Solinari

Solinari have a special relationship with the ebb and flow of magic. The renewing energy of the sun fills a solinari with power and hope. Starlight provides a similar but smaller effect. This light is like air, food, and water to a solinari, always present and required for their health and very life. As such, solinari spend as much time in the light as possible. This is evident in their open style of architecture that allows natural light to shine into the center of the structure. The use of mirrors and infused glass is prevalent in many areas as well.   The ability to capture magic is a power that all solinari cherish. When first gained, it is like holding one’s breath. Through constant exercise the child of the sun can hold the energy longer and truer with less effort, until finally they are able to hold the magic until the next dawn and with effort, beyond. Each magic has a feeling, a flavor, that comes with it. For that reason, solinari seek to expose their children to as many types of magic as possible, much like one have their children eat many different types of food to remain in good health. Capturing too much of a type of magic can have adverse effects on the solinari as can abstaining too long.   The bond to magic manifests with a golden tint to their skin and features. It grows more golden with age as they are exposed to the light of the Sun and the magics of the world. The process that enables the solinari to turn more golden of skin, hair, and eyes, is called Dawning.   The art of the children of the sun is based on their people, their history, and their future, depicting events or people of their ancestry. Enduring art in any form preserves and promotes the solinari people. Great care is taken by the elders of the ancestry to preserve the very best of the solinari in body, mind, and spirit. It is said that should the Fables of the solinari fall into infamy, then magic itself shall die. Appearance is important in solinari culture. One’s presentation reflects your status, your family’s status and represents the image of the glories of past, present, and future. Physical records are important and kept whenever possible. Glory and credit are also important as your deeds must echo through time to have your named placed on the naming stones. Solinari can use the naming stones to recall the greatest events of their past.   The Naming Stones are found in the Sunset Isles, it is here where the names of the solinari are recorded for all time. Each major family line or Hereditas, has a Stone, when a new family is recognized, a new stone is added, normally this is a planned event and pieces of the relation’s stones are harvested to create the new stone. The Naming Stones of the Sunset Isles are made from Growing Stones infused with Solina Gold, a special gold with possesses an ability like the solinari’s to absorb and retain magics. These stones grow, albeit slowly, making room for names to be added over time. It is a great honor to have one’s name blazoned upon the Pillars at Last Light. Solinari communities abroad care for their own naming stones which may be made with pieces of the original Naming Stones or with local variants. It is customary for each solinari to have a name that is unique to themselves within their own line so that they may be remembered for their own deeds. It is also customary for each solinari to take the carry the names of one or more of their ancestors to honor their memories and deeds through their own, perpetuating the glory of their achievements in the present. Bearing a great name from the stones is an honor only allowed by the elders of the solinari. Taking a name without permission or bringing shame to a name is a great crime among the solinari people.   An issue that is not discussed with outsiders is that the solinari have had more difficulty calling upon the memories of the future in recent years. Many think that this is felt through all the bloodlines of elves, but it felt most strongly in the solinari who maintain a strong bond with specific ancestral and descendant memories. Some claim that this is because the ancestry is dying out, other claim that a tumultuous event is coming that prevents the reach of the memory, still other see it is a sign of the end of all time.   Another sensitive topic is the relative rarity of female solinari since the Culling. To the solinari, the birth of any child is a gift, but a daughter is a rare gift.   Small enclaves of Solinari exist elsewhere such as the Dawntreaders of Orda who roam the wilds or that continent. These elves are said to capture elemental echoes and sell them to those who covert their powers. These sun elves seem to have lost connection with their ancestors and draw their Timeless Skills from the echoes they capture. In Haelos, small familial groups are scattered through the lands. These sun elves are extremely insular and refuse to mingle with solinari from other lands. The glory of their ancestors lost to them.