Syladris



The Syladris are a half-breed race of Snake (lower half) and Human (upper half) who inhabit the northern Wildlands, making up roughly one-quarter of the total population of the freehold of Crown's Refuge. They are an elegant, exotic race that have come to being through unusual circumstances, and - quite bizarrely - have no cultural or personal identity beyond that which has been gained since the first of their kind was discovered in the latter half of the year 626 ATA. The Syladris have formed a central faith around the concept of the "White Dragon"; an interpretation of the Light made manifest, while also a metaphor for the divine power that the Light commands (ergo, that of a great Dragon). With only one exception to the rule, the Syladris have - so far - all been untainted by the Shadow, or blessed by the Light. All who have been found, and all who have found their own way to Crown's Refuge, have been curiously devoid of all manifestations of magic. Though they seem to understand it better than most, they harbor no command over such powers. The Syladris, as a whole, remain an enigma. They have no place of origin, no charted history, no cultural identity, no home, no families. All that is known is that - one by one - those of the Syladris began randomly appearing within the northern Wildlands. Although no one has yet witnessed just how each Syladri comes to be, the effects of their arrival well documented. Discovery of a Syladri is usually by accident, usually by a ranger or hunter, who come across the prone and naked form of each new 'member' of the race while exploring or hunting. Usually found in an unconscious state, all (who cannot make it on their own) are taken back to Crown's Refuge and tended to until they're able to fend for themselves. Occasionally a Syladri will make it to Crown's Refuge on their own, though equally some are found dead, having been preyed upon by some of the less sympathetic creatures that call the Wildlands home. The current trend has been that Crown's Refuge encounters five to ten 'new' Syladri each week, each one lacking any form of cultural or personal identity beyond a (varied) knowledge of the world around them, the Imperial language, their race, their name, but nothing more. Acceptance into Crown's Refuge has not proven to be a difficult affair, as relations between the Wildlander Humans and the Syladri are almost good enough to consider them both part of the same culture. Like the Human Wildlanders of Crown's Refuge, the Syladris follow the leadership of Archon Soravyn Zahir and Archmage Tshepsi; the two revered as equals but also respected as the pioneers of that which Crown's Refuge has become. The equality inherant between the two leaders of Crown's Refuge is a concept that the Syladris and the Human Wildlanders have taken to heart, which each race respecting the other without prejudice or mistrust. Due to their total lack of base identity, the Syladris have an almost child-like outlook on the world that the Humans find endearing and equally worthy of sympathy. Thus have the two combined to forge a future together; a new direction for all involved. Skill wise, the Syladris can do mostly everything that the Human Wildlanders can do, though to varying levels of comparison. Some things they can do better (such as swimming and athletics), while some they cannot (like riding horses). However, the Syladris do make up a substantial number of the Crown's Refuge Blood Guard and craftsmen within the freehold all the same.