Sunfaelk

"Many misconceive that the sunfaelk are beings of chaos and violence. In truth, what the salamander lick gives us is a billowing, uncontrollable sense of encouragement to spread our wings and paint our dreams on the canvas of the world with bright, boisterous colours."

Sunfaelk, also known as blazenbloods, are an ethnic group of faelk dwelling largely on the Harrowed Coast, the northern coast of the Pale Sea.

Physical characteristics

The sunny climate of the Harrowed Coast has influenced the modern appearance of blazenbloods, leading them to darker shades than they once had when younger in their race's existence. They are hued with olive and bronze, and their skin bears a magnificent lustre that dims on overcast days coldness but seems to intensify in the warm rays of the sun. Their hair, sleek and straight, ranges from moderate browns to very dark browns.
As with all faelk, sunfaelk are beautiful, their faces composed of delicate features, but their bodies modelled with robust perfection. What sets them apart from most other strains of faelk is their slightly greater strength and musculature. This is not a deep-set racial characteristic, but the result of generations of blazenbloods constructing magnificent marble architecture as much by hand as by magic.
Blazenbloods who possess moderate or greater dream magic exhibit aesthetic echoes of the elemental essence that fills their nightly imaginations. The skin shifts into a golden or tawny colour as the young mind develops and dreams become more substantial. Blazenblood dream mages often have hair of various shades of red or brown, which grows incessantly but does not grow farther than the waist.

Ideals

Beauty ideals

Blazenbloods find lustrous skin and well-composed coiffures to be very attractive in both sexes.

Gender ideals

Blazenbloods, placing greater value on intelligence, wisdom, and divine magical power than on physical prowess, and having come from the aloof and liberal origins of the other faelk races, do not discriminate between males and females in any remarkable way. Both sexes are expected to appear as beautiful as possible, however, and the beauty ideals for women are, as expected, more trying to keep up to than the male standards are for men.

Courtship ideals

It is no more common for one sex to approach the other for courtship in blazenblood society. Courtship is expected to be a very prolonged affair, usually around five months. Most blazenbloods will suppress their own sexual urges by imbibing a special herbal drink for the first two or three months so that they can establish a friendship before moving onto a sexual relationship.

Relationship ideals

The ideal blazenblood courtship practices reflect the nature of their ideal relationships. Blazenblood experience feelings of erotic love and simple lust in great and equal intensity, and as such they always pay heed to the importance of an equally powerful friendship that underlies the intimacy of a relationship, more than races with more tempered experiences.

Customs

Values

Deeply important in the hearts of the blazenbloods are the qualities of intelligence in all its forms, devout faith in the phoenixes, and wisdom. They are very academic and cerebral people. An adult blazenblood will receive good repute if they are able to keep their emotions under control to maintain practicality, especially if they sit in a very critical role such as one of jurisdiction or strategic command. Even better - in a way, more daunting to many blazenblood - is one of their number who has the self-control and intrapersonal intelligence to purposefully focus their metaphorical fire into particular emotions in order to drive themselves on to success. When two blazenbloods set themselves against each other in a manner of being so drunk on confidence and determination, then intense conflict is sure to follow.

Other names

Blazenbloods, red faelk, solar faelk, sun faelk