Part 1 | Part 4 | Part 6

Hello! Here's part 5 of Belatos Inkwood's exploration of Solunara. I've been busy this last week, so had to postpone this post a bit.

As Belatos reaches the capital city of Solunara, he meets with some of the most prominent figures of the realm, to be assessed whether he may be granted an audience with the Diurnal Crown.

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

I hope you'll enjoy the read!

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

Part 5 - The Council of Horizons

After a long journey, I finally made it to Solhara, the capital of Solunara. The city consisted of densely packed buildings of various types of stone and wood, with squares and plazas occasionally disrupting the cityscape to provide communal space for markets, gardens, gatherings, and shows of various types of performing arts. The city is built around a river that runs straight through the cityscape and divides the city in two parts.
The most notorious part of the city is the palace located at the very centre, stretching above the river and connecting the two parts of Solhara. Of course, bridges along the river ensure the city infrastructure is interconnected as well, but the placement of the palace can not be a mere coincidence.
The palace itself is constructed of marble, adorned with gold and silver, consisting of a central construction with the rest of the complex protruding from the very centre. From the side that I arrived from, the palace was adorned with various terraces and gardens, and a protrusion at the very edge of the palace, facing a large square featuring a grandstand of considerable size, gave a sense of connection between the palace complex and the city surrounding it. It seemed like an oratory outlet for conveying messages and edicts from the sovereigns, or a place for the kings to address their people directly. Town criers usually make redundant the presenting of new laws and messages to the people from a rostrum like that of this palace.
The palace had an entrance on both sides of the river, leading to the same entry hall above the water. The embellished staircases gave the ascension a sense of ceremoniousness, as if I was about to enter a sacred space. The hall was finely decorated with several colours of marble, gold, silver, and some kind of gemstones I did not recognise.
The vassal approached a servant that led us through some hallways and stairways, until we reached a circular chamber. The room was clad in red, white, and gold marble, and to the right of the door, great windows let in the natural light of the afternoon. The chamber had a view directly over the river flowing beneath the palace, and gave a view of the eastern cityscape of Solhara.
The room had another door on the other side of the windows, giving the room a satisfying compositional symmetry. The doors were heavy, made of solid wood carved in intricate details and symbols of the sun and moon. The prevalence of this symbolism is remarkable and truly cements the importance the Solunaran people put on the sun and moon and the cycle of day and night.

Along the walls that featured no doors nor windows sat eight individuals on ornate chairs. Given the circumstances, I assumed they constituted the Council of Horizons.
From left to right, as I faced them, the members of the council were a lioness, a peahen, a male boar, a male dog, a female owl, a female gazelle, a male crocodile, and a male tortoise. The servant introduced us to the assembly, and the vassal began to address them. I attempted to sort out what he told them, though my limited knowledge of the Solunaran language was of no use.
After they had exchanged a few sentences, the owl spoke directly to me in the language of the Olyssari, asking who I was, where I came from, and what matter I had to bring before the Diurnal Crown.
Before I spoke, I naturally bowed before the council to signal my respect. While seldomly discussed, a bow is one of the actions you can do that is most widely regarded as a signal of respect. In some realms, however, such as that of the Democracy of Nidilaar, a bow signifies disrespect to the other part, or if the bow is addressed or performed wrongly, it may be regarded as mockery of the other and thus disrespect, such as in the Archonate of Fleon. You are rarely in doubt if you have erred in the social protocol, as disdain and loathing usually follows. The best you can hope for is to have no reaction at all, as that is a signal of you doing what is expected of you. If I had not been in the company of the vassal on my journey to Solhara, I would have had no knowledge of how to act at the Solunaran court.
I presented myself and my objective to the council in the language of the Olyssari, as that was our common language. Throughout my explanation, the dog needed a translation, so I had to pause once in a while for the vassal to translate. As I explained my goals, they all seemed interested in my endeavour, but the lioness did not hesitate to be distrustful of my true intentions. She believed me to be a foreign spy with the goal of gathering information about Solunara to exploit in a future invasion.
While always posing a challenge in the work of studying foreign realms, such a distrust is a natural reaction to a foreigner asking to study your society. Usually, some arrangements are made before the expedition commences to avoid such conflicts, though given the little knowledge we had about Solunara, there were no ways of setting up such an arrangement beforehand for this expedition.
As I had no way of properly disproving the lioness’ allegations, I could only offer to give them my knowledge of the world in return, and to offer them to read through and determine if my writings of their realm would be acceptable to bring back to my home.
The gazelle spoke to the other council members in the Solunaran language, and the owl eventually spoke to me in the language of the Olyssari and told me that they thought of my work as noble and honourable. They would all consider the matter of my work of such importance that I needed to present it before the Diurnal Crown at the next Horizonfire Audience.
I thanked the council for their time and was asked to wait at the palace until sunset, as that was the time for the next Horizonfire Audience. What I gathered from the vassal, being invited to an audience during the Horizonfire means the matter is of great importance: That it requires the immediate consideration of both kings. Given the uncertainty from their side of me being a potential spy, I understand their caution.
However, having my matters pushed to the kings does imply that the administrative balance of Solunara is not centered on the council alone. While it is the council’s decision which matters will be presented to the kings, I suppose there is an organised procedure of evaluation of each case, determining who needs to make a decision. If the Council of Horizons truly wielded the power, they would have made a decision at their assembly.

Before I left the chamber, I ventured to learn about the members of the Council. Given that the Council of Horizons is an official administrative body, the members and their positions could not possibly be secret knowledge. The council convened briefly, before the owl concurred and introduced me to the members of the Council.
Bear in mind, the surnames I present in these texts are translations of their native names. This I have done for ease of reading, as the pronunciation of Solunaran names requires knowledge of their use of letters and sounds. If you consider travelling to Solunara yourself, dear reader, I encourage you to study my appendices to these writings, listing the basics of Solunaran pronunciation and the names of the Solunarans I met during my own expedition.
To my far left side, the lioness, was General Tharia Fireclaw, Commander of the Army. She was the senior commander of the Solunaran Armed forces, responsible for protecting the border of the realm and its people.
The next member was the peahen. She was Lady Vesira Amberveil, the High Mistress of Festivals and Art. Her responsibilities included arranging public festivals and maintaining public spaces, as well as maintaining the cultural life of Solunara.
The male boar beside the peahen was Baron Edravos Ironspike, serving as the Master of Trade and Guilds. He represents the traders and artisan guilds of Solunara and oversees their activities to enforce the laws dictated by the Diurnal Crown.
The next was the male dog, known as Sir Calvenor Lilyoak. He is representing the people of Solunara, serving their interests. This is a position I need to investigate further: A realm, ruled by sovereigns, aided by a council, whose positions are, I assume, mostly appointed, has a member representing the people. Now, how this member is selected is important to discern the true allegiance of this position.
Then the presentation reached the female owl. She introduced herself as High Archivist Mora Valewind, Keeper of the Royal Archives. Her duties were to maintain the knowledge of the kingdom, keeping the history and laws of Solunara up to date, as well as overseeing the education and research areas of the realm.
Then it was the female gazelle. She was Astronomer Selithra Moonsail, Seer of the Stars. She is responsible for mapping and reading the movements of the skies, ensuring the kingdom acts in harmony with the celestial cycle, and overseeing the well being of the population.
The next was the male crocodile, Treasurer Malakar Duskbane, Master of Coin. He is the one responsible for the realm’s finances, as well as taxations and the treasury.
Furthest right was the male tortoise, Sage Iryndor Whisperwind, Eldest of the Moonflower Order. He is responsible for religious practices of the Diurnal Crown, ensuring the rituals are performed correctly and timely. He serves as the representative of the religions within Solunara.

The areas represented in the Council of Horizons signify the areas that are valued most in Solunara. If the area was not deemed important, I reckon a representative would not hold a seat in the Council. It could also be because the kings do not have the right competences for managing these areas on their own. It would be highly unlikely for a sovereign to not have any advisory body, however: No one can have the insight of an entire realm and rule for everyone’s best interest. Only tyrants fashion such conviction, and they eventually destroy their realm or get deposed by their subjects.
Of course, I need to look closer into the history of the Council of Horizons and how it came to be in its current configuration. It is common for such an administrative body to have had various configurations throughout its history, so this will allow me to unearth how the administrative priorities of Solunara have changed over time.
I did not have any further chance to learn more about the Council as I was ushered out the chamber. In my eagerness to learn more about Solunara, I had forgotten that I was not the only one seeking an audience with the Council. I will have to wait until sunset to meet the fabled kings of Solunara, Kalior and Selanor.

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