Sun Goblyns

Revision as of 01:26, 19 April 2023

Sun Goblyns

Origin Story:

• In the tumultuous times between the Great War and the beginning stages of the Age of Retreat, a small group of goblyns fled high up into a great mountain range, settling within its highest peaks where snow still fell despite the fact that the mountain itself is centered within a desert. For a time, this band of goblyns had a hard time trying to survive in this new environment, but over time improvised, adapted to, and overcame their struggles.
• A major contributing factor for their survival came from the Sun itself, or so the goblyns came to believe. Their new home rarely saw darkness for more than 10 hours a day, and over time they came to discover ways to harness the Sun’s Energy for their own gain (and warmth). > Providing examples is a great way to flesh this out.
• As their numbers grew, their culture started to transform into one of their own, and eventually they took on the name of Sun Goblyns.

Sun Goblyn Blindness:

• When every Sun Goblyn is born, they have fully perfect vision. Once a young Sun Goblyn reaches early childhood (typically around 5-8 years), they begin to slowly lose their ability to see in darkness. By the time a Sun Goblyn reaches adolescence, they are unable to see in any space darker than a shaded spot under a tree without increasing difficulty. By adulthood, it is very rare for Sun Goblyns to be able to see anything in any light darker than when the clouds cover the sun during the afternoon.
• However, in the case of the Alchemists (and other such powerful Sun Goblyns) their timeline for losing their darkvision is much faster as they more frequently have direct absorption of the Sun’s rays via their eyes. Typically, a Sun Goblyn becomes an Alchemist during their adolescent years, and by early adulthood will have lost vision completely in at least one eye, and cannot see well in any environment without sunlight.
• Inversely, those cursed by the Sun’s Light for their worship of Baulk will regain their darkvision, but lose the ability to handle any light brighter than that of a lantern at night. Sunlight especially can cause them intense pain and discomfort, and as such will typically wear some sort of blindfold or light protection if they dare to show their faces aboveground.

Alchemy:

• Over time, Sun Goblyns had to develop ways to defend themselves from potential enemies as well as natural predators on the mountain. Through toying with various minerals, metals, and other such elements they gained through trade or collection of resources provided by the mountain. Through this experimentation, Sun Goblyns began assigning meaning and abilities that could be gained from these substances like they did with the Sun and Gold… and thus, Alchemy was born.
• Sun Goblyn Alchemists are revered among their kind (as not every Sun Goblyn is an alchemist) and are considered the most powerful among them through their more direct connection with both the Sun’s Power and the various elements and spirits associated with their science.
• A truly powerful Sun Goblyn alchemist can be identified by complete blindness in one or both eyes. When this full blindness does occur, it is not uncommon for these alchemists to pour a concoction of their metallic element of choice into one or both eyes. They believe that through this process, the properties the metals embody will be more directly and permanently absorbed into their system. This practice has evolved over time (such as making solutions that can be administered through a dropper), but many alchemists choose to continue with the tradition of the old method.
• The recipe for this specific concoction is a closely guarded secret. Only the highest tier of Sun Goblyn alchemists are allowed to prepare the solution (and as such are the only ones who know its ingredients).
• The Ultimate Goal of Sun Goblyn Alchemy:
  • Sun Goblyn Alchemists share similar goals as the humans who adopted their practices do, such as the creation of gold and purification of both metallic elements and the Self. However, the Ultimate Goal for Sun Goblyn alchemists is the reunification of the pieces of their souls that have been chomped by Baulk.
  • These Alchemists believe that through this reunification, they can then return to their True Goblyn form in combination with their newly found power from the Sun.

Obsession With and Worship of The Sun

• Sun Goblyns do not worship the Sun as if it is a deity, but instead an incredibly powerful celestial figure that grants a fraction of its power to those it chooses to grant them to with its Light. Over time, this has developed into an obsession for Sun Goblyns.
• The belief is that to properly absorb the Sun’s Light, one must let its rays in through the most direct line to their soul: the eyes. Yes, this means that they often stare directly into the Sun (or other such things that contain the Sun’s Light or reflect it, like lightning or the deflection of rays off of snow and ice).
• Besides direct absorption of power, Sun Goblyns will often implement the Sun’s Light into their potions and alchemical preparations by letting them sit in direct sunlight for a certain amount of time, and/or add gold to these concoctions due to its association with the Sun. They will also collect reflective little trinkets, most popular being handheld mirrors, as they “can hold a piece of the Sun’s Light, even if only for a little while”.
• As Sun Goblyns believe that the Sun chooses those who are worthy to bestow its Light unto them, the light blindness that affects the worshippers of Baulk is considered to be a rejection from the Sun’s Light due to the corruption in their souls. This has led to these betrayers of goblyn-kind to be shunned by their people and live out the rest of their lives in caves or abandoned mines scattered throughout the mountain. When they do dare to show their faces aboveground, they will wear sheer blindfolds, veils, hoods, or other such items to protect their eyes from the sunlight.

Looking Like a Sun Goblyn

• Sun Goblyns are still, at their core, goblyns. They do, however, paint their green skin with different colored paints imbued with various elements and chemicals to grant them extra power, abilities, or defenses from outside forces. A common example of this is using red paint to prepare for a fight, as the color red is associated with fire, the passionate emotions and unique fury needed in battle.
• Typically, Sun Goblyns will choose a collection of colors to represent the elements they feel most connected to (ex: red, black, and gold). These colors vary depending on personal preference of the goblyn, and some will choose only 1 color while others can even take on 4-5.
• A surefire way to identify a Sun Goblyn alchemist (most of the time) is the metallic paint around one/both of their eyes, sometimes forever solidified from where it had dried dripping down their skin.