Snowborn Kiari

Summary

Altered by Sericil to allow them to adjust to colder climates, the Snowborn Kiari are the only native people to the far north region of Aerust. Simultaneously taller and Shorter than their Trueblood counterparts (varying between caste) the Snowborn make their homes in caverns deep under the Aerustan ranges where their keen eyesight puts them at an advantage against the oft blind cave-dwelling beasts endemic to their lands.

Gods

Creator-Sericil Worshipped-Sericil, Lateeri, Tioram

Physical Description

The Snowborn Kiari have pale skin and white hair, which serves the dual purpose of camouflaging them in the snow above their mountain homes and making them more visible to each other in the darkness of their caverns. In the eternal night of the caves and tunnels between their settlements their night-sight benefits them greatly (particularly in the Sentinel cast) allowing them to hunt on the surface across the lengthening nights of the pre-winter period and to see in the dark tunnels that connect their tribes.
The Snowborn are divided into the same two Casts as all Kiari, the Sentinel and Provider Casts. The castes are even more dimorphic (physically different) than the Truebloods, with their sentinels being taller than that of the Truebloods while their Providers are much smaller. The sentinel Cast was the taller and larger built of the Snowborn, being more adept as guards and hunters than the more subtle and meek Provider cast, who were better suited to working as healers and caretakers. The Snowborn Kiari are even more dimorphic than their Bevrasten counterparts, the members of their Sentinel cast standing between 138Cm and 159Cm, while the provider cast of the Snowbloods stood shorter at 89Cm to 128Cm.
Their stronger, hardier Sentinel caste members are almost as strong as a comparatively muscled human, and their precision allows them to more easily hit a weak spot on a target. They are the best suited to hard labor and combat of the Snowborn Kiari castes, and the combination of their strength and uncanny ability to spot vulnerabilities in ore structure around them make them perfect candidates for working the mines in Aerust. However due their increased size and breadth they are little more agile than a human, making them easier to entrap during a cave-in when compared with their Trueblood Kiari counterparts. Alone they are not as well optimized for cave life as they could be, but like the Truebloods they have a physically Dimorphic caste.
Alongside the Sentinel Caste of the Snowborn reside members of their diminutive Provider Caste cousins. They are not only shorter than members of both Kiari strains, but than the Providers of the Trueblood strain. They are slender and nimble, allowing them to move unhindered through the claustrophobic caverns under the Aerustan mountain range. Additionally they have antiseptic chemicals in their blood that greatly lowers the chance of wounds becoming infected, an advantageous feature considering how common cuts and scrapes in the dark and jagged spaces of their homes. They serve a number of roles in their society, but are invaluable in search and rescue efforts during cave-ins. Their small frames allow them to slip between otherwise impassable boulders that make up dense blockages, and with only a small cut they may draw antiseptic from their own veins.
Both Castes of the Snowborn Kiari have adaptive eyes that allow them to see in considerably dimer light than their human and near-human counterparts as well as adjusting to brighter light, however they also have a far more unique means of seeing in the pitch blackness then simple night-sight. The Kiari of Aerust have iris's that glow intensely in the dark and allow them to see in the dark without compromising their ability to see in daylight, assisting them greatly when many of them emerge from their deep caves during the warmer months without being blinded by the glare of the sunlit snow as other sight-based cave dwellers would be. The brightness and already impressive variety of eye colors is even greater in the Provider Caste as they spend more time wandering through the dark corridors of the mountain tunnels.
The bio-luminescent substance within their irises sit behind a secondary iris, that can open and close to different degrees to control how much light passes through. This feature is controlled consciously naturally and subconsciously. The Kiari has two 'switches' within their mind, one of which is manipulated consciously and controls the light level the Kiari wishes to maintain and sends this information to the second, which is connected both to the first switch and the optical nerve, using the information to calculate how much light needs to be immitted to increase or decrease the light level to the desired brightness on a subconscious level. The Kiari may also simply switch off this light, helping them hide themselves in the caves darkness.
Their bio-luminescent eyes are not only useful in finding their way through caves, and serve a dual purpose. The Snowborn Kiari have not only a greater range of eye colors than the Trueblood Kiari, but possess the greatest range of eye colors of any of the sentient races. The color of their eyes transmits well through their luminescent vision, and the glow of their eyes makes them easily identifiable in the dark for those who are well informed in the sometimes subtle difference between eye colors. To assist them with identifying their kin they have an uncanny ability to tell identify colors, and it is believed that not only can they sense much subtler color variations than other races, but that they can see a greater variety of colors than most races.

Psychological Description

The Snowborn take a more isolationist approach with outside races than their Trueblood kin, and are distrusting of not only other races, but with unfamiliar others of their own kind. However they still maintain the close familial and clan ties of their larger cousins, and live in closely-knit, small societies. Despite their lack of trust however many of them choose to operate trade guilds that interact with surfacers, a fact that is most likely tied to an extreme supply and demand issue within their society. They are mostly self sufficient as a society, but have an inbuilt desire to pursue richly colored items (believed to be tied to their heightened ability to appreciate colors). Within their mines they have a number of richly colored gems, however they have little in the way of colored pigments useful in the manufacture of paints and dyes.
The shortage of colored pigments within their markets makes richly colored items (beyond naturally occurring gems) a scarcity within their trade centers. However trade with the surface has introduced many new pigments into their society, causing luxuries like brightly colored clothes and fine arts to find their way into the depths of the stone-lodges. It is believed by many (not entirely falsely) that an outsider can gain trust amongst them more quickly through gifts of richly colored garments and art.

Range of Habitation

The Snowborn are native only to the mountain ranges of Aerust, living deep underneath the Aerustan ranges in great stone lodges.

Cultural Basics

The Snowborn Kiari are more accustomed to living in small clans made up of five or so extended families, building their homes in the deep caverns of the Aerust mountains. Although they still possess the caring nature of their Bevrasten kin, they seldom show this side to outsiders. They are a suspicious people, and seldom except members of the larger races as their own. However after their re-discovery in the second age they did open up trade with the surface, trading the gemstones and jewellery of their homeland in exchange for extra food, causing their population to explode in size (although they are still somewhat rare). Trade with the surface has done more for their society than just increase their numbers however.
New luxury goods have found their way into Aerustan markets, most popular are the gaudily colored clothing and pigments brought from foreign lands. They use these pigments to make paints and dyes, which they use to bring rich color into their homes and clothes.
SETTLEMENTS The homes of the Snowborn are carved into the edges of their caverns, which are themselves cut from smaller cave structures. These settlements are called Stone Lodges, which take the form of wide, elongated semi-spheres carved from stone with stone platforms carved outward into the rock, causing each level to be wider than the last. Along the lowest level one can find access to mine entrances and craftsman, as well as markets in smaller lodges. In larger lodges markets or even dedicated stores (which typically have a wide, clear window to display goods and draw in customers) are on the second level as opposed to the first, some of which spill over to the gate-side of the third level in the largest lodges.
At the edge of each level is a railing of stone or metal to help prevent individuals from tumbling down to the next level (an uncomfortable yet seldom fatal fall). The railings are typically rounded with elliptical supports that crown above the outer side of the rail forming a semi-spherical tip, and every 5 meters or so a particularly large support rises above the top of the handle, bending inward once it reaches the rails level and hosting a large, colored gem. Often the colors of these gems denote levels or districts. Between the windows of different rooms of houses that run parallel to the outer wall of the lodge the walls bend outward slightly forming a pillar, and the largest of these bends (typically those between the starting and ending points of different houses) are often encrusted with the same gems as the outside railing.
The fronts of their homes bulge slightly from the walls, and the visible portions take the form of vertical ellipses carved into which are slender rectangular doors, often with twin (usually relatively long slit-like) glass windows on either side of the ellipse. In the past the doors consisted of rope-like fibers or thin stone, but since the increased presence of wood caused by surfacer trade wood has become the favored choice of material for building doors, which are often painted to better communicate the personality of the dwellers within. The windows of these abodes are usually to one side of the entryway, whilst the other side of the doorway houses pantries and storage rooms that run as deep as the entire home (but are thinner then the rest of the home, as most of the homes are larger on one side).
There are stairways carved into the stone that bend inward that run unbroken to the highest layer of the public section of the lodge (which is the majority of the lodge). The stairs flatten where they intersect with each level, allowing individuals to access each level from these common staircases. In lodges where districts are broken up by level the stair cases may be color coded, painted to match the level they climb to. Their are often railings on the outer side of the stairs, and wider stairways may have a central line of rails rising to the top. In many large lodges the uppermost level is reserved for the aristocrats or wealthy merchants, and the final staircase can be pulled back into the wall from the top down using a control wheel until it forms a flush wall cutting off access to the top level.
Near the back of the lodge (starting at about the last third, quarter or even fifth depending on the size and layout of the lodge) the floors of each level suddenly rise creating a flat wall of about 5-7 meters. Cut into the walls are slits for bowmen and crossbowmen, and crenellations at the top allow units to hide in cover while firing from above. The walls bend outward as they reach the center of lodge, the centerpiece of which is a gateway reached by a circular stone staircase. These walls and gateway help defend the citadel behind, which varies from a small clan hall or a miniature castle where a royal family resides. The walls of the citadel typically follow a similar shape to the walls protecting them (albeit bending to a far more subdued degree), reaching the furthest outward at the center.
On either side one or more towers will sit, growing in size and proximity to the back wall of the lodge the farther away from the lodge they are. The tops of these towers forms a half-oval tip, sloping rapidly toward the top of the dome. The tops of these towers are usually imbedded with crystals, and painted to match the ruling dynasties primary house color. Near the roof of the lodge towards it's center is an inverted tower of circular platforms suspended from the ceiling with a rounded hole in the middle. This tower lowers itself to roughly one third of the total height of the lodge. The lowermost ring of the circular tower is connected by two or more rope bridges to the uppermost platforms along the walls of the structure.
Growing downward from the roof of the lodge through the ceiling rings grows a luminescent crystal. The crystal is implanted as a single seed crystal and grows through the rings of the central tower into a large and colorful Aerustan crystal, where the smaller branching growths can be harvested from the primary crystal for use in crafting the most valuable tools and jewelry in east Tor'Saarn, if not the entire continent. The crystals give of a bright multicolored light in the darkness, and are useful both as lights to see by and at keeping most cave-dwelling predators at bay. Tools made from the Aerustan crystal are durable and colorful, and are best suited for tearing through dense stone (as they are used in Aerust). The platforms and bridges are illuminated by small crystals hewn from a the crystal hanging from the roof of the lodge.
The crystals of stone lodges have drawn a great deal of attention amongst visitors from the surface due to their luster and strength. Many scholars and traders have bought small samples (at great cost) to bring home with them, and many governments have ordered their most valued and distinguished tinkers to test it's property. Of all external interests the most concerning is that of the Tiorath Isles government, the Tiorath hierarchy. According to intel gleaned by spies planted within the hierarchy, the organization seems to believe the crystals to be a strain of the fabled Elmorine, which if properly refined could be far more durable than any substance currently available to Tor'Saarn by a vast margin.
CLOTHING AND EQUIPMENT The Snowborn Kiari are masterful silk-weavers and jewelers, and are famed for the beauty of their clothing and jewels. They typically wear light clothes woven from silk and inlaid with silver, however they do wear jackets made of animal hides when traveling on the surface. Even the poorest of their populace adorn themselves with silver jewelry inlaid with the more common gemstones of their caverns, which are still incredibly valuable by the standards of other cultures. The clothing of their clan leaders have high collars that are held in place by a ring of silver, gold or rose gold that is situated just bellow the neck, flowing sleeves inlaid with silver or rose gold, and a wide fanning crest behind their neck and head inlaid with silver, gold or rose gold. In recent times the Snowborn clans have begun heavily dyeing their silk clothing, utilizing pigments recently discovered through trade with the surface.
Each Snowborn carries a small trinket made from the Aerustan crystal located in the Stone Lodge of their birth. These trinkets are bound in a silver chain, and are inlaid with scripts written in precious metals. These trinkets serve both a sentimental and utilitarian purpose as these crystals may be used as a compass that leads them back to the siring crystal with the use of a way finding spell taught only among the Snowborn. These crystals may also be used as an additional light source in the dark (a process also requiring a spell). The Kiari of Aerust inlay their chisels and picks with crystals harvested from the Aerustan siring crystals of the Stone Lodges, causing them to glow faintly and help them cleave as easily through stone as the crystals from which they are made. It is not fully understood what force is at work that assists the crystals to carve through stone so easily, but it is believed by many of the mages in Tor'Saarn that this effect is caused by a form of powerful primal magic.

ARRIVAL IN TOR'SAARN

650 Before first Age (BFA)

PARENTAL GOD

Sericil

WORSHIPPED GODS

Sericil, Lateeri, Tioram

NATIVE REGIONS

Aerust

LIFESPAN

100 years

HEIGHT

89-159cm

WEIGHT

12-46kg

Encompassed species

• Kiari