Dawn people
Life in Dawn is a quest, a great contest in which the goal is to achieve glory at any cost. Every challenge is an opportunity to relish, a chance to better oneself and prove your worth. The Dawnish take failure very seriously, they regard it as something to mourn. Life provides few opportunities for greatness, to miss one is a powerful loss. An important failure is like the death of a close friend. The Dawnish have little sympathy for the idea of fortune – good or bad - those who would achieve greatness must make their own luck.
The people of the Dawn are divided by the Test of Mettle. Those who have passed the Test are granted the status of nobility, the right to call themselves lord or lady, and entry into one of the noble houses that rules Dawn. Those who have never taken the test are yeoman, farming their land or fighting as rank and file in the Dawn armies.
At the heart of each house is a powerful noble family, but the tradition of adoption means that many members of a house are only nominally related to each other at best. Membership is determined not by birthright but by passing a Test of Mettle set by the house. Each house is led by an Earl, selected by the nobility that make up the house.
The Dawn zeal, for a glorious life, infects both yeoman and noble alike. Most nobles devote their life to honing their skills and seeking out opportunities for glory. But every yeoman who takes the battlefield knows that life is presenting them with an opportunity to prove themselves and so the Imperial army recruiters can afford to pick and choose from long lines of volunteers.
Nobility and its trappings are widely and lavishly celebrated. Tourneys are held to mark religious celebrations, weddings, births - almost any public occasion will be used as an excuse for nobility to display their feats at arms. Not only knights take part - musicians, magi and craftsman are all encouraged to participate in public demonstrations of (generally friendly) rivalry, with great glory afforded to those judged best by their peers.
Romance is a vital part of life in Dawn. The Dawnish pride themselves on their charm and good manners and they enjoy courting and flattery. Flirtation is commonplace and accepted even among married Dawnish, provided it does not go beyond words. But if an inhabitant of Dawn seeks more, then they must woo a man or woman to convince them to accept a marriage proposal. And marriage, especially for the nobility, brings its own complications and challenges.
Apprenticeship, and the relationship between master and apprentice is a sacred tradition in Dawn, binding all layers of society. Most apprenticeships consist of a series of ever more difficult, and sometimes dangerous challenges. As a knight is expected to train a squire, so a minstrel is expected to take an acolyte, and a farmer to train a labourer. Thus the skills required to feed, arm and defend a nation are passed on formally in an atmosphere of mutual respect and learning.