Dawn culture and customs
The Imperial citizenship tests were created by the Dawnish but the Test of Mettle remains unique to Dawn. The Test exists to judge who is glorious enough to join the ranks of the nobility. Passing a noble house's test makes the applicant part of that house. Consequently it is almost impossible to pass the Test unless the noble house that is judging you is amenable to your success. Dawn legends are full of tales of heroic individuals passing the tests against such odds but the reality is usually more prosaic.
Any Imperial Citizen is eligible to attempt the Test of Mettle and most children of noble houses attempt it. In theory any yeoman child can take the Test, a fact of which the Dawnish are inordinately proud. In practice, while the rewards for success are high, the tests are near impossible to pass without the training that an upbringing in a noble house provides. The tests are difficult even for noble children and groups will often work together to help each other pass their Test.
Ignominy befalls those who attempt the Test and fail, whether yeoman or noble born and the test is difficult to pass and often dangerous, not least because many Dawn children take the view that you should pass the test or die trying. For this reason most Tests are deliberately open-ended, giving the aspirant as much time as is needed to prove their worth.
Marriage brings yet another challenge for the Dawn nobility. The suitor must put his troth, to the house of their intended. The Earl of the house must set the suitor a test of their choosing, a request for marriage, like a request for a Test of Mettle may not be refused. If the suitor succeeds then they marry their intended, who will join the suitor's house. If the suitor fails then the house may deny the marriage or else allow it to continue but the suitor must then join the spouse's house.
In theory such a troth can be put to a house without the understanding of the man or woman that the suitor seeks to wed. In practice such behaviour is more the stuff of legend than reality. A marriage test that appears fatally difficult is a sure sign of an unwanted affection. More commonly noble lovers conspire to decide whose Earl can be persuaded to set the easier test.
Divorce is not officially recognized in Dawn. Two individuals may separate, but they remain members of the same noble house and no other noble house will accept a request for marriage from a Dawn noble while their spouse still lives. The nobility of Dawn demand adherence to the highest ideals of nobility, those who want a simple life of pleasantries should remain yeoman.
Funerals are not sombre occasions. The friends and relatives of the departed celebrate the return of the soul to the wheel, and tell great tales of the dead to persuade the hand of destiny to speed the hero’s return. Similarly there is a tradition of visiting expectant mothers and telling tales of great heroes, to awaken the heroism of the unborn baby’s past lives.
The Dawn tradition of trial by combat was replaced by Imperial trial when Dawn joined the Empire. However, its relic remains in the form of honour duels, when the word of a noble has been called into question. Duels, officially fought to submission, are used to settle matters of honour and some civil disputes. Most nobles who are not Knights, will have a Knight represent them in a honour duel.
In Dawn, duels are normally conducted between fully armoured Knights, using sword and shield. Where neither party is a Knight, then they may choose to conduct a duels in other ways such as contests of skill or talent. Challenges against people of other Nations are unusual, with little expectation that they will be accepted. Facing such a challenge is a simple way for a foreigner to impress the Dawn however, especially if you can win.
A duel between members of a noble house is the only way for a noble to be ejected from the house. Such duels are rare for the challenger risks the same fate as the person they challenge, the loser is stripped of their nobility and reduced to the status of yeoman. Such a fate is almost irreversible, it is exceptionally rare for another house to allow a former noble to join, especially if he simply chose to leave his former house. They must take a second Test of Mettle to prove themselves and such tests are fatally difficult, the only way for the former noble to remove the stain of dishonour and disloyalty.
Marriage in the Noble Houses
Because of the unusual nature of a Dawn house, it is possible and legal for a woman to marry a brother or other close relation. Such unions are legal, but the lovers are expected to remain chaste, to avoid scandal. Those who do are usually rewarded with children from other houses to adopt, while those who don't are shunned and their children are often set impossible tests.
Perversely it is not legal for members of the same house to marry, regardless of whether they are born into the house or adopted. This seems strange to outsiders but the Dawnish believe that the house is the family, that the relationship with an adopted brother or sister is as important as that with a biological sibling. For a house to openly treat their biological children differently to their adopted children brings shame to all.
Because of the legal prohibition preventing marriage between members of a house, those who fall in love have few options. They can elope and leave Dawn or else adopt a chaste relationship. Courting and public displays of affection, appropriate for any inhabitant Dawn are allowed, but nothing more. Illegitimate children bring shame on both parents equally, they are never permitted to join their mother's house and are usually adopted by a loyal yeoman.
In theory a noble may marry a yeoman, but the yeoman is not ennobled by the marriage and such unions are rare and difficult as a result. Dalliances between the nobility and yeomanry are frowned upon, it is beneath the status of a noble to love one who has not proved themselves. Tales of yeoman inspired by love to pass the Test of Mettle are a common legend however.