Serafin Wings
The Serafin are immediately striking by their two most noticeable features: the halo that crowns their heads, and the wings that adorn their backs.
We'll be talking about their wings today.
Wings in Serafin society are an important signifier of power and status. Aside from their most obvious function, the number of wings a Serafin boasts indicates their seniority among their peerage. Serafin with no wings are considered as very young children, in a way, and I'm told they're kept hidden in the very deepest part of the nest.
Single-winged Serafin are considered somewhat to be in a teenage stage. This is completely independant of their actual apparent age; I've witnessed adult-like Serafin as well as a Serafin rising no taller than my knee to be treated the same within this group. They often have no formal job and are commonly chaperoned around by their elders.
Serafin with two or three wings make up the majority population. Although three-winged Serafin are technically considered to have seniority to their double-winged counterparts and may rarely be entrusted with higher responsibilities, they more or less occupy the same social class. These Serafin are normally working class, occupying production jobs and physical labor.
A Serafin who recieves a fourth wing during molt officially graduates to the upper echelons of society, gaining the title of elder. Elders are often the social leaders of their villages, expected to give guidance and advice as well as run administrative duties. The existing elder of the village will often coach the newest elder on how to oversee these responsibilities, regardless of whether they intend on taking up the position or not.
It does happen that individual elders turn down this position and return to their working class job. This is much more common closer to the inner circles of the Nest, where the ratio of elder Serafin increases drastically. It seems to be encouraged for elder Serafin to migrate closer to the center of the floating island once they find a new elder within their village to take their place as administrator.
Grand elders, or Arch-Serafin, is a very rare and prestigious class achieved at the eighth wing molt. The vast majority of these grand elders live in the capital of the Nest, acting as political leaders and personal enforcers for the Pathfinder Star. The average double-winged Serafin describes conversing with a grand elder to put a great pressure on the mind, sometimes causing mental strain after particularly prolonged contact. Lower tier grand elders are responsible for overseeing groups of village leader elders. The highest of grand elders govern the very laws of the Nest, answering directly to the Pathfinder Star.
More information to be continued in a later part of the series.
