Overview
History
The Children began alongside the Skyborne as communal members of the New Beginnings Faction in the early years of the Sky.
When the Stratum project was introduced to the Clearrun Council, the leading government of Lethia, it created polarizing opinions amongst the various members of the culture. While more forward-facing members of the council found the Stratum project to assist in the evolution of life in the sky, many core descendants of the Ancient Natives felt that the resources and technology could be better spent on forging new paths in reclaiming the surface.
After a stalemate and period of unrest, miners working in Sansperee discovered the existence of Kinetic Ore, a resource embedded within the floating islands that seemed to move and vibrate on its own. Chief engineers in Lethia discovered this resource could be used to power all forms of engines in various ways. Some could power small machines on their own, but most notably kinetic ore engines drastically reduced the cost of fuel and the cost of ignition. After successfully creating a prototype engine, the Stratum project became far more feasible. The eventual re-introduction of the project with a revised renewable source of power made Lobbyists across Lethia emerge to campaign for their respective sides: The Cloud Union and the Children of the Sun.
When the project was confirmed by the Clearrun Council, the original Children were infuriated. They split from the remainder of the group, taking a great number of their supporters to an outlying island to eventually found Sotiria. In the meantime, the remaining members of the Cloud Union became largely involved with the construction and maintenance on the developing Stratum.
Once Stratum was successfully deployed, The Cloud Union seized the reigns fully on the project. With a mobile capital city, the Cloud Union rebranded themselves as "The Skyborne" to illustrate their forward adventure into the wild blue.
Values
The Skyborne are an incredibly industrious group. They value progress and hard work in order to ensure continued success in the sky. While they aren't afraid to get their hands dirty, take things apart and put them back together, they also strive to be efficient in their use of resources and materials given the finite nature of the Sky.
While they are not as inherently religious as their COTS counterparts, the Skyborne do work collectively towards the betterment of life in the Sky. To them, the surface is a nigh lost cause, meaning that true happiness and survival comes through the creation of a new home above.
Culture
The Skyborne are by far a larger population. With many Ancient Native descendants eventually giving up on restoring the surface, signing on to populate the Sky became a no-brainer. That said, part of their success has been the adamant hard work and the devotion to the development of technology required to move society forward. Understanding machines, how they work, how to construct them, and how to employ them has become a staple for most.
In addition, the Skyborne can be highly nomadic. Stratum frequently deploys groups of willing individuals to colonize new islands in the sky, as such they can create routes and pathways from resource to resource. It's common for a Skyborne citizen to live in their airship and move from port to port, however an equally common number are hard at work producing new goods for the whole.
