The Seren are a sedentary group who hold the demographic majority in the territory of
Castallen Owtla. Initially arriving in exodus from a catastrophic loss and the fall of their empire, Owtla offered their hospitality to the
Myrrdins people and eventually allowed them to host a majority of the political power. Though the territory still belongs to the
Tarans who defend the lands, the Serens govern alongside their
Leyad and
Haeel brothers and sisters and ensured social and political peace under their firm and unerring gaze.
Appearance
Serens are the most likely of the Myrrdin people to be confused for one another, as the main variations to distinguish between each other is in dress, hair adornments, small nuances in body structure, the length and straightness of their hair, and their eye color. These tid bits aside, Serens look almost all the same: they bear ebony tones to dull grey hues for skin tone, and grey or black satin strands of hair akin to the muted color of afternoon shadows.
While the Leyads and Haeel have a luminescence and saturation to their features, Serens are inherently plain except for a few characteristics: Seren are the only ones to bear white freckles--and only a fair few of them too; likewise, Serens are the only Myrrdins who can have heterochromia; and finally, a Seren is best distinguished in the dark, for their hair is tenebrescent, and will change from their usual shade to a more fiery red orange when in the dark; this is quickly lost when they enter the sunlight.
Culture
As the perceived seers of the Myrrdin people, representing the binding force between the forces of the sun and the moon, Serens are socially hospitable, but guarded. This makes them both someone expressive but also someone unwilling to be emotionally vulnerable. This is most often offputting to Tarans who value social connection, but to a Seren, they are duty-bound to protect their people and to be the stop-gap between Tara and the Myrrdin's way of life.
A Seren is thus tasked with filtering what is culturally normal and what is no longer acceptable, what can be allowed in, and what should stay out. In a metaphorical sense, the Leyad and Haeel represent two sides of the Myrrdin people's soul, while the Seren is the outward appearance--an expressive mask.
Thus, a Seren values those who hold convictions but also those who demonstrate loyalty to a people. A familyperson would be more greatly valued than someone who only looked after themselves.
The Schism
However, the Seren people's authority as gatekeeper recently came under attack, when
Aldnoa Astrashiy, Astral Monarch of the Myrrdin people, did not come when summoned to war. She was granted pardon from her people by both the Sun and Moon Monarchs, but this idea that a Seren could abandon their people--even if it is for the greater good--was yet unheard of. The Myrrdin people today are still shaken by this idea; as a fairly reserved culture, they would rather stay connected to one another than to become individualistic.
No cultural outcome has come as a resolution to the ex-Astral Monarch's actions.
Ideological Conflicts & Racial Relations
Serens most often come into conflict with that of the
Vespids and
Tarans cultures. As gatekeepers, they are not exactly thought fondly of, but they hold the role of influencers within their stations and ensure their society moves forward at a pace most comfortable to the Myrrdin people as a whole.
Gender Roles
Gender roles are both a social and theological concept for the Myrrdin people. Ones gender is thought to be chosen by the gods, and is therefore a reflection of ones moral responsibilities in society; a Seren, who represents the star, is thought to need to uphold the ideals of unity, compassion, and knowledge without undermining the other ethnicity's given duties.
She
A Seren woman is thought to be able to see into the hearts of those around her, and decipher the meanings of the soul. This is greatly abstracted from what a Seren woman is expected to do--which is to gather knowledge, to study, to learn, and to become an expert on the history of the Myrrdin people. A Seren woman is thought to be the hub of the Myrrdin people, a seer and storyteller that reminds the Myrrdin people of the path they must be on in order to take rational actions and reasonable passivity in matters.
He
A Seren man's is thought to be decended from archmages and kings, both in tune with the cosmology of the world around him and the matters of the world of mortals. This is fairly on par with what a Seren man is expected to do--guide and shepard his people under the illuminated hand of the stars themselves, signs from their creators, and the epochs and falls of society. A Seren man must distance himself to observe as much as he must also be involved to observe, as a Seren woman must too--paradoxically--but in her study of history and storyweaving.
Ae
Pronounced like the letter "A", ae is refers to anyone who is identifies as one, multiple, or other genders; as a side note, Aemale is the term used to describe one sexuality that falls outside of the binary. This gender is widely accepted and not discouraged as within
Myrrdin culture, there is a belief in the duality of the sun and moon within the aspect of the star--represented by Seren (the deity in this case).
A maen is often used to support the binary in Myrrdin culture, but a Seren maen is seen as a entirely holy and divine event. A Seren maen, the epitome of duality, is often taken away from Myrrdin society and placed alongside other cultures or even sometimes in a cloister so that they are not influenced by Myrrdin society. What a maen does and says is debated upon and thought of as divine, a message on how society is, how it has progressed, and how it should change. A Seren maen's role then is that of challenge and inquiry--they are mean to destroy unity--should the unity prove maladaptive, question compassion--where it comes from and why, and ask us to look outside ourselves for other sources of knowledge.
Warfare
Serens are not often invlolved in conflicts, and if they were to be, both the
Haeel and
Leyad are honorbound to fight in their stead.
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