Shiira

“The world is a grand, chaotic dance, and we are its most curious performers. We do not seek the Flow; we simply are the Flow, and sometimes it pulls us into places we never expected... or can escape."

— Quill Quickpaw, after being caught where he doesn't belong

Shiira: An Overview

The Shiira are the children of the world's liminal spaces. They are a diffuse, migratory, and mnemonic people born to the edges of things—those "thin places" where elemental energy, planar influence, and dream-logic bleed into the material world. Unlike other peoples who seek to bend nature to their will, the Shiira move with it. Their central philosophy, The Flow, sees cause-and-effect not as a straight line, but as ripples from unseen stones cast by divine or forgotten hands. They are the world's trickster-scholars and improbable survivors, living proof that not all paths must be straight to reach their end.

Physical Description

Shiira are typically lithe and nimble, with quick, observant eyes that seem to take in everything at once. Their physical appearance is often subtly marked by the "thin places" of their birth; their hair might have the iridescent sheen of an oil slick on water, their skin might carry faint, swirling patterns like smoke trapped under glass, or their eyes might shift in color with the phases of the moons. They favor practical, layered clothing that can be easily adapted to different climates, often adorned with a multitude of trinkets—scavenged gears, polished river stones, forgotten keys—each carrying a story and a memory.

The Philosophy of the Flow

The Shiira do not believe in destiny in the same way a Moonbound Cleric might. For them, the future is not a destination to be predicted, but a current to be navigated. The Flow is their understanding of the interconnectedness of fate, entropy, luck, and intuition.

• Navigation: They navigate using instinct, the cycles of the three moons, wind patterns, and the "feeling" of a place more than any map. A Shiira might say, "This path feels like it's holding its breath; another way is better."
• Knowledge: Knowledge is not stored in books but preserved in songs, interactive stories, and living memory. A Shiira's history is a performance, and the telling of it can change its meaning with each new audience.

Society and Culture: Clusters of Memory

Shiira do not form nations or clans. They gather in small, kin-blended, and fluid groups called "clusters" or "threads."

• Leadership: Leadership is rarely permanent. The "Threadcaller," who guides the cluster's immediate path, changes with the season, the moon, or the needs of the group.
• Core Values: Their culture is built on spontaneity, memory, hospitality, and non-attachment. Guesthood is a sacred duty, offering shelter, food, and a story. Possessions are often borrowed, gifted, or abandoned as needed, as the story of an object is more valuable than the object itself.

Bricolage and Scavenged Tech

Shiira are not inventors in the Kendroni sense; they are bricoleurs—master tinkerers and scavengers of arcane and elemental remnants. Their technology is imaginative, playful, and weirdly effective... until it isn't. They might create a compass from a shard of frozen lightning and the shell of a Skychitter, or a temporary shelter from prism-threaded canopies that hum with the local leyline's energy.

Settlements: Story-Sites and Crossroads

Shiira do not build permanent cities. They mark places of importance through accumulated memory and story. Their settlements are often temporary, appearing and disappearing with little warning.

• The Trillstone: A moonlit circle of singing quartz that shifts its resonant frequency under different lunar alignments, serving as a gathering place for storytellers.
• The Patchwork Hearth: A semi-permanent encampment made from hundreds of traveler tents, all stitched together by a wandering Tailor-Speaker into a single, sprawling structure.
• The Turning Path: A road that is said to appear only during an eclipse, allowing a traveler to walk through a memory instead of a physical destination.

Relations with Other Peoples

The Shiira's unique philosophy gives them a complex relationship with the other peoples of Novendragos.

• They are seen as trickster-scholars by the Tideborn, who appreciate their deep respect for lunar rhythms.
• They are often viewed as nuisances by the logical Lightborn, who detest their embrace of uncertainty and subjectivity.
• The Voidborn see them as Children of the Threshold, respecting their ability to exist in liminal spaces without being consumed by them.
• The Drakarchate considers them meddlers, frustrated by their resistance to being cataloged and their tendency to uncover forgotten things.
• The Balpura often feel a kinship with them, seeing the Shiira as wild-hearted but deeply connected to the world's empathic and narrative currents.

Naming Traditions

Shiira names are whimsical and changeable, often based on deeds, personality, or memorable events. They may add new names as their legend grows, or shed old ones after an especially embarassing prank. Surnames often reference notable accomplishments, strange phenomena, or even in-jokes only the whorl understands.

Reasons to go Adventuring: Impulsive Trickster and Story-Seeker

Shiira adventurers are driven by strange dreams, the lure of new tales, a need to escape the aftermath of a prank gone wrong, or a quest to follow the Flow wherever it leads.