Volari

Volari are the dominant race in the Kingdom of Asteria where they coexist peacefully with the minority Valka. While they don't often venture outside of their homeland, players can create Volari characters by gaining approval from the support team and making the appropriate purchase from the Marketplace.

Country of Origin: Kingdom of Asteria

Physical Traits:

• Volari are humanoid with lithe, graceful bodies.
  • Volari have extreme size variations, ranging from 4 to 7 feet tall for both men and women.
  • They have elongated limbs with webbed hands and feet, perfect for swimming and navigating their watery home.
  • Volari have smooth, flowing hair and large, expressive eyes; both hair and eye color usually compliments their skin color.
• Volari have patches of iridescence scales, usually on their back and limbs. Scales may be the same color or different colors from their skin.
  • Men typically have darker colors and women usually have lighter colors; options include blues, purples, greens, blacks, whites, golds, silvers, pinks, and oranges.
  • If a scale is lost, it regrows over a span of a few weeks, going through a cycle of colors before settling into its mature hue.
    • Naturally shed scales are often used in art and jewelry; they retain their natural iridescence and beauty.
    • Forcibly removed/lost scales (through injury, for example) retain a semblance of their iridescence for a few days before decaying into glittering dust.
  • Scales and webbing gain deeper and more saturated hues as the Volari ages.
    • Weakened, injured, or elderly Volari may develop pale, jagged markings that spread across their body.

Abilities and Traits:

• Natural Abilities:
  • Extended lifespan - Volari can live up to 120 years; they mature slowly with long childhoods.
  • Aquatic - Volari are fast, agile swimmers with the ability to hold their breath for extremely long periods of time.
  • Bonding - Volari typically bond with Tidewings.
    • If you are joining your Volari already bonded, you may join them with a Tidewing; otherwise, they will usually need to bond with a standard Astrofel. Contact Signe if you have any questions!
  • Shapeshifting - Volari can shapeshift completely in to a single marine animal at will.
• Strengths:
  • Most Rockfolk have an innate ability to identify most stones and metals just by touching them.
  • Rockfolk can typically manipulate stones and metals through songs, chants, and other vocalizations.
    • Songs are passed down through family lines and treated as precious trade secrets.
• Weaknesses:
  • Due to their builds and thick fur, Rockfolk have a difficult time swimming; most have an innate fear of deep water.
  • Rockfolk are weak to Crystalroot, which produces euphoria; individuals may respond by becoming rowdy/playfully aggressive, aroused, or cuddly, or by becoming extremely calm and mellow. The strength, duration, and type of effect varies from person to person.

Society and Lifestyle:

• Build villages on cliffsides and inside deep mountain caverns.
• They live in tight-knit family clans. Most Rockfolk are hunters or shepherds.
• Homes are typically carved from stone and timber.
• Value family and clan loyalty over all else; they are fiercely protective of tradition.
• Believe in a cycle in which an individual soul is either a Rockfolk or Sentinel depending on where they are in the cycle.
  • All Rockfolk were once Sentinels and will return as a Sentinel after they die.
  • All Sentinels were once Rockfolk and will become Rockfolk again after death.
  • The Prime Mountain is a sacred, benevolent ancestor that guides and protects the cycle.

Relationship with Other Races:

• Alliances: Mountain Humans (loose)
• Conflicts: None currently, though they've had conflicts with Igneans in the past
• Neutral: Aurel, Volari, Zefari, Igneans

Tidewings

Sentinels are unique magical creatures native to The Mountain Kingdom; they are similar to, but different from, the Astrofel found on New Ognos and have an innate ability to bond with Rockfolk.

• Sentinels resemble a cross between a goat and a mountain lion, with bodies made of living stone or metal.
  • They have a goat-like face with feline eyes; cloven hooves; curled horns; a muscular, feline build; and two tufted tails.
  • Sentinel coloration varies, some have earthy tones and others possess metallic sheens; their eyes resemble gemstones and emit a soft, steady glow.
  • Sentinels communicate with stomps, snorts, grunts, bleats, "barks", and sounds resembling clacking or grinding stones; they are able to speak telepathically to their bonded.
• Sentinels can produce melodic hums, chimes, and vibrations that amplify and enhance Rockfolk abilities.
  • The strength and effect of their amplification varies depending on the type of song, how strong the bond between Sentinel and Rockfolk is, and how well the two manage to harmonize.
• Bonding is initiated when a Rockfell breaks off a small piece of the Sentinel's horn and swallow it; if the bond is accepted, the Sentinel will headbutt the Rockfolk in return (usually gently).
  • Consent and friendship are extremely important in the bond, which can be dissolved by either party at any time with minor magical backlash to both.
  • Despite how easily it can be done, bonds are rarely broken as Sentinels will only bond if they sense a strong compatibility.
• Sentinels can be quite challenging, but also incredibly rewarding and affectionate companions once their trust and respect has been earned.
  • They have all the naughty craftiness and stubbornness of a goat paired with the calculating nature of a large predator, not to mention their muscular form is perfect for scaling steep mountainsides!
• Sentinels are formed in The Nursery, a specific cavern system that starts at the Prime Mountain and snakes its way across the country.
  • Sentinels are born from magma at the heart of the Prime Mountain, where they live for a few months before venturing out.
  • They are still red hot and incomplete when they first leave the magma pit.
    • What they eat during this time determines their final form; ex: a Sentinel that eats iron will become an Iron Sentinel while one that eats primarily emeralds would become an Emerald Sentinel.
  • Once their form solidifies and cools, the Sentinel ventures into one of the many Cradles, special caverns where they continue to eat and grow.
    • Young Rockfolk typically venture into the Cradles around the age of ten to find their Sentinel.
      • It is rare for adults of either species to form a bond after leaving the Cradle, but not entirely unheard of.