Savelan Barn Owl

This article is a concept created during SummerCamp 2023! It is subject to changes, retcons, or may be sent to the secret vault after the event.

There is power in such piercing eyes, likewise in talons and screams which pierce much the same. It all hides away so beautifully behind an elegant form...

— Relic Keeper of Aurel

The savelan barn owl is a bird native to the Kingdom of Arsavela and is known for its ruddy coloration, settled over a stark white underside. Bearing a heart-shaped face and piercing black eyes, it has ever been a symbol of power in the region and its capitol, Aurel.

Symbol Cast Aside

Beloved bird of the Arsaces Monarchy, its prevalence as a symbol of the region has been slowly whittled away as banners of The Alabaster Hand began to dominate the cityscape and walls of the capitol.
With the fall of the Arsaces Monarchy, the display of their royal animal slowly became a stain on the reputation, as the Alabaster Hand began to put pressure on the populace to abandon all mementos of the "demon-loving queen" and her ilk. As this distaste for the monarchy and the display of its symbols often showed itself in violent displays, the populace began to acquiesce to this motion.

Remnants of History

Crests with this animal do still appear in the city, but only in designated areas set aside by the Hand as memorials for the monarchy. They are a formality, at best, and at worst a mockery, as the relics of the monarchy are poorly-kept and seem to rot away with each passing year.
Many ceremonial objects and images once used these birds as their visuals and their crests, some of which are kept only as relics of saints and holy people. Their connections to the gods made these objects sacred even to the Alabaster Hand, in spite of the symbolism of the animal and its connection to the monarchy.

An Ancient Symbol

The Savelan barn owl has been a symbol of the Arsaces Monarchy since its conception, but relics of the Antecedents bearing the Savelan owl symbol predate the monarchy's formation by a wide margin. A notable example of such a relic is the Handscythe of the Druid, holy relic of Levje, the Druid.
Historians believe it to be possible that the Savelan barn owl was a symbol of powers predating the turn of the new era, but no records remain of this history.

Stunning and elegant creatures with jarring calls and piercing eyes, symbols of ancient times.

by Strixxline

Region

Kingdom of Arsavela

Symbol

Arsaces Monarchy

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Demon Birds

Though elegant, these birds are known for their horrific calls, which the Hand has used in their favor, to decry the birds as symbols of their holy nation.
They would claim the shrieks to be of the same demonic nature as the darkness that the monarchy once consorted with, further staining public perception of the animals and crests.