#clan lore.

due to their long standing feud with the zen'in clan, the women of the kobayashi bloodline cannot be near the shadows, it will disarm them or curse their lineage. this is not concrete, many of the sons that are seen are produced from affairs with their rival clan.

boys are considered a rarity; they are not as valued as daughters. by decree, a son cannot become geiko, but they can become an artisan in ceramics, wasai, kimono dressing, hair dressing, all that is important to allow their secretive world to run. becoming a wasai is the highest of honors, like many of the women in the clan, sons are encouraged to wear vibrant colors. the typical haori is intricately woven, lilac && purples are often seen to mimic that of the great wisteria tree.

the kobayashi's are defined as 'flowers waiting to bloom'. their fixture that has managed to live for centuries is their grand wisteria tree. when one enters the estate, they are greeted by a wave of violet. sayuri as a child would hide underneath the petals, most do so to reflect or contemplate, the roots of the true are meant to showcase the life they established throughout centuries.

the wealth of the kobayashi's comes from their cache of kimonos, each woman has their costumes specially stored && guarded. they are presented with a chest uniquely carved for them to store hairpins, jewels, silks, ect. sayuri estimates the amount that has collected cannot be defined. even she has a modest size inventory.

Cog Frog : Do you have a trouble maker in your Clan?

Haemon is a good case of trouble-maker, considering he often sasses people he shouldn’t and thinks he can take them on despite being this teeny tiny Fae. In a more harmless sense, Armand REALLY likes pranks and people sometimes get mad at him for it -- same goes for Solacis, really, but Armand does it on purpose while Solacis breaks things on accident.

Arcane Sprite : Do you have some sort of nobility in your Clan?

4. How are disputes within the clan dealt with? Do the dragons hash it out between them? Is there a council or central authority figure that deals with it?

Usually Aqua observes those disputes with stern eyes, so the parties involved know that there might be dire consequences if they take it a step too far – she usually knows it won’t when she takes that route, given her strong foreseeing skills. She does leave the dragons to settle the disputes themselves, as it has been the case before – when Haemon, Caribe and Yuki argued and Akasma interfered herself.

If things get out of hand (serious injuries are inflicted and people that were not involved get hurt, for an example), Aqua interferes as the Matriarch and then calls upon the Elders so things can be settled down. There has been no banishments or executions yet, but the extreme punishment in case of equally extreme violence within the clan are certainly those. The Matriarch herself is not prone to violence, but she knows some of her Elders have firm opinions about treacherous acts and she respects that – there’d be no reason for a council if she did not listen to her Elders and while not a violent dragon, she is known for her cold rationale. 

The clan tends to be peaceful for the most part, however, and there have been few altercations between clan members.

11. How has your clan changed since it started? This can mean when you first joined or in-lore, either way.

A lot has changed. In-lore, many of the initial Tidedancers have joined the Tidelord to honor their deities (even the initial patriarch, Aqua’s mate, Tidebreaker!) and only a select few remained – those who called Elders are those who belong to that group, for the greatest part, though there are exceptions (Akasma, for an example, since she’s proved her value to the clan right after her arrival). 

Out if the lore-y context, I made a huge lair expurge quite a few months back, so a lot of my first dragons went for exaltation or were sold, since I wanted space for newer, shinier genes on my lair – especially since I had plans to make a hatchery, whoops!

15. Do the members of your clan more or less get along with each other? What would cause them to quarrel if so? Why do they if not?

Most of the clan members get along with each other, yes. Haemon is the best known example of a recluse, having gathered some.. animosities against his person, being seen as a dragon of dubious principles, kept around only because Aqua took pity on him – or so the sharp tongues say, since the purposes behind a lot of Aqua’s choices are not always crystal clear to most dragons but are often undisputed since the clan has been quite prosperous so far, even with Haemon’s presence.

There are other dragons known to keep it to themselves, but not out of exclusion – they are loners by nature, often, and don’t care much for socializing. Examples of that are Vitra, Nightfury (with the exception of his mate, Helena), Ambriel and often, Caribe, despite the latter’s affiliation with the Merciless Trio. 

Quarreling would come from insults to one’s value to the clan – which, aha, has been why Haemon has been ostracized. He often values his doings as an alchemist more than that of his fellow clan mates and it angers them with an uncanny frequency. He does bring home some interesting things, however, which is why he has been kept around more as an asset than a fellow clan mate in many of the other dragons’s eyes. 

14. When dragons wish to become mates, how does that happen? Is there a ceremony? Do they just mutually agree to it? Is their mate already chosen for them?

Aqua interfers little with how the Tidedancers arrange themselves with mates. The Elders, too, are very indifferent to the process, so there are no protocols to be followed: if you want to be someone’s mate and both of you consent to the relationship, hey, that’s cool! If a particular pair wants a ceremony, the clan will happily oblige, given there are the proper methods to conduct it -- they usually take the birth flight representative(s) of the two dragons concerned and have them conduct a small ceremony where all present clan members must attend. 

(As an example, Onyx and Nigricant have had a ‘platonic’ soulbonding ceremony, where they shared their life breath (life force!) with one another, and made an oath to care for one another until one of them died -- yeah, corny, I know! They did not have their flight representatives back then, however, so they did that themselves -- with Aqua’s loving blessings, since they are one of her oldest companions in the Tidedancing clans.)

There are cases where there is matchmaking -- there are dragons who seek nest mates, in order to have offspring with their genes, or merely because they want to find a nice-looking partner to themselves. That sort of request is usually conducted by Guinevere, the Matchmaker, but sometimes the dragon themselves goes out on a search for their perfect mate. 

she’d need some time to realize she doesn’t have to mimic her mother to be a good leader and that she’d need to find her own ways of leading the clan -- or stepping away from the role of matriarch.