The Seireitei is quite probably the weirdest pack, except for their ancient enemies, the Decepticons.
The Seireitei pack at its height was organized into 13 squads of at least five dragons.
Commander: This is the captain of the first of the 13 squads, the leader of the 13 captains.
Captain: The leader of one of the 13 squads, a rank of great importance and responsibility.
Vice Captain: This is the second in command in any squad. If something happens to the captain, the vice captain takes over, until there is a captain in that squad again.
All other adult dragons are shinigami. Teens are students or junior squad members. Anyone younger is classified as a child. The exception is pack members who join as teens or adults; they are called substitutes and were considered not only rare (one case every few generations), but also the lowest accepted adult rank in the pack, at the same level as students.
Magic is rare in the Seireitei pack, as it is for all dragons. Dragons with magic are much more likely to become captains, though not all captains are capable of magic. The captain of the Fourth Squad MUST be able to use healing magic.
The dragons of the Seireitei believe that they are dead. They believe that the inhabitants of the Primus Valley are dead, and also heartless or soulless...howsoever that works. oO While they will periodically tolerate the Maximals, the Cons must be destroyed. They also believe that adult dragons' souls are bound to the soul of a familiar, which they call a zanpaku-tou.
Unfortunately, since the Seireitei believes that they are not exactly alive, families are rare--blood families, that is. Blood families are one of the most treasured concepts to the Seireitei, and adopted families, which are often very large, are of next greatest importance. Having a family, whether by adoption or by blood, is a very precious thing to the dragons of the Seireitei.
Reincarnation is also a very important matter to the Seireitei. It is accepted that a soul rests for some time before reincarnation occurs, so when a dragon dies, a wake of sorts is held for the deceased. The wake is a serious event with hope for a better future. The decision to find one's way back to the Seireitei after reincarnation is one's own decision and the decision of the Guardians, whom the Seireitei respect utterly and entirely, but the reincarnated dragon must start out from scratch. For example, if Hitsugaya died, was reincarnated, and returned to the Seireitei in his next life, he wouldn't be a captain anymore; he'd start out from the bottom of the pack and rise accordingly. However, his zanpaku-tou would still be considered his, since it would be the same soul in a new body with potentially different abilities.
Crime was a serious matter in the Seireitei before the plague. Punishment for breaking one of the few traditions of the Seireitei ranged from banishment to bearing a red collar and having one's zanpaku-tou confined. Rukia's crime isn't known, simply that she was forgiven, which is a rare case. Rukia's downplaying the matter of crime and punishment in the Seireitei pack for the sake of reviving the pack, and because she is a former criminal of the most serious sort.
