The Stalwart Vulkir

“They are purpose made flesh, true and unrelenting. While we spend our lives praying for the confidence to stand in the face of abominable evil, the Vulkir seem to have been built to endure. I’ve seen a Vulkir cobbler rush towards an abomination of the Conclave with more courage than a Human princept could ever dream of. They aren’t uncorruptible, however, and it brings me no joy to say that I’ve seen this very strength being used against our brothers in faith.”

— Septas Lardini

Galdrun, the Shaper of Mountains, was the greatest artificer to ever grace the face of Agnar. While his Everlasting brethren dealt in politics, magic, and schemes, Galdrun found purpose in building structures that would last for aeons, monuments that would stand despite the folly of his kind. Even so, some of his endeavours were so grand, such as the creation of the great wall commissioned by the Triunvirate, that even he would require assistance to see them done. Aware that none of the peoples of Selejia were equal to the task, Galdrun set out to create a new species altogether, strong enough to withstand the gruelling task ahead. If the Everlasting were to achieve his lofty dreams, he would need to shape a new people just as he did stone. He would give them flesh as strong as the mountains, and light within their souls a spark of creativity, drawn from his own flame. Thus, the Vulkir were born. 

Since their creation, the Vulkir have remained true to their maker’s purpose. They have helped to maintain and preserve what the Fall couldn’t fully destroy, putting their massive bodies and keen eyes to good use. Just as skilled as they are in creating, so are the Vulkir versed in destruction. To bring down what is obsolete to make way for the new is a necessary task of any builder, and breaking bodies is considerably easier than bringing down walls. Should the situation require, the Vulkir will be the first to answer the call, and the last to fall. This boundless endurance, as well as many of their greatest strengths, can be traced to their very conception at the hands of Galdrun. 

Among the ancestries created by the Everlasting that still roam Selejia, the Vulkir are the tallest and strongest of them all, save perhaps for a few hyper-adapted Oerikan. Their greatest feature, their stone-hard skin, is thick enough to render many forms of attack harmless, as common arrows and swords never dig deep enough to threaten a wound. This gift, however, eventually becomes a curse. While Humans and Oerikan begin to experience physical decline when they reach thirty years of age, the Vulkir remain at their apex until their eighties, when they must finally meet their fate.

As they age, the sturdy skin of the Vulkir naturally hardens, and upon reaching elderhood, this process accelerates, eventually hindering their bodies to a point where moving becomes a fight against oneself. So compromised do they become that some Vulkir elders refrain from combat altogether, opting to remain in the same city for years, using their decades of experience only to relay orders and wisdom to the younger ones. As their bodies harden, so does the link between body and mind. A Vulkir elder is a well of knowledge, but their bodies and perception betray them, as if each thought had to be assembled like pieces of an infinite puzzle. Some have described it as trying to see the sky through fractured stained glass.  

While each nation has its own form of honouring its dead, the Vulkir have a custom that transcends such boundaries. When the time comes, a Vulkir elder stands up one last time and journeys to a garden of stone, where their forebears rest. There, their skin and flesh fully harden, and they join hundreds of other sacred statues, memorials decorating the landscape with a beautiful, albeit grim sight. These gardens of stone are held sacred by all Vulkir, no matter their allegiance, and to despoil them is an unforgivable affront, even for those of the Primal Blood.