Silva

The Silva are considered to be the true children of the Celestial **Kurro**, due to them sharing extremely similar appearances to the **Celestial** himself. Much like the Celestial, the Silva are quick to be defensive of their territory, and they take their duties extremely seriously. It is believed that the Silva came to be in **Ancient 4,900**.

## Settlements

Silva typically make their homes along rocky areas where rich **minerals** can be found, specifically gold. It’s rare to find Silva anywhere but rocky mountains, with typically only mixed Silva feeling comfortable in grassier areas. Wherever there are rocks, Silva colonies can be found.

**Mairis** - A smaller settlement at the edge of a cliff that borders **Mount Saku**. The Silva here build the trees into their homes, often weaving walls around the branches. Opals are widely spread along this area, with the Silva enjoying harvesting them to hang the gemstones from their trees and offer tribute to **Pafella**, as well as to beautify their homes. They live on the cliffside, with their homes situated in the trees growing out of it, right above a lavender field.

**Coldrock** - A dark blue and silver settlement located in **Northern Aurulora**. This settlement is filled with Silva that don darker and duskier colors to their feathers, due to the naturally occuring dusky day and night cycle of the region. Below their settlement is a large cobalt mine, where they harvest materials to trade away. Generally, these cobalt deposits are carved into **Celestial** statuettes.

**Cliffmire** - A settlement located on the continent of **Kropari**, within the **Whispering Forest**. The settlement is plentiful in mica, with the Silva in the location often harvesting them to decorate foods and create both decorations and cosmetics. Sometimes, the Silva will rub the mica into their feathers, giving their dulled grey, black, and pure white feathers a pop amongst their landscape. Their nests are built in trees and rubbed with white and silver micas, often giving them diamond-like appearances as they hang from the branches. The Silva here typically are very large and thick, donning long and sharp wings. Some use eagles to assist in their hunting.

**Orzieu** - A settlement located in **Eulazus** on the border of the **Rahashi Desert**, outside of **Celena's Forest**. The Silva here are very rough and sandy, well suited for short and fast flights across the desert plains. Their homes are made in the hollowed cliffsides of the region between the desert and forest, and from afar, they have the appearance of masterful carved artworks. Desert roses are a favorite of the Silva here, with the gems being carved into the thresholds of their homes. The Silva do this because they believe that the gemstone brings good luck and banishes evil. The Silva here lack any fluff under their feathers and are very slick in appearance. Their lack of color is made up for with beautiful spots and patches along the tips of their wings, often reflecting the night and day time skies.

**Besanveil** - A settlement located within **Southern Aurulora**. The Silva here typically have pink undertones to their feathers, with their beaks also being a shade of pink no matter the sex of the Silva. They enjoy harvesting the deposits of feldspar that grow along the cliffs of the icy mountains of the region, weaving the feldspar into their homes, clothing, and feathers for good luck. Their homes are interconnected between the cliffs of a ravine, with long bridges going between them and porches for them to perch and walk along. The feldspar has become sparse due to overmining, but is slowly becoming a more sustainable source once again.

**Wildvein** - A settlement located within the Whispering Forest of Kropari, not far inside of it's border. It is situated on top of a large collection of gold ores that have been guarded by gold-infatuated Silva. The Silva will occasionally harvest the gold, crafting them into beautiful sculptures that they decorate the cliffsides they live along with. Sadly, they refuse to trade away the rich material, preferring to keep it for themselves.

## History

Being the most common type of **Ceardian** to be a part of the **Steel Plume**, the Silva are often the most respected form of Ceardian, next to the **Vai** and **Lioane**. Silva will fight to their own deaths in order to fight off the forces of **Vyros**, causing their corpses to litter void-riddled battlefields the most. Despite the smaller races commonly fearing the Silva, the Silva are seen as a type of royalty due to their high standing in the Ceardian society. It is common for them to be the ones leading settlements or to be **Kurro’s** first choice as his guardian, earning respect from the society as a whole.

The Silva use their high status to their advantage. Their nests and homes often are seen lined with gold leaf or golden statuettes, giving their living areas a pompous air. When the Silva are away from their nests, those who are desperate to make some quick money will wait for their chance to raid the homes or the nests of the race, looting them of the high quality, precious materials to take back home with them.

However, these raids on Silva's previous resources are where the darker side of the violent race comes out. Those who are caught following a robbery will often be tracked down by an enraged Silva, being ripped from limb to limb by the angry creature. If the race that had stolen away happened to be a **race** that was a natural enemy of the Ceardians, the Silva would not hesitate to bring the corpse of the person that had met their demise at their claws back to their nest as a meal.

Despite this, Silva typically only attack when provoked or when they feel as though their children or themselves are in danger. They are powerful and majestic, seen as protectors against evil and the king of all creatures due to their connection to Kurro amongst the races of Eprea.

## Physical Appearance

Silva range anywhere from 2 feet (60.96 cm) to 10 feet (304.8 cm) in height.

Silva come in a large variety of colors and appearances, with their defining feature being that they don the head of a bird and the bottom of either a feline or an equine. The equine bottomed Silva are much rarer amongst the society, with the equine Silva taking on more peaceful roles, such as healers or child caretakers.

It is rare to find a Silva with one uniform color throughout their entire body. For a Silva to be one solid color, their family would have to intentionally breed through several generations in order to achieve the appearance. As a result, these types of Silva are typically of high status or royalty.

The wings of Silva are shaped to have sharp tips and fanned out feathers, allowing for them to fly quickly and cut through the air. However, the shape of their wings prevents them from being as agile as they could be, making them less than desired for quick chases through highly forested areas.

Silva wear sleek armor that is close to the skin to allow for easier flight patterns and cutting through the air. Their armor and shields are typically depicted with an image of a griffon to honor the Celestial **Kurro**. Instead of using weapons, Silva prefer to use their own beaks and talons as their choice of weaponry.

### Life Span

The Silva appear to be immortal. They are children from 1 to 14 years old, adolescent from 15 to 18, and adults from 19 and on. Despite aging to adults in the same speed as the **Manna**, the Silva consider any other Silva under the age of 40 to be a child.

## Culture

Alchemists often seek out Silva, searching for their down feathers or shed claw caps to use in their potions. Alchemists seek out these parts of the Silva due to the belief that the properties of these parts of a Silva have the potential to restore sight to the blind. Alchemists will also sometimes take the eggshells of hatched Silva children with them, if the Silva allow it, scraping the inside for any remaining membrane and selling the remains of the shell to other craftsmen. The shell can be made into goblets, which are believed to prolong life when drunk from.

### Food

Silva have a large diet of a variety of foods that they enjoy indulging in. Their favorite meats to hunt down are elephants, giraffes, and horses or pegasi. More herbivorous Silva, which are typically rarer hippogriff types, will forage for fruits and vegetation to eat instead. Due to the split in the Silvan society, there are two dishes that have come out of the race that are well known - **Pegasi Wings** and **Peach and Cream Parfait**.

### Romance

When getting married, Silva will shed their sleek armor and use their weddings as a chance to wear flowy, sheer outfits. Female Silva will wear long dresses, with the males wearing long tails on their coats. Silva weddings consist of the couple taking off into the air, performing a dance in the air to showcase their strength in their wings, ending the dance with a cradle and vows.

### Childcare

Silva typically have clutches of up to six at a time. The eggs will take up to a year to finish incubating, with fully feathered Silva children emerging from the eggs at the end of the year. More humanoid Silva will typically have one or two children at a time, and will often be seen stealing milk from mammals to feed their children, due to their lack of mammaries.

More beastial Silva can have children with Manna, other Ceardian, Zogardian, Vlennite, and Oril.

### Death

When a Silva has passed away, their family will take their body up to the clouds, offering the corpse to the **Celestials**. **Kurro** will often take the body of his child, seeking out **Eiryot** himself to get the peace of mind of the Silva receiving the peaceful afterlife that he believes they deserve.