The races and tribes of Nitor - Part 2 - The races · 5:27pm Mar 5th, 2020
The Races of Nitor, and a brief cultural rundown of each.
Sun-gazers:
The sun-gazers are the descendants of the harmonious ones that chose to follow Celestia, and over the years, have come to fully embrace the power of the Sun centaur that they follow. Culturally, the sun-gazers are a socially conservative people, putting high value on family, tradition, and loyalty to their Queen. Yet, they also embrace innovation and creativity, particularly in the form of mechanical invention, art, and arcane research and exploration. The sun-gazer nation of Solaria is found in the south of the great continent of Inpraecordia.
Sun-gazers are a physically active people, greatly enjoying contests of strength and endurance. In addition, they embrace dance as a form of expression. Most sun-gazer celebrations are centered around large communal dances, as are many children’s games. All sun-gazers are versed in at least one form of dancing, and those who are especially skilled are regarded quite highly by their peers. This stems from their magic, which requires movement of the body to cast. While experienced spellcasters can use their magic with smaller motions, most sun-gazers must execute elaborate full body dances to use their “inner-fire”. Conversely, singing is culturally taboo, as it is the medium by which Luna’s people cast their magic. Even humming or whistling is generally frowned upon, and is considered in bad taste.
Family is another very important aspect of sun-gazer life, though what family means can vary from region to region, with some placing high value on heredity, while others place greater value on the family unit itself with no concern for blood. Regardless of how a sun-gazer defines it, as a whole they are fiercely loyal to those they consider family. One of the surest ways to start a fight with a sun-gazer is to insult their family. Conversely, those without family are typically looked down on, or outright shunned.
Inherent properties of the sun-gazers:
- Strong diurnal tendencies
- Excellent color vision - sun-gazers have 5 different types of cone cells in their eyes, allowing them to see color with greater clarity. This also allows them to perceive ultraviolet light.
- Poor low-light vision - sun-gazer eyes have a hard time seeing in low-light / dark conditions.
- Slight heat resistance
- Generally fairly hardy with good endurance
- Sun-gazers, due to being exiled from the dream realm by Luna, cannot dream when they sleep.
Magic source: Inner-flame / Inner-fire
- The inner-flame of a sun-gazer is gauged on two properties: its purity and its strength. Purity of flame indicates how ‘cleanly’ the inner-fire burns, which translates to how easily the sun-gazer can call on their magic. Strength of the inner-fire is a metric of how much flame is there for the sun-gazer to call on, or how much power they can generate. These properties are not very malleable, meaning that while a sun-gazer can grow their inner-flame or make it purer with practice, it’s always going to be close to their natural level.
- To fuel their magic, a sun-gazer must feed their inner fire with their emotions. The stronger the emotions of the sun-gazer, the more power they generate. However, sun-gazer magic is volatile and wild, so only those with strong wills can fully control it. Sun-gazer magic is manifested through dance and body motion, by which the sun-gazer refines and channels their power into the chosen effect. For a sun-gazer, magic is fueled by emotion, but controlled through willpower.
- Should a sun-gazer’s power not be properly controlled, their inner-fire can begin to burn wildly. When a sun-gazer feeds their inner-fire without the proper motion of the body to refine the flame, the magic doesn’t have a proper conduit, and will build up in their bodies, damaging their organs. Conversely, if they do properly move, but don’t have a strong enough will to control the amount of flame they call upon, or the emotion they feed into the flame doesn’t match the one needed for the spell dance they’re performing, the fire burns out of control, and erupts from them in an uncontrollable conflagration of raw power, which, if not contained and vented properly, will damage both the surrounding area and severely burn the sun-gazer.
Night-weavers:
The night-weavers are the descendants of the harmonious ones that chose to follow Luna, and over the years, have come to fully embrace the power of the Moon centaur that they follow. Children of the ever changing moon, the night-weavers value independence, personal ambition, and a drive towards excellence in their chosen path. Yet, there are two constants within the night-weavers: their love for their Queen, Luna, who is one of the only authority figures that they are willing to follow without question, and their belief that one must be able to stand on their own merit. The night-weaver nation of Selenia is found in the north of Inpraecordia.
Night-weavers, as a whole, are people that value both intellect and dexterity, both physical and mental. Song also plays a major part in their daily lives, both as a form of expression, and the medium for their magic. All night-weavers are capable singers, and are trained from an early age in using their voices. Night-weaver celebrations, ceremonies and gatherings all involve song in some way or another, with large choruses forming for major events. In addition, night-weavers are all fluent in two versions of their language: one for every day conversation, and a completely different one that is built for the express purpose of being sung. This second, song language is also the medium by which they cast their magic. By contrast, night-weavers regard dance and most forms of physical expression distasteful, as they reek of Celestia’s preferred medium of expression.
Individual merit and ambition are a key component of night-weaver culture. Among the few state institutions that they tolerate is their educational system, and the guilds. All children are placed into the public school system at a young age, and are forced to fight their way through until they find their path and join a guild. Parents, while they might offer moral support to their children, are expected to let them grow on their own, to the point that it is culturally taboo to help a child overcome an obstacle in their way:, and are to most night-weavers, if someone can’t find a way to overcome a barrier, they need to either find a new path, or accept they have reached their limit. Similarly, inheritance is illegal within Selenia, because night-weavers believe that it encourages stagnation. Children are given up by their parents at birth, and are raised by the state to ensure that every one is able to rise or fall based on their own merit. Because parents never know their children, Selenian's have no concept of inheritence or lineage: one's accomplishments are all that matter.
Inherent properties of the night-weavers:
- Strong nocturnal tendencies
- Good low-light and night vision - night-weavers have far more rods in their eyes, giving them good low-light and night-vision. However, they have a hard time perceiving color, and cannot detect subtle differences in hue.
- Light sensitive eyes - bright light is painful to night-weaver eyes. Any that find themselves active during the day make use of tinted lenses.
- Slight cold resistance
- Generally more agile with good dexterity
- Due to their strong connection to the dream realm through Luna, night-weavers can actually communicate with one another through lucid dreaming. In order to do so, they must be in physical contact with one another as they sleep. This allows the two dreamers to share the dreamscape.
Magic-source: Soul pool / soul well
- The soul pool of a night-weaver is proportional to the strength of will and mental fortitude. Mental fortitude determines how long the night-weaver can maintain their focus to call on their power, while strength of will determines how much power they’ve got at their disposal to put into their magic. Night-weavers can build these pools up over time, but there’s generally an upper limit that they’ll reach.
- Night-weavers depend on their strength of will to generate their magic, drawing from their soul pool. The stronger the inward focus and willpower of the night-weaver, the more power they have to draw from. Yet, the key to manifesting their desired effect is emotion, meaning they must channel their power through their feelings. Depending on the nature of the song, it can have differing effects depending on which emotional lens they focus their power though. Night-weaver magic is cast through song and the spoken word, by which the night-weaver channels her emotions through the lens of her precise and meticulous intonations. For a night-weaver, magic is fueled by willpower, but focused through emotion.
- Night-weaver magic puts great strain on the minds of the caster. The longer a night-weaver calls on their power without rest, the more mentaly fatigued they become. Calling on their power for too long can lead to loss of consciousness until their mind recovers. In addition, calling on their magic without properly focusing it through their voice causes magical pressure to build up in the mind, resulting in severe pain and nightmarish hallucinations.
Shadow-stalkers:
The children of The King of Shadows, shadow-stalkers are the descendants of the harmonious-ones that chose to follow Sombra into the shadows. The followers of the fallen centaur are a secretive people, who value discipline, cunning, a drive to survive at all costs, and share a deep, abiding hate of the children of Celestia and Luna. Because of Sombra’s imprisonment and their hunted status, the shadow-stalkers have no nation, instead living primarily in nomadic bands that regularly travel the great interior of Inpraecordia, with a small number of scattered, permanent enclaves found deep underground throughout the equatorial center of the great continent.
Shadow-stalkers, above all else, value martial skill and the silence of shadows. Although shadow-stalkers are fluent in the language of their enemies, they value the quiet, and instead prefer to communicate through a highly developed sign-language. In their need to survive at all costs, shadow-stalkers have become some of the deadliest warriors and assassins on the face of Nitor, a dark reflection of Somra’s previous role as the Protector. Shadow-stalker bands follow a strict martial hierarchy, and seek to keep their numbers in multiples of three, with a balance between members of the three tribes. Should a band lose members and meet up with another band, they will reorganize until this balance, or as close to it as possible, is restored. Intraband leadership is managed by a council of three elders, but most issues within the band are resolved by a direct democracy.
Shadow-stalkers put their survival as a key priority. First and foremost is the survival of their people, second is the survival of their band, and then finally, their personal survival. A shadow-stalker is at their most dangerous when fighting to protect any of the above, but are at their fiercest when fighting to ensure that their people continue to survive. In addition, shadow-stalkers regularly have contact with the more monstrous members of Nitor, including changelings, minotaurs, raptorians, and even elder wyrms and linnorms. Ancient pacts exist between them, and the shadow-stalkers are willing to come to their allies aid if called on; a courtesy that is reciprocated.
Inherent properties of the shadow-stalkers:
- Color-blindness - all shadow-stalkers are naturally color-blind, and are incapable of perceiving color.
- Able to function in both bright light and near total darkness.
- Fine detail vision
- Bodies are naturally lithe and flexible
- Slight resistance to poisons and disease
- Shadow-stalkers, due to being exiled from the dream realm by Luna, cannot dream when they sleep. Instead, their minds are drawn into the shadows where Sombra has been exiled while they sleep. Those with sufficient mental discipline can learn to communicate not only with their fellow shadow-stalkers through the shadows, but with the imprisoned centaur as well.
Magic-source: Well of life / Life energy
- Unlike the other two types of magic, shadow-magic draws on life energy to power its effects, though the life energy can come from the caster themselves, or by draining it from another creature. A shadow-stalker’s capacity to store life energy grows as they age and gain more experience with feeding (see below).
- Shadow-magic requires a calm, emotionless mind to channel and control, as the magic becomes volatile when exposed to emotional energy. If a shadow-stalker allows themselves to feel emotions while casting their magic, the shadows react violently, inflicting severe pain or causing internal bleeding if the magic is strong enough.
- Shadow-magic also differs from other magic in that in order to call on it, the caster need not cast an elaborate spell dance or speak. Instead, the caster performs a complex mental mantra, then expend life energy equal to the cost of the spell, be it from themselves, or from draining it from others.
All shadow-magic users can drain life energy from other creatures, with the feeding method depending on the tribe of the shadow-magic user. While any life energy is usable, the life force of a sentient is more potent than that of a non-sentient. Life energy stolen by this draining is stored in the shadow-stalker’s “well of life”. Life force used to cast shadow-magic will first draw from the “well of life”. If the spell uses up the contents of the well, or the caster does not have any energy in their well, the spell will siphon on their own life force. If the life force of the caster is insufficient, the spell fails and the caster dies.
- Shades passively siphon off life energy lost when something is injured or dies within their vicinity to refill their well of life. Younger shades must be within a few feet of the source of life energy, while older shades with more experience in feeding can feed at far greater range, with some of the oldest able to feed across areas reaching 50 meters. Victims of this sort of feeding heal at a slower rate, and are more susceptible to disease until their life energy can recover.
- Wisps are able to feed off the breath of others in order to replenish their well of life. Younger wisps must hold a victim still and draw the breath out of them by inhaling near their mouth and nostrils. Older wisps that have greater practice with the ability are able to siphon the breath of others at a distance. Stealing breath in this way leaves the victim fatigued if only a little is taken, or can lead to death by asphyxiation if enough is stolen.
- Spectres can drain life energy with a touch to refill their well of life. Many learn spells to siphon off life energy at a distance. Draining life energy in this way weakens the target until their bodies can recover the lost life energy. If too much is taken, the victim dies.
I love stuff like this. Fascinating to take all the physiological differences into account in terms of what impact that might have on the respective cultures. Solarian visual arts will seem bizarrely spattered with greys to Selenians, to say nothing of shadow-stalkers. (Though goodness knows why they're in an art gallery.) Heck, this Rainbow Dash may have even more colors in her hair than the pegasus.
The inability to dream means the term probably isn't used as a synonym for "fantasy" or "aspiration" outside of Selenia. Indeed, "you're dreaming" could be an insult at least as harsh as "night-lover" in Solaria, assuming they even remember the concept.
And, of course, there are the concrete facts about the cultures involved. Twilight Sparkle in a society focused on individual ambition and excellence. That always turns out well...
Finally, I have to appreciate how one of the hallmarks of Equestrian magic, the spontaneous musical number, doesn't seem possible anywhere on this world, and every society in it would find the idea reprehensible for one reason or another.
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Y'know, I just realized that I hadn't changed something that I'd meant to in the notes I used to make this post. Night-weavers can see in the purple and red range. What they're bad at is detecting subtle hues. So, sun-gazer visual arts, which might look like an explosion of subtle colors blended into interesting patterns to Solarian eyes, would look like dozens of flat blobs to a Selenian, assuming that they lowered the lights enough for the night-weaver to not be blinded.
Re: Twiggles. Well, she is based primarily off Sci-Twi, so…
The harmonious ones loved musical numbers. After the Splintering…
How long have you been planing all of this? The mount of details and thought put itno constructing this World is mind-blowingly amazing. I'm jumping in my seat with anticipation. I love reading about Sunset's life but I can't just wait for the moment when different start to interact with each other.
And the rest of our heroines.
Rarity is the only with ambition, tack and cunning mind. Twilight and Fluttershy are going to have it rough. Shy is such peacefull soul, not one for conflict which I believe n Night-weavers is quite common. And Twilight may have an ambition but is also a person that sees no point in fight when it can be avoided and only seeks knowledge. It's going to be Crystal Prep all over again. Which make think about Shadowbolts. Are they in the story?
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I've been putting this thing together for only a few months. There was a skeleton when I wrote the original short story for FoME's contest, and I've been fleshing it out ever since. In fact, the whole thing started when I re-watched The Sea Prince and the Fire Child, and got inspired.
Regarding Flutters, don't forget that under that gentle exterior rests a will strong enough to cow dragons. Shy may seem timid, and she is, but when it comes to getting what she wants or protecting something she cares about, she's probably the most dominant character in the series. I mean, she manages to keep fricking Discord "under control".
And as for lacking ambition, that's actually not a problem for her. Selenian's value accomplishment and skill, not just drive. Drive without the skill to back it up is just seen as empty bravado. And even as a kid, Shy's really good at what she does. That earns her a lot of status, which gives her a heck of a lot of clout, and a lot of sway within her circle. She may never elect to take a position of leadership, because she doesn't want it, but she absolutely does have a tremendous amount of sway when she does decide to put her foot down on an issue.
Interesting rundown of each group.
When you mentioned that Selenians used song for magic, the first thought that came to mind was throat singing. The second was Gaelic Chanting.
The whole song and dance makes me wonder if it would be possible to channel magic through an instrument, such as a lyre or flute. It would be good common ground between two of the tribes anyways. Perhaps the hand motions used with percussion and string instruments could be used as 'dance', while the blowing used in woodwind and brass instruments could be considered a 'song' of sorts.
It's sad that Solarians can't dream. I suppose it's not so bad if they don't even know the concept of dreaming. Can't miss something you never knew you had.
I was meaning to ask about the other races, but it seems like you answered part of it at least. They exist, and are seemingly sapient. What about other continents. Are there other races there? Were they created by Harmony as well?
Speaking of Harmony, were the three tribes created by her, or were the harmonians an entirely separate race that the tribes descend from. After reading the first chapter, I thought that the tribes may have been a result of Discord's chaos, which was stabilized after he was vanquished.
So are the traits of each race genetic or developed through their environment. Like, if a child with Selenian parents was raised in Solaria, would they still be light sensitive?
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I'm not sure if you've ever heard of Adiemus, but when I was concieving of the way night-weavers sound when casting their magic, that's what I had in mind.
Instrumental magic is a lost art that the harmonious ones used. Because the manifestation of magic is inherently tied to the magic of the races, and their modern descendants do not use the same kind of magic as the harmonious ones, the medium by which they manifest their magic has irrevocably changed.
Originally, I was going to have Sombra's magic be tied to instruments, but decided against it, because: a) that would mean that the nations would be opposed to the use of musical instruments, as it would be a potential source of shadow-magic and b) it didn't fit with their niche as silent, efficient killers. So, it became the original magic that was lost as the tribes evolved to their new forms, but the love of music and the practice of playing them is maintained through all three races as part of their cultural heritage.
The original harmonious one race and its three tribes were created by the Empress. After her departure at the end of the Chaos war, they became the favored race of her children, as they showed the greatest affinity for the centaur's magic. Even before the Splintering, they began to diverge, but after the Splintering, they evolved into a whole set of new species and subspecies. The changes are fundamental to their being, so a child born to night-weaver parents would be a night-weaver as well, having all the traits of a night-weaver, even if it were raised in Solaria. Their magic would also still depend on song to cast, and they would still use a soul-pool as the source of their power.
Have I mentioned I love your worldbuilding? Because I love your worldbuilding.
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Haven't heard of the name, but it does remind me of a few things.
First, Baba Yetu, by Christopher Tin.
Second, the OST from the film Brother Bear. Specifically, this part.
What would be the result from interbreeding between any of the races? For example, a Sun-gazer and Night-Weaver?
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A bet? First mixed species child will be from Shadow-stalkers and Night-weavers union.
Which reminds will there be also characters from the comic? Radiant Hope
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That's not far from what I was envisioning. The idea is that the language used for the casting of their magic is the medium, not necessarily the style. Much like a violin can be used to do soft classical, upbeat new age, or energetic pop, the song language of the night-weavers can be used in a great variety of ways. In fact, depending on the type of magic they're casting, the style of song changes.
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To put it simply, they can't produce viable offspring. Their genetic and magical divergence has reached a point where they're not interfertile with one another anymore, so they've become separate species.
Even if they were still somewhat genetically compatible (Think Humans, Neanderthals and Denisovans), their magic would not properly form in such a hybrid, and without magic, they can't live.
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I have an idea for Hope, but I don't want to spoil it if I do end up using it.
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So any hybrids would be along the lines of a Liger, Tigron, or Mule?
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One worse than that: they wouldn't even form a viable embryo to begin with. At this point, even with only a few thousand years of isolation, the changes wrought by their evolution (sped by the presence of their centaur's magic altering them even faster) into their contemporary forms makes them incapable of conceiving with one another.
Again, if we were going to use a similar biological simile, the tribes (terran, harpy and eldritch) would be akin to human, neanderthal and denisovan. They're distinct, but interfertile. The one difference is that the tribes breed true, rather than blend.
By contrast, the races (sun-gazer, night-weaver and shadow-stalker) are related on the level of human, chimp and gorilla. They're so genetically and magically distinct from one another that they can't form viable offspring. The big difference is that outside the genetic differentiation, physiological differences (eyesight, etc.), and magic, they're not that phenotypically different from one another. Meaning if you took three random people from the races, removed all of their culturally identifiable traits like clothing, took pictures of them, and asked someone to tell you which race they hail from, they'd be hard pressed to do so.
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So, the centaur's magic can influence evolutionary process. Hypothetically, if a Night-weavers or Shadow-stalkers started to live amongs Sun-dancers, possibly not far away from Celestia, would it cause some adjustments in few generations? Or in worst case scenario something akin to Radiation sickness?
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Y'know, I hadn't really given that much thought. Hmmm…
I'm going to say that the speed at which the races evolved was an adaptation to better handle the specific type of magic their centaur grants. At this point, they're too specialized to "back out" of the particular evolutionary line and go back to a generalist state, having lost the "magical genetics" to use the other types. At a fundamental level, they can't learn another type of magic, or adapt to it, because they've effectively reached a point of no return.
Mind, the presence of the other types of magic are not inherently damaging to the users of one or the other, but neither are they beneficial.
This is more really cool background information.
You know, I've read a number of books about societies that prized ambition and independence, but I don't think I remember anyone ever extrapolating that to inheritance being seen as a crutch before. It makes a lot of sense when you think about it.
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Thank you.
Well, Selenia is a meritocracy, so it only makes sense that there entire culture is centered around status gained by individual merit, and avoiding the dangers of giving someone an advantage they didn't earn because their parents were successful. Or because they were given a position of power that they didn't earn because they were the first born.
Given the heavy emphasis on singing and drive for personal power, I have a feeling the Sirens would thrive in this environment if they were Selenian
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They very well could. Now I'm actually considering whether or not the hippocampi are allied with Selenia.
The biggest possible holdup is the effect that they have on those around them. The Sirens spread strife and hate. Selenia, despite its cutthroat nature, is an orderly society that encourages competition, but does not look kindly on actual fighting outside designated venues, such as the military or the peacekeepers.
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Could depend on the situation. In times of peace siding with Sirens would be beneath Luna, but in times of war... Well, everything allowed in war. Especially if both side think they are forces of good and other is monstrously evil.
This world need some reformations. The School of Friendship would be handy. A place where they teach you kindness, generosity and empathy, generally teach you morals, sounds less silly if you think about it.
Maybe it's more like small nitpick than full question, but, if inheritance is illegal within Selenia what happens with the "Family Fortune" after someone's die. In our world (probably), the dead's posessions would go to the closest family but in Solenia? Would it go to the State Treasury?
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I'm afraid I haven't really fleshed that out yet. I've got some ideas, but until I get to Selenia, its not as high a priority as Solaria, since that's where most of my focus is at the moment.
TBH, I'm not even sure if I'm going to have Selenian society even have "money" in a capitalistic sense. My current thinking is rather than have any form of hard or soft currency, Selenians treat status as a means to access things, where access to high quality goods is limited to those of high status. I'll probably expand on the exact ramifications of this once we get to Selenia.
Just a minor question, more of a head scratcher. If Appleblom is a Sun-gazer and Sweetie Belle a Night-weaver, does that mean Scootaloo is a Shadow-stalkers?
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The plan is to have Scoot be a sun-gazer too. She just hasn't met Dash yet.