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houseofstrange2019-05-02 12:45 am
mimi_sardinia) wrote in houseofstrange2019-05-02 12:45 am
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Nightlands: Glow Features Thoughts
Do humans glow the way animals do? Well...
So I long established both plants and animals can have glowing features, like leaf veins, fur streaks, and whiskers that glow. But I have never addressed whether the sapient races share these and it is something that has niggled in my mind for a while.
I have decided that it is a mixed issue, with things like power levels, racial differences and self-control being factors involved.
Previously established facts on glow features is that sentient but non-sapient animals have them but can control how brightly they show by instinct. Prey animals dim their markings when trying to hide, predators dim theirs while hunting. An animal with instincts in both predator and prey camps, like small cats, will very rarely show theirs. Another factor is that glow marks will always be dimmer during Moonday,as the markings are signs of magic and avoiding radiating magical energy under the Greater Moon is a survival tactic post-Nightfall.
But onto the sapient races.
At the most basic, yes, sapient races have glow features, but it is a sign of moderate magical ability. Most humans never have them, and those who do show them (usually evident right from birth) are usually natural-born sorcerers. Due to this, glow markings are considered something to be proud of, but the influence of both the Greater Moon and the other races, they are a private point of pride.
Among the magically stronger races glow markings are viewed as a sign of lack of arcane control, with early childhood magic training including the basics of magical control that represses the glow of markings. Both the Quendár and Kessír (as well as other races who may be around) would consider the display of glow features to be gauche and indecent, though the Quendár tend to be more circumspect in how they would address it. These opinions have impacted the human view of glow markings, so while they are taken with pride, they are not shown off in public.
Other non-humanoid races tend to hold similar attitudes, with issues such as stealth also being a factor, especially for the likes of Unicorns (who are shy) and Dragons (whose rough culture warrants stealth). The big exception is Phoenixes, who tend to glow anyway, so glow-feathers blend in amongst the rest of their frequently fiery plumage.
Attitudes underwater can be different too, as far enough down, the Greater Moon cannot reach sea residents, so glow marks can be used as personal illumination, though even in the sea stealth can be a wanted factor.
The Three Sisters have glow marks, but in the ultra-rare instance any of them would show them, they would show up blindingly bright.
Edit 13/10/19: I got thinking about at what point people first found out about the glow features, especially when they would find out people born pre-Nightfall had them. The likely first discovery would have been in newborn children, not able to control them until gaining basic magical control. In adults, it would have to be in some circumstance where someone's control was lowered, allowing their glow-lines to show up.
Actually, I think one of the first to find out about them would have been one of the Three Sisters. All three of them bonded with their partners around the same general time and doing involved a cerain amount of loss of control. The one most likely to have been first is Elossí, as her relationship with her husband was pre-existing. It would have taken longer for thew other two as those were both new relationships, with men they met post-Nightfall. In Losá's case (since her story is my pet favourite), it could be anywhere between three weeks to a couple of months. I have no clear idea about travel times for a group of people, mixed ages, on foot, probably with stock animals with them, definitely carrying belongings, in unknown lands, making their way through mountain terrain. I favour a longer estimate though, because it givens a solid length of time for Losá and Tirin to get to know each other.
Outside the Sisters though, it would take deliberate studies into lowering magical control to find out the glow markings were appearing across the whole of Quendár-kind, and years of people resettling lands and mixed communities forming to find out the prevalence in Kessír and Edan (humans), and form a coherent link to magical abilities. Some folk inclined to observe wildlife may have worked out glow markings prevailed in more magically inclined animals, also at the same time working other the same animals had changed habits to be almost totally nocturnal according to post-Nightfall meaning of "nocturnal". /Edit.
So I long established both plants and animals can have glowing features, like leaf veins, fur streaks, and whiskers that glow. But I have never addressed whether the sapient races share these and it is something that has niggled in my mind for a while.
I have decided that it is a mixed issue, with things like power levels, racial differences and self-control being factors involved.
Previously established facts on glow features is that sentient but non-sapient animals have them but can control how brightly they show by instinct. Prey animals dim their markings when trying to hide, predators dim theirs while hunting. An animal with instincts in both predator and prey camps, like small cats, will very rarely show theirs. Another factor is that glow marks will always be dimmer during Moonday,as the markings are signs of magic and avoiding radiating magical energy under the Greater Moon is a survival tactic post-Nightfall.
But onto the sapient races.
At the most basic, yes, sapient races have glow features, but it is a sign of moderate magical ability. Most humans never have them, and those who do show them (usually evident right from birth) are usually natural-born sorcerers. Due to this, glow markings are considered something to be proud of, but the influence of both the Greater Moon and the other races, they are a private point of pride.
Among the magically stronger races glow markings are viewed as a sign of lack of arcane control, with early childhood magic training including the basics of magical control that represses the glow of markings. Both the Quendár and Kessír (as well as other races who may be around) would consider the display of glow features to be gauche and indecent, though the Quendár tend to be more circumspect in how they would address it. These opinions have impacted the human view of glow markings, so while they are taken with pride, they are not shown off in public.
Other non-humanoid races tend to hold similar attitudes, with issues such as stealth also being a factor, especially for the likes of Unicorns (who are shy) and Dragons (whose rough culture warrants stealth). The big exception is Phoenixes, who tend to glow anyway, so glow-feathers blend in amongst the rest of their frequently fiery plumage.
Attitudes underwater can be different too, as far enough down, the Greater Moon cannot reach sea residents, so glow marks can be used as personal illumination, though even in the sea stealth can be a wanted factor.
The Three Sisters have glow marks, but in the ultra-rare instance any of them would show them, they would show up blindingly bright.
Edit 13/10/19: I got thinking about at what point people first found out about the glow features, especially when they would find out people born pre-Nightfall had them. The likely first discovery would have been in newborn children, not able to control them until gaining basic magical control. In adults, it would have to be in some circumstance where someone's control was lowered, allowing their glow-lines to show up.
Actually, I think one of the first to find out about them would have been one of the Three Sisters. All three of them bonded with their partners around the same general time and doing involved a cerain amount of loss of control. The one most likely to have been first is Elossí, as her relationship with her husband was pre-existing. It would have taken longer for thew other two as those were both new relationships, with men they met post-Nightfall. In Losá's case (since her story is my pet favourite), it could be anywhere between three weeks to a couple of months. I have no clear idea about travel times for a group of people, mixed ages, on foot, probably with stock animals with them, definitely carrying belongings, in unknown lands, making their way through mountain terrain. I favour a longer estimate though, because it givens a solid length of time for Losá and Tirin to get to know each other.
Outside the Sisters though, it would take deliberate studies into lowering magical control to find out the glow markings were appearing across the whole of Quendár-kind, and years of people resettling lands and mixed communities forming to find out the prevalence in Kessír and Edan (humans), and form a coherent link to magical abilities. Some folk inclined to observe wildlife may have worked out glow markings prevailed in more magically inclined animals, also at the same time working other the same animals had changed habits to be almost totally nocturnal according to post-Nightfall meaning of "nocturnal". /Edit.