Caelians

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   <default>Caelians</default>
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</image> <label>Lifespan</label> <label>Height</label> <label>Diet</label> <label>Territory</label> </infobox> It is said that the first caelians were humans, once. They were the first to ascend the Coronus mountains, and what they found atop the highest peak was glory itself, woven into the stars. The revelation they experienced there changed them, and they sprouted wings that let them dance in the light. That, however, was a very long time ago. In this day and age, the magic is faltering. Children are born with twisted wings, and all live beneath a broken halo.

Aging

Caelians have the second longest potential lifespans: most caelians will live to see their 100th bday. (Cave-ins are an on-going issue in Dolsia that lowers average life expectancy, but the technology has reached a point that those aren't remotely as common as they used to be.) The biggest issue facing elderly caelians is respiratory illness. The stale, stagnant air of the caves--polluted with dusts molds and more--takes a toll eventually.

Visually, their markings pale with age and, sometimes, shift color. The color shifts are never extreme and typically just reveal a color that was already present. For example, a reddish-black fades to maroon, or orange fades to yellow. The process resembles sun-fading.

Elderly caelians generally have less feathers as well. It takes them much longer to grow in feathers after a molt, and the molts aren't quite as clean, giving most older caelians a scruffy, ruffled look.

Body Language

When you startle them, they poof.

Change Over Time

Rare traits used to be common.

Halos

Caelians have a natural ability to perform light magic, and this magic can take a variety of forms. Caelains can create small glowing balls of light, shapes of any sort, and even (typically harmless) lightning strikes. Any idea that involves an intangible source of light is within their capacity. Their ability to sustain this light is entirely dependent on how stable their halo is: a fully formed, unbroken halo provides the most stable magic. Caelians with glitching halos tend to create glitchy lights, and caelians with melting halos tend to create lights that simply melt away. Fractured halos tend to have lights that flicker, and starred halos tend to fall to pieces. Only whole halos and only whole halos produce consistent light. Caelians with mixed halo types often experience a random set of effects.

The number of halos a caelian has reflects the power of their light magic. Just one halo translates to one small ball of light, whereas a caelian with nine or more halos could singlehandedly light a stadium or city block.

Halos form around a caelian's magical center: this is the place it's easiest for caelians to manifest light from. Halos hover, on average, about six inches away from the skin, though this distance can be much shorter or larger, especially if the halo encircles a limb. A halo will never be further than touch range. They can bounce around a bit as the caelian moves: for example, if a caelian turns their head quickly, their halo may lag a second behind. Halos tend to move closer to their owners and avoid clipping into objects when possible. Some caelians can consciously move their halos around a few inches, and this is often shown off in a similar way that kids like to show off being double-jointed.

Tangible halos can be grabbed and taken, but being separated from their halo makes a caelian incredibly sick. Taking a halo is like ripping away part of someone's soul, and taking one for too long will eventually kill them. How fast it does so depends solely on how many they have.

Sleep

They don't have much of a circadian rhythm.