People of The Sarlin Islands Part 1

From the wasteland disk Terimar to the raging storm of Yetferara (called Shar by people of The Void), The SIU cuts a swath across The Void. It consists of 213 central member states and almost one thousand smaller governments. These countless countries are home to equally innumerable cultures and sapient species. Though over the centuries of the union's existence the people of The SIU have merged their traditions and genes into larger ethnocultural groups.

The 7 Races of The Sarlin Islands

Among the dozens of sapient species that inhabit the Sarlin Islands, there are 7 that are the most dominant in numbers. Many of these species can breed with one another, having all manner of offspring. In multi-racial urban environments such as the city of Illithar, it is not uncommon to see people with blood from three or more different species.

Dwarves

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Masters of air travel, the dwarves are the rulers of astral seas. The Majority of dwarves live on the winds, drifting in caravans of airships throughout the Sarlin Isles. Dwarves ships and infrastructure are what drive trade and travel between islands and they act as the glue that holds together the Interworld's cultural identity. Dwarves are shout folk, standing 5' 3" on average. They have a natural affinity with the skies, and an innate desire to take flight. Some are blessed with the fortune of being born with a pair of dragonfly-like wings, allowing them to sour wherever they please. Others must use technology to quell their lust for the Void's warm breeze.

Lanra

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Silver-haired, three-eyed, and impossibly graceful, a Lanra may seem like a magical creature to someone who has never met one before. Lanra are rather mundane however, their strangeness comes more in their perfect memories and short lifespans. Lanra never live past 30 but they remember every moment of their short lives as if it was yesterday. Consequentially they often find themselves in the more academic areas of society, making excellent lawyers, professors, and historians. While their brain power is remarkable, Lanra are fundamentally creatures of passion. Their culture prioritizes achieving as much as one can in their short life and leaving behind a mark so they can be remembered after they're gone.

Solorin

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With four arms, mix-matched hands, and translucent goo in place of hair, Solorin are one of the most unique inhabitance of the Starlin Islands. They originate from the micro-world Solora which is now dominated by the SIU's effective capital, Illithar. Consequentially, the noble Solorin families are deeply rooted in the city's politics and power structure. These families cling to the idea that Illithar is their city, an attitude that is not only wrong but has also negatively impacted Solorin stereotypes.
Solorin usually have at least one hand that is attached to the wrist at an unnatural angle. Most have one hand that is fully flipped but some bloodlines have more. Mutated hands are seen as a status symbol. The more inverted hands a bloodline has the more worthy of power they are believed to be.

Lunra

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Originating from the same island group as the Lanra, Lunra are slug people with famously long lives. These short bipeds have a pair of long eye stalks protruding from the tops of their heads. Their most distinguishing characteristic is their longevity—the average lifespan of a Lunra is 400 years, with some living to 500 or more. Despite their long lives Lunra have famously short memories. Most can remember what has happened within the last week with some vague notions about their life this month with everything that happened more than a cycle ago being all but lost. To remedy this, Lunra are constantly writing things down, anything worth remembering is documented in detail. Most will keep their most relevant memories on their person while dropping off anything else at a local archive. Many make hobbies out of reading their memories and the art of memory-writing is held in high esteem in the general Lunra community.

Cantrie

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Bound to the elements, Cantrie are animated parts of the land. Unlike most sapient creatures, the Cantrie weren't created by Lucids. Instead, they were given intelligence by a powerful nature spirit created made to guard over an ancient lucid's creations. This creature envied its master's power and while it couldn't create living flesh, It learned to animate its land and give it autonomy. After years of work, the spirit perfected the Cantrie. When lucid learned of what his servant had done he killed the spirit in rage and tried to exterminate this new species, but not before many of the Cantrie had escaped to nearby islands. Today Cantrie of all 6 sub-varients (Flame, Wind, Water, Earth, Life, and Decay) populate the Sarlin Islands. They reproduce through a mysterious ritual that's inner workings are only known to the highest elders of the Cantrie orders.

Valasar

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Valasar, directly translated from the Ancient Tongue means "children of the wind". Their name is in reference to the blue-green gliding membrane that the species possesses. Reinforced by a secondary set of elongated flexible ribs, these wings can carry Valasar great distances. Some of the species' masters of flight have learned how to catch the right updrafts and currents to fly for miles. Valasar, while intermingled with the rest of the Sarlin Islands' inhabitance, keep their culture generally removed and to themselves. This is mostly due to the fact that their social conventions are so radically different from those of the other species, making normal interaction extremely difficult.

Tengu

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These wingless bird people of unknown origin mostly shy away from the big cities. Traditionally, the tengu live in large slow airships that can house a small community. Decades ago almost the entirety of the species lived on the astral seas, however, the discomfort of aeral life and the appeal of the SIU's infrastructure has led many to abandon their old ways. While the flying villages of old are still around, most tengu live in land-born settlements on the less developed islands of the Union. A rare few have made their way into cities and towns, stating the species' slow transitions from "mythical creatures" to "normal people".

Illithar

At the heart of the Sarlin Islands is the metropolis of Illithar. Bustling with life a trade from all over the Void. It is a center of racial and ethnic diversity and the acting capital of the SIU. Consequentially the politics and turmoil of Illithar reflect on the Union as a whole.
Economic disparities are at large in the city, and more often than not they fall over racial lines. The iconic central Tower District is dominated by the Solorin elite that once ruled the Illithar. While they are no longer kings and queens, the Solorin upper class remains prevalent and powerful with their vast wealth. Intermingled with upper city's spires and penthouses are airships brandishing the crests of the Voidfaring Guild and the Trade Alliance two organizations run by foreign dwarven interests in Windarantheria.
In the shadow of the Tower District are what the city folk call the Box Neighborhoods. Built upon the buttresses of the towers these smaller complexes provide housing and institutions for the middle class. This includes the universities where Lanra academics live their short firey lives. The Boxes also extend into the bases of the towers.
Then, stretching out to the edges of the islands that Illithar sits on is a gradient of single-story homes in varying levels of dilapidation. In this sea of jumbled buildings is where the majority of the city's population lives, a demographic in which Cantrie are overrepresented.
In all three regions of the city, Valasar communities can be found. These small neighborhoods are marked by taller structures from which the residents can easily glide. These towers take the form of marble spires and plinths in the upper city, open balconies in the Boxes, and rickety raised platforms in the slums. Regardless of their location and wealth, Illithar's Valasar community is very strong and inter-connected.

by DreamStudio AI