color and bloodline, while others are more mixed. For all dragonborn, though, clan comes first. Dragonborn are identified primarily by a given name and a clan name, and secondarily by a surname or family name.
Clans are named for a common ancestor, but contrary to popular belief not all members of a clan are related. Most townships and other estabilishments of civilization have particular clans associated with them, be it one or many depending on the size of the settlement. Dragonborn moving to a settlement, especially those who are tenants of lands owned by a clan, will often integrate into the clan and take on the clan name as their own surname. Thus clans with significant land ownership can often have as many or more unrelated members than related ones.
Clans are led by a chief or chieftan . The specific name of the title varies, although "Höfðingi" and "Leiðtogi" are common ones, translating simply as "chief", "chieftan", or "leader". Clans often also have some form of de facto leadership beyond the chieftan, usually made up of the most repsected members. These are often the elders, but not always, and forward-looking clans have been known to have young leadership. Charismatic young leaders who rise to political influence often start out as young clan chieftans. For young dragonborn who rise to chiefdom early in life, the path to that title is usually through either the display of some significant aptitude seen as admirable by the clan, some feat of heroism in the name of the clan, or as the result of a strict inheritance structure. On more rare and unfortunate occasions, a young dragonborn may rise to chiefdom as a result of some tragedy befalling the clan which strips it of leadersip. Many examples of inheritance or leadership tragedy involve clans with a strong tradition of military service. Clans closely tied to the military often have leaders who are officers, and it is not unheard of for such a clan to lose many or all of its leaders in a tragic lost battle.
Chieftans are the most basic unit of local governance, either solely or shared with other chieftans of a settlement. Most clans have a respectful and honorable relationship with one another, but feuds are not uneard of.
Wealth, property, and aristocratic standing are also typically in the posession of clans rather than families, although specific civic titles are still used. Regions are ruled by individuals with royal titles awarded at the assent of regional clan leaders. While such titles do not formally pass by blood, it is not uncommon for a dynastic situation to emerge. Even at the national level, the assent and political feelings of clan chieftans is the most significant single factor in the entirety of draconian politics.

Common Customs, traditions and rituals

Dragonborn culture is fairly religiuous, with most dragonborn paying their respects to deities. Many clans show a preference for a particular religion. There are several deities who are particularly venerated in Dragonborn culture.
Bahamut is the most noteworty, and is significant to dragonborn for obvious reasons. Bahamut is the good and lawful fragment of the god Io, who set in motion the creation of dragonborn, and thus Bahamut is seen as the creator god of the race by most dragonborn simply because they simultaneously revile his other half, Tiamat. Many clans revere Bahamut as a patron deity, and monastaries devoted to the Bahamat faith can be found in remote areas of Draconia.
Kord is important in draconia because he represents some aspects of the innate dragonborn personality. The Kordite faith focuses on self-actualization, strength, and purposefullness, so it meshes well with other more general aspects of dragonborn culture.
Pelor is important in draconia for her patronage over agriculture (which is a major part of any society) and the fact that she is seen as a symbol of virtuous good. She often takes second seat to Bahamut but is frequently worshipped nevertheless.
Melora is significant in one interesting subset of dragonborn culture: that of the northeast fjordlands region, which is the heritage lands of bronze dragonborn. The setzands are a rugged coastal region, and Melora is a goddess of nature, the wilderness, and the sea, so she is seen as the patron goddess of the natural forces that surround and influence the lives of those who live in the setzands.
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One long-standing tradition in dragonborn clan culture is that of the heritage banner. These long decorative banners bear a distinctive crest representing the clan at the beginning. Along its length, important historical or noteworthy devents are described with picures and writing sewn into the banner. Heritage banners are the life of a clan laid bare, showing their passage through fortune and hardship and the things that are important to them.
Sometimes banners are interrupted. War or other extreme hardship may cause a clan's banner to be lost or destroyed. Remainig clan members memorialize whatever happened at the start of the banner, then follow with their clan's crest, and then begin anew with the clan's ongoing history.

Ideals

Beauty Ideals

As in any society, attraction varies greatly from individual to individual, but dragonborn society does have some commonalities of attraction that can be generally found, especially valuing strength of body and character in both men and women. Physical beauty is related to one's well-being: someone strong and healthy is attractive while someone who is sickly and weak is much less so.
Some individual attributes stand out; for example, height is seen as attractive in men, or a long tail is seen as attractive in women. Color type plays a minor role, with most dragonborn being slightly more attracted to their own type than others.

Gender Ideals

Dragonborn have a somewhat strict definition of gender but somewhat loose gender roles - draconian society is slightly male-dominated, and women find the greatest potential for power and large-scale success in socio-political affairs – there are many well-respected clan matriarchs who have high bearing in dragonborn society as.

Courtship Ideals

The clan-based socio-political structure of Draconia has a major impact on romance and especially marriage. Dragonborn keep close track of the bloodlines and clans, and unfortunately those bloodlines often run a bit close within a clan or between closely associated clans. Not everyone in a clan is related, as stated before, but it is still an issue which is frequently the subject of consideration. Overwhelmingly, clans establish that spouses must not be related within the past six generations, yet many clans simultaneously pressure for unions within the same dragonborn type, making simply finding an eligible mate difficult in some more isolated circumstances. Many clans are more permissive with type purity, but generally the higher standing in society a clan has, the more they value such purity.
Dragonborn culture mostly utilizes societal institutions for marriage, in particular most couples are wed by the chieftan of the clan the couple will belong to once married. In draconia, legally, only children within a marriage are considered legitimate. Illegitimate children are significantly frowned upon, but it is generally seen as exclusively the fault of the parents. Thus a strange situation can arise wherein parents of illegitimate children may be ostracized by their clan while the same clan simultaneously arranges for the care of their illegitimate child. This is often seen as a hypocritical stance by outsiders.
Marriage is considered to be an important social contract in Draconia as well: it is a bond between clans or between bloodlines within a clan, and is sometimes seen as convenient or socio-politically desirable for those reasons. This also makes separation particularly difficult and troubling between dragonborn couples. If a marriage is a way to create a bond between clans, a divorce conversely severs that bond. Sometimes feuds between clans impinge on marriages between members of each, and the failure of a marriage between two clans has been known to cause significant strife between those clans. After all, the behavior of the family of one's spouse is often a contributing factor to the success of a union, and dragonborn are not immune to having terrible in-laws. All of these factors combine to make separation difficult to obtain - it usually requires the consent of clan leaders on both sides, and may be forbidden outright depending on religion - and also very problematic and unpleasant for both parties involved.
Dragonborn culture is generally fairly reasonable about same-sex relationships but pressure for children generally remains, especially among powerful clans or those that are Bahamats. Thus most same-sex dragonborn couples end up adopting. Vanity and self-image are often prominent features of dragonborn, reflecting the true dragons they are similar to, so gay dragonborn are often quite flamboyant.

Relationship Ideals

Dragonborn culture places value on the emotional aspect of relationships. Trysts and nonmarital relationships are seen as behaviors of passion, and not looked down upon per se. Sex is seen as an expression of either passion or deep love, and is somewhat frowned upon (or sometimes not understood) if it is engaged in idly and without it - why would you want to have sex with someone you don't feel passion for? Religion plays an important role in Dragonborn culture, and that religious practice extends to sexuality and romance on top of the other attitudes from draconian culture.