#metalfolk

[kanobarlowe]

Worldbuilding can be hard sometimes because I'm like hey how on earth do you decide and make a consistent perspective on family units when a household is both orientation neutral and has male/female harems due to wanting to have magic in the family as much as possible.

Like example: an Aurum man takes on an Argentum man as a spouse in his house. Now he wants the Argentum to have a child to either have more Argentum magic or to have a child with mixed magic. They both can't produce children so the Aurum man probably has to choose someone? What if that's outside the household? How is custody decided? Or is it going to be a woman in the harem, or a sibling to the Aurum man?

Making them orientation-neutral (as in they may all have their own individual orientations like straight, gay, bi, but they don't really care or discriminate and people may take on a same sex spouse for political or economic reasons if not sexual preference) definitely throws a wrench into an otherwise simple and rigid system.

[siar-photography]

Music is divine.

This is my favorite pick of the photos i took in a Jam Session held at the National Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology (Insat), and organized by the student cultural club: CIné Rado Insat. What i love about is the serenity of the violinist and the way the stage light falls upon his face, along with the color mixture of Blue and Beige. 

The band performing was Ymyrgar, a metal folk band. They are simply EPIC.

[kanobarlowe]

Cobalta - People of Cobalt

A populous people with a large quantity of Magi, the Cobalta make up a large portion of the artistic class that entertains and amuses those in power. Their highest art forms are visual arts and literature, while dance and music are considered base arts (due to their magic). Their seraphic body marks the second month of the year, Venustas, which empowers their magic.

The Cobalta have patterned skin of blue and brown in varying shades and hues. Their hair often takes on one of these colors as its dominant, and their eyes are typically a deep blue.

Their magic is that of art—art of the familiar, something they deeply know, can be made real. Portals to places in their memory, objects, food, can be painted onto a canvas and made real, but only for a moment. Eventually it melts away, and can no longer be used or accessed. What's more, the memory of it is gone from the artist forever—they must relearn it entirely in their voided memory to ever paint or write it to life again.

The Cobalta live in relative comfort in upper class societies due to their beauty, talents, and abundant magic. Due to the magic's frailty, it is often used to entertain, or to transport their masters across far distances, with several Cobaltum Magi studying locations in great detail to be able to provide transport regularly.

Tagging (let me know if you'd like to be tagged too!)

@biggestqiblifan

[kanobarlowe]

Btw for anyone interested my whole Metalfolk worldbuilding inspiration and energy came about because of my little guy in Elden Ring actually, I made a night folk and it reminded me of my inverted earth project and how metal people would be really cool.

Quill of Clan Kurai is an Argentum (silver). You're looking at his eyes which is incredibly intimate and sensual for his people 👀😳

[kanobarlowe]

Lithoi - People of Lithium

The Lithoi are a small group of people that have created quite an unusual circumstance in the Sun-Touched Sands. They are not native to the area, but once crossed through the Endless Dunes in the north and into the Solis Imperium. With no Magi, the Lithoi could not speak the language and were sequestered into a compound in the Imperial grounds where Stanna scholars learned to translate and teach their tongue to the head Lithos scholar.

They fled persecution, they said, as a pacifistic people who would not bow to a deathly god of horrors. The news was brought to the Emperor—there are peoples and lands beyond the Endless Dunes. Places where the language is different, and magic is unseen. When asked about their numbers, the Lithoi said they lost many of their people on the journey—the roughly 100 remaining are but a fraction of those who fled.

The first Lithos Magus born provided a unique gift none could expect—the ability to provide energy and to revitalize old magic tools that had worn down over time. The Lithoi were quickly adopted as a people into the Emperor's household, and they were given an old compound as their own district to repopulate and bring anew.

More shocking, the Stanna spotted something in the celestial sea. Its implications shook the aristocracy: a new seraphic body floated at the end of the year, one the Lithoi called Spítha, which was renamed Scintilla by the Stanna as a close translation.

[kanobarlowe]

Aluminia - People of Aluminum

A slightly smaller population compared to the Ferra, the Aluminia are the lowest class of society, typically looked on with suspicion and revile by the other metals. A cunning group that has used their position in the Solis Imperium to their advantage, their seraphic body is Larva, which marks the Eighth Month of the year.

With grainy skin of silvers and porous browns, the Aluminia will cover their body from head to toe, and dawn masks that will obscure much of their features.

With one of the most useful magics, one would think the Aluminia would be elevated in society: they can copycat magic by simply touching a Magi of another metal, or ingesting a part of them (which leads to poultices and potions with crushed up hair, blood, skin). The cost, however, is what has cast them down to the lowest of society—as they use magic of others, their own skin warps, becoming a metal patchwork based on the magics they've used. Splotches of gold, silver, iron, copper, titanium, nickel, all cascade across their bodies, making them look like a Frankenstein's monster, a horror to the other metals.

Cast off by most of society, the Aluminia make it by running their own shops and bazaars with cheaper options than the more well-to-do markets. The risk of scams, theft, and more are a danger there, but asking a desperate Magus for a bit of hair in return for a remedy to heal a sick family member for cheap? A risk many are willing to take. Many in the aristocracy also have connections to underground Aluminia gangs to perform unsavory jobs, providing them with magic they need to do the job.

[kanobarlowe]

Plumba - People of Lead

The Plumba are a small group ofpeople, and magic is hard to take in their offspring. They make up a decent part of the working class alongside the Ferra, but due to the nature of their magic, they are sometimes othered whether they are actually Magi or not. Their seraphic body is Servio, which marks the seventh month of the year.

The Plumba are a matte gray folk in various shades and tinges, their bodies often covered ver humbly. They are often workers, tellers, farmers, or, most commonly, healers, botanists, and alchemists.

The Plumba death magic is both revered as one of the holiest of magics, but reviled for its nature in which death will almost always come. The Plumba have the ability to take injury or ailment from a patient, but they must take it into their own bodies, onto themselves—or, horrifically, transfer it to someone else. Plumba Magi are often morticians and operate funeral rites, and will often give their lives for those who are valuable to society and suffering from a deathly injury or illness.

The Solis Imperium also utilizes a select few Plumba Magi as executioners—those with deathly ailments collected, brought to the prisons, and the Plumbum Magus will transfer the malady to the prisoner. This is considered a death worthy to only those of the highest offenses.

[kanobarlowe]

Cupra - People of Copper

The Cupra's population is a bit below average, but their Magi population compensates for their smaller number with its abundance. The Cupra are one of two metals in which they appear to be exclusively women, the only difference being primary sex characteristics. Their seraphic body, Renasci, marks the third month of the year.

The Cupra are born with copper orange skin and hair that will green over time, their aged marked by the progressive freckling and patterning of green on their skin and in strands of hair.

The lowest class of the aristocracy, the Cupra are valuable servants to the Aura and Stanna due to their magic. The power of fertility gives the Cupra a strong use in their communities - they are often rented for farms to grow crops quickly, and can even replenish the minerals and metals in mines. Even more valuable, a Cuprum Magi in the bedroom is vital to low-fertility Aura and Stanna. The Cupra magic encourages fertility in people, ensuring pregnancy.

The Cupra's magic cost has caused their situation, as well as accusations, of laziness from those who are jealous of their station. They are not high enough in social class to have more expectations, not low enough for a lot of labor—and Cupra magic makes the metabolism run rampant, causing exhaustion and even starvation. This leads to Cupra houses being taken in by the aristocracy who will spoil them in splendor to keep Cupra Magi healthy, the Magus' family usually piggybacking off their pampering to benefit as well.