Once, Solnifar was a jewel of the First Age, a thriving, bustling city on the Saghir river, ruled by the Night Caste Jakhar and his Lunar wife, Adarasha. But when the Usurpation tore them from their lofty thrones, Saghir, the god of the river, protested this betrayal by changing his course, running entirely underground, parching the once-thriving city of water. If his beloved Solar and Lunar masters couldn't have the city… no one could.
Over time, Solnifar was abandoned, forgotten, and sank into the plains around it as Saghir carved a cavern below it. It lay, buried and all but gone, under the plains north of An-Teng for millennia, through the Great Contagion, the rise of the Scarlet Empress, and the shattering of the Jade Prison.
Until one day, a circle of young Exalts was mulling over what to do with their collective power-- what project to turn their hands toward. One of them, an Infernal named Rachna, suggested they retake the city his predecessor had once ruled: Solnifar. The others looked at him, confused. They'd never HEARD of Solnifar.
And so began a years-long project, first to find the city, then to raise it from the cavern into which it had sunk, and then to attract residents and rebirth Solnifar as a hub of civilization, trade, and higher learning. As the city grew, as refugees from the raging Dynastic civil wars sought out the only place that seemed untouched by violence, the Celestial patrons of the city realized that even with their power, they couldn't handle the daily running of the city themselves-- especially since most of them were busy with larger tasks, like rebuilding ancient infrastructure, or restoring every sodden, faded, crumbling book in the ancient library. One member of the circle, a dragonblood named Takahashi Sayuri, suggested that if the city kept growing, they'd need a bunch of dragonbloods to help them run the city. This suggestion was met with enthusiasm, and so Sayuri was sent on a year-long trek (with Rachna and Malati) to find dragonbloods who were willing to walk away from everything and start over in another city, one ruled by the feared Anathema.
She sought out wounded soldiers who were sick of war. Dragons who were injured in ways that were beyond their ability to heal. Nobles who'd been abandoned by their houses, taken prisoners of war, or otherwise left by the wayside in the turmoil for the Scarlet Throne. She sought out Lost Eggs who had nowhere to turn and didn't want to be conscripted into a bloody war. And she sought out those few dragons who… were just a bit more open-minded than most.
A year after she had departed, Sayuri returned with 13 other dragonbloods, all of whom had walked away from their houses to start a new life. All of them, as a mark of their new lives and a gesture of cooperation, took up Sayuri's house name, establishing the first Dragonblooded House in the newly reborn city of Solnifar.
Say Hello to House Takahashi, newly established under their matriarch, Takahashi Sayuri!
Within the Elements, we have: AIR Sayuri (formerly of House Ledaal, Takahashi is an alias/new name) Adrus and Buran (formerly of House Catala) Alize (formerly of House Tepet) EARTH Kimber (formerly of House Mnemon) Flint (formerly of House Ragara) FIRE Azar and Acona (formerly of House Cathak) Nyira (lost egg) WATER Vezna (definitely not of House Iselsi....) Nerissa (formerly of House Peleps) WOOD Aspen (lost egg) Hana (formerly of House Cynis) and Zihan (formerly of House Nellens)
Sayuri is still on the prowl for more willing dragons to add to her house, so there may be more in the future!
