Home is where the enclave is.

There are no universal positions for Patriarchs; they are simply those who have shown some sort of useful ability, who then the other yinglets begin to look to for guidance in their area of expertise. If this goes on long enough, they not only grow stronger in their special skill, but also begin to develop a more leadership-oriented mind, and start settling into the role of a Patriarch.

Once a male has unofficially begun playing the role of a Patriarch, he is soon named an official one by the Matriarch and existing Patriarchs.

The "flavor" of any particular enclave is determined by both its female population and its Patriarchs; the Val Salian yinglet enclave has a useful spread of skills, aside from lacking a Patriarch of construction/woodwork for a generation or two. Any given enclave will simply use the skills of the Patriarchs they do have, and find some way to compensate for the types of skills/Patriarchs that they don't, at least until one comes along.