Kaimana

This will be a description one day!

This will be a description one day!

The Golden Canopy Clan uses a clan name. When clan founded Syrneas started the clan in the first place, they named it the Golden Canopy Clan and took the name Syrneas bet Zahkana ('bet' being a variation of 'beth', Hebrew for 'house of', and 'Zahkana' derived from the Hebrew words for gold, 'zahav', and a mutation of 'canopy').

Dragons who join the clan permanently adopt 'bet Zahkana' as their new last name, and if they want, they can also have their former clan as well. So, Rowan, who was already old when he joined the clan and wants to remember the clan he grew up in and raised a family in, is Rowan bet Zahkana bet Zakilan (playing with the Hebrew for 'old tree' there).

This is a local, clanbound practice; dragons from elsewhere would use different customs. For instance, Rowan in his youth may have introduced himself as Rowan Zakilan, or even translated it to Rowan Oldtree, when dealing with dragons from other parts of Sornieth. Leyla would have joined the clan as 'Leyla of Clan Scatterbolt', later changing it to Leyla bet Zahkana bet Scatterbolt, and so forth.

Taking the clan name is not compulsory, but a majority have opted to do so anyway, to indicate their affinity to the clan.

The Golden Canopy Clan is led, more or less, by a representative council made up of all the Flights and Folk (the name those previously known as 'Beastclans' prefer), with a new council leader elected each season. This usually ends up being Rowan, simply by dint of him being oldest, most experienced, and the most interested in that fiend, bureaucracy. Any member of the clan can approach their council member with their concerns and suggestions, and the council can then approach clan leader Syrneas for final decisions.

Current clan members are:

Flight representatives: Rowan (Nature), Iskra (Lightning), Xandra (Wind), Sorrel (Water), Dusk (Light), Tamir (Earth), Zaria (Fire), Ambre (Arcane), Haizea (Ice), Devienne (Shadow), Armillaria (Plague)

Folk representatives: Cinnamisia (Dryads), Amara (Maren), Centaur, Serthis, Talonok, Harpy, Longneck TBA

Special envoys: Mirielle (coordinator between the main branch of the clan and the Undercolony), Malik, Bondi, Meri, and Tilus (Flight and Folk ambassadors between the Shallow Seas and the Deep)

Rowan may be leader of the council, but his true passion is his role as the clan's Elder, its religious leader, and the Gladekeeper's greatest cheerleader. He is responsible for leading religious ceremonies during important times of the year, like the solstices and equinoxes, and for the more solemn side of the Greenskeeper Gathering celebrations (the more boisterous and fun parts are left to other clan members).

Not everyone in the clan, of course, is a part of Nature flight. While being a part of the clan has an unspoken rule against not acting against the Gladekeeper, there are many, especially the Flight representatives in the council, who also follow their own native deities. Along with the many shrines to the Gladekeeper dotted amongst the clan's territory, there are also decent-sized ones to the Windsinger, Arcanist, and Lightweaver, while others choose to keep smaller shrines in their own personal quarters.

Plague flight, sister to Nature, is a sometimes contentious issue. The majority of Plague-born (or, in Mirielle's case, Plague-hatched; she has been raised as part of Nature flight since she first came out of the egg) dragons don't have a great deal to do with their home flight; it's irrelevant to Leto and Malik, and Mirielle is almost as devoted to the Gladekeeper as her adopted grandfather Rowan. The exceptions here are Plague flight representative Armillaria and their mate Senescence; Armillaria has a genuine reverence for their flight and deity, and they and Senescence have a genuine desire to bridge the gaps between the two sister flights. They do sometimes butt heads against the stubborn, older Rowan, but with Armillaria's diplomacy and Senescence's neutrality, relations between the two flights have never been better.

Rowan is also in charge of teaching would-be exaltees what their new duties will be, and reassuring anyone who's decided to do it but may be a little nervous. Most of his own children have been exalted, and he is incredibly proud of all of them - he wouldn't mind serving the Lady Gladekeeper himself, but also sees his role in helping new exaltees prepare as serving her in a way as well, and so is content to continue doing that for now.

Exaltation is, within the clan, always voluntary and always seen as a joyous thing. There are warriors within the exaltees, absolutely, with Adelinde, Gabi, and Cosmic ensuring everyone is trained enough to be able to assist with holding back the Shade-touched forces. Still, there are roles for non-combatants too, with the most important being the planting and tending of trees and plants, spreading life throughout Sornieth. Many an aspiring gardener decides to be exalted to the Gladekeeper to carry out her mission!

Within the clan, the day of exaltation is a great one - would-be exaltees are adorned with flower crowns and garlands, are fed a delicious meal of their favourite foods, and solemnly discard or give away their belongings, especially to family members (Titania, the only one of her siblings to have not been exalted, has made out like an absolute bandit) and close friends. This is also when goodbyes are said - although exaltees can, in very rare circumstances ("Mods help me I accidentally exalted a dragon I didn’t want to exalt!!"), come home again, it's generally seen as a permanent choice, albeit a joyful and honourable one.