diff --git a/classes/resilient/book.lua b/classes/resilient/book.lua
index 1d9beb2..a9d468f 100644
--- a/classes/resilient/book.lua
+++ b/classes/resilient/book.lua
@@ -688,11 +688,20 @@ function class:registerCommands ()
     local letter = content[1]
 
     local dropcapSty = self.styles:resolveStyle(style)
-    local family = dropcapSty.font and dropcapSty.font.family
     local lines = dropcapSty.special and dropcapSty.special.lines
-
-    SILE.call("use", { module = "packages.dropcaps" })
-    SILE.call("dropcap", { family = family, lines = lines, join = join }, { letter })
+    if not lines then
+      -- Fallback to regular style
+      SILE.call('style:apply', { name = style }, { letter })
+    else
+      local color = dropcapSty.color
+      local family = dropcapSty.font and dropcapSty.font.family
+      if dropcapSty.properties or dropcapSty.decoration then
+        -- I am not convinced the extra complexity is worth it for such an edge case.
+        SU.warn("Dropcap style does not support properties and decoration")
+      end
+      SILE.call("use", { module = "packages.dropcaps" })
+      SILE.call("dropcap", { family = family, lines = lines, join = join, color = color }, { letter })
+    end
   end, "Style-aware initial capital letter (normally and internal command)")
 
   self:registerCommand("initial-joined", function (options, content)
diff --git a/examples/manual-styling/advanced/dropcap.md b/examples/manual-styling/advanced/dropcap.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..28856fb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/manual-styling/advanced/dropcap.md
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+## Styling initial capitals
+
+Initial capitals (also known as drop caps) are a typographic feature where the first letter of a paragraph is enlarged and styled differently from the rest of the text.
+The **resilient.book** class defines two commands for this purpose: `initial-joined` and `initial-unjoined`.
+The former should be used when the initial capital is part of the first word of the paragraph, and the latter when it is a separate character.
+
+In Markdown or Djot, you may use one or the other directly as a style (although they are rather pseudo-styles, strictly speaking).
+
+By default, these commands rely on the `dropcap` style, which is a regular character style with an additional `special` property that specifies the number of lines to drop.
+The color and font family of the drop cap can be customized as well, but other properties from character styles are ignored.
+For instance, here is how a drop cap style using the Zallman Caps font and a somewhat "cerulean" color can be defined.
+
+```yaml
+dropcap:
+  style:
+    color: "#66a0b3"
+    font:
+      family: "Zallman Caps"
+    special:
+      lines: 3
+```
+
+Note that the style is supposed to be used on the initial letter of a paragraph.
+The implementation does not make any attempt to enforce this, and the result may be unexpected if the style is applied to other characters.
+Likewise, you are on your own if you want to style subsequent characters in a certain way --- such as using small capitals for a word or a group of words, as is common in some typographic traditions. Here is a typical example of how to use the `initial-joined` style in a Markdown or Djot document.
+
+```
+[L]{custom-style=initial-joined}[orem ipsum]{.smallcaps} dolor sit amet...
+```
diff --git a/examples/sile-resilient-manual.silm b/examples/sile-resilient-manual.silm
index e5d0805..a07c960 100644
--- a/examples/sile-resilient-manual.silm
+++ b/examples/sile-resilient-manual.silm
@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@ parts:
       - manual-styling/advanced/toclevels.md
       - manual-styling/advanced/liststyles.md
       - manual-styling/advanced/eqno.md
+      - manual-styling/advanced/dropcap.md
       - manual-styling/advanced/other.md
       # unfinished
       # - manual-styling/captioned.md