Part 1 | Part 3 | Part 5

Hey all! Here's the next part of Belatos Inkwood's exploration of Solunara. Other things took up my time, so this one came out a quite some time later than the others.

In this part, Belatos describes his journey through the regions of Solunara on his way to meet the kings in the capital of Solhara.

Don't forget to leave a comment if you have any suggestions or feedback - everything is appreciated!

I hope you enjoy it!

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Excerpt from ‘The Realm of the Diurnal Crown - Uncovering the Myths of Solunara’ by Belatos Inkwood

Part 4 - Travelling to Solhara

I sailed from Lioré in the Blossom Isles and arrived at the city of Arulawen that I was told by Governor Bloomfig’s vassal is the main city of the region known as the Glasswater Coast. The name of the region is evidently justified as the water at the coast is some of the clearest I have witnessed in my travels around the world. The visuals of the city and region are distinctly different from what I have noted about the Blossom Isles: While the flora and architecture are evidently tropical, the trees have no flowering canopies and the plants displayed mostly colours of greens, yellows, and browns. The buildings consist of stone and woods, and most of them are plastered in earthy colours.
Arulawen is a city of trade, with the harbour filled with ships and maritime traffic. I had no opportunity to study the city in its details at this visit as I had to proceed further on my journey to Solhara. I did manage to note a few details about the city and its population: Commerce is evidently central in the mindset of the people in this city, as merchants were everywhere to be seen in the cityscape. Frequently, I was approached by a merchant that wanted to sell me a range of different wares, and though the exotic goods were tempting, I politely declined every time and focused primarily on following the vassal through the streets of Arulawen.

At the outskirts of Arulawen, the vassal and I proceeded by a crystal-powered automotive and traversed through the inland of the Glasswater Coast. The coastal flora soon changed to a lush jungle, filled with tall trees and dense bushes. The jungle grew increasingly dense as we got further inland, and the ground came to consist mostly of cliffs and steep slopes, so most of the infrastructure was made of bridges that snaked through the trees.
The vassal explained to me that we had entered the region of the Verdant Shroud, known for the lush green jungle that covers the entire land, like a shroud thrown over the mountains and valleys of the area. Most of the cities are built hanging on the tree trunks, high above the dense thickets and bushes on the jungle floor. Some of the cities went all the way to the ground, but most of the cities just hung like great clusters of fruit from the enormous trees.
Both houses and roads are made of various sorts of woods and leaves, presumably materials of local origin. Even though everything is made primarily of wood, the constructions are surprisingly sturdy and able to support even heavy transport: I saw a large automotive vehicle, loaded with goods that seemed to have quite a heavy payload, lightly drive over the bridges, and the bridges did not seem to sway under the weight.
This is a testament of remarkable engineering and ingenuity of the local population. Such technological knowledge is a clear indicator of the advancement of Solunaran society. While the goods we usually import from Solunara is of a rather advanced quality, such quality of wares is achievable by rather undeveloped societies, so the technological nature of the infrastructure is a more exact indicator of the developmental level of the society in question.
The population, as far as I could determine, consists mostly of avians, simians, serpents, and felines, such as jaguars, leopards, and panthers. The automotive vehicle moved at such a speed that it was inconvenient for me to study the populating species closer, so I noted down the ones I generally could determine. I need to return to the Verdant Shroud to study the population and culture in further detail.

We rode through the jungle and mountains further inland for quite some time, until the greenery began to thin out and gave way to heaths, grasslands, woodlands, and vast golden fields. As I questioned the vassal, he explained to me that we had reached a new region of Solunara, known as the Sunvale Plains. He told me that the region is regarded as the breadbasket of Solunara, providing most of the grain and meat for the realm. He explained it with a saying that he told was common in the region:
“The Blossoming Isles gild the kingdom, but Sunvale keeps it alive.”
Now, for anyone studying foreign realms, sayings are especially valuable for uncovering traditions, relations, and customs of the inhabitants. This saying clearly indicates a regional rivalry that can have been rooted in a more violent or hostile history, but might just as well be friendly banter that somehow caught on and became regional sayings.
Analysing this saying, the Blossoming Isles are renowned for providing Solunara with beautiful products and art that heightens the cultural and material wealth of the realm, while the Sunvale Plains are crucial to maintain a population that can enjoy the niceties of the Blossoming Isles. As such, this saying compares the importance of the two regions, with the Blossoming Isles being important for the wealth of Solunara, and the Sunvale Plains being important for sustaining the people.
The saying is formulated clearly in favour of the Sunvale Plains, claiming that Sunvale is more important than the Isles, and while that may be true in the sense of sustaining the life of the population, the standard of living would be greatly diminished if a cultural and trading hub such as the Blossoming Isles were not a part of the realm. As such, this saying is typical for regional banter, exposing a jealousy of another region: To be as profitable as the other region, but justifying its position and current production as a vital part of keeping the society running.

Agricultural regions like the Sunvale Plains are not uncommon in a realm, given the critical importance of feeding the population, so at first glance, as we traversed the region, I found nothing extraordinary about the Sunvale Plains. Most of the landscape was covered in fields, giving everything a golden hue, which makes the name of the region fairly obvious: The land was golden as the sun itself, and given the region’s reputation as the primary food provider, the life-giving reputation of the sun is reflected in the name.
As the vassal had mentioned that the Sunvale Plains provide the realm with meat as well, I inquired about how this arrangement functions, given that the realm is inhabited by both herbivores, carnivores, insectivores, and omnivores. Being an herbivore himself, the vassal admitted that he did not have much knowledge within the markets of meat, but he knew that most meat in Solunara consisted of fish and livestock of nonsapient animals. He further told me that some non-animalistic meats existed that a lot of carnivores consume regularly.
I need to confer with a carnivore to clear all the details for this arrangement, but it is a topic that is necessary to study in order to understand the realm of Solunara: A realm where both herbivores and carnivores are regarded as citizens, the balance between these groups shows the hierarchical structure of the society: Most often, carnivores hold positions of power, given their natural advantages over the other groups; herbivores only tend to hold powerful positions in democratic realms and councils, as their numbers far exceed that of carnivores in general.
Omnivores often have a fairly secure positioning in hierarchies, given they can both act carnivorous and herbivorous, so they often tend to imitate the feeding group that holds the most power in a realm. Insectivores are in most realms often at the same hierarchical status as herbivores, as they tend to share ancient history of being prey to the carnivorous species.
How the hierarchy is arranged in Solunara I have yet to map out, but so far, I have noted species from every feeding group in some position of influence. Thus, the arrangement of eating meat must have some special system to avoid the consumption of an innocent citizen.

It took about an entire cycle to traverse the Sunvale Plains. Along the way, every time the sun rose and set, we had a pause where the vassal bowed. But it was not always towards the sun, nor was it westwards as I had presumed it would have been. I asked the vassal for further details about this Horizonfire act, and he explained to me that it is custom to bow towards the Hall of Horizonfire when the kings rule jointly.
During the travel across the regions, I had ample time to question the vassal about the kings and their rule. Here is what I gathered from our conversation:
The two kings are said to be twins, one ruling by day, the other by night, and at sunrise and sunset, they rule jointly during the Horizonfire ceremony. They are said to be as old as Solunara itself: The vassal had no knowledge of a rule without these kings.
The Day King is named Kalior, and is known for his affiliation and interest in culture, dancing, and arts, both civil and martial. He is recognised by his reddish golden fur and fiery red mane, as well as red markings symbolising the sun and fire and their creative as well as destructive capabilities.
The Night King bears the name Selanor, and is a patron for astronomy, education, and invention. He is recognised by his pale dark blue fur and silver mane. Dark spots can be found all over his fur, and the pattern is said to be a reflection of the night sky itself.
Whether or not all of it is true, the vassal could not confirm: He had never met the kings before, mainly performing his duties in and around the Blossoming Isles.
He did tell me, however, that I needed to be presented before the Council of Horizons, a body of advisors to the kings that is meant to represent the people of Solunara and maintain different aspects of the realm. They need to assess the societal importance of my objective before I can be presented to the Kings. Only important or very important matters should be presented to the kings, but if the Council of Horizons deem the matter manageable by themselves, they will not present it to the kings.
This arrangement requires a tremendous amount of trust between the kings and their council, as that effectively grants the Council the power to decide upon matters without having the sovereigns involved. This often leads to subversion of the sovereign and allowing for the Council to usurp power.
Based on this arrangement, perhaps the kings do not have any real power in Solunara. Perhaps they only serve as religious and traditional figureheads to the people, with the Council of Horizons being the real government.
Depending on how members of the Council of Horizons are appointed, Solunara could prove to be either a diarchy, an oligarchy, or even a democracy. I will need to assess this process to properly determine which type of realm should be assigned to Solunara.

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