Solaris
The Sunflame
Overview
Element: Sun
Dominant Trait: Compassion
If the Breath ever sought to shape grace into living form, it found its expression in the Solaris. Their scales shimmer white and gold beneath the sun, every motion a reflection of celestial light, and to glimpse one in flight is to glimpse a fragment of the heavens themselves. They are the most beautiful of all dragonkind, and the gentlest.
The Solaris are calm and discerning, dragons of reason rather than rage. In times of peace they guard the highest terraces of Elyndor, their brilliance illuminating the city's towers at dawn, and they oversee the logistical wings of the Order of Draconis, carrying supplies across vast distances so that no outpost or garrison goes without aid. In war they hold the rear lines, shields of radiant flame raised over those who fight below.
They do not seek battle. They seek to protect, and a Solaris will place itself between danger and the helpless without a moment's hesitation. Yet gentleness should never be mistaken for weakness. Their power is immense, and when they are provoked, when those they shield are truly threatened, their fury burns with the white light of the sun itself.
Characteristics
Physical Attributes
Scales of pure white, alabaster, pearl, and ivory, accented with metallic gold across horns, wings, and crest. They shine even at rest, and in full sun they are almost too radiant to look upon.
Combat Style
Defensive and protective. Solaris shield allies, hold the rear, and turn their radiance against any threat that breaks through to the vulnerable. Their light guards more often than it harms.
Temperament
Serene, empathetic, protective, and wise, with a quiet capacity for judgment. They are slow to anger and swift to defend.
Size: The size of a one-story house. Roughly twenty feet tall, thirty-five to forty feet from nose to tail, with a wingspan near seventy feet. They are among the strongest fliers of all the lineages.
Coloration: White and gold in every shade. Alabaster, pearl, and ivory lit with metallic gold, the most beautiful coloring of any dragon.
Preferred Terrain: The high terraces of Elyndor and the open sky, as close to the sun as they can climb.
Signature Ability: Radiant flame raised as a shield. A Solaris can throw a barrier of golden light across an entire flank, turning aside what would fall upon the wounded and the weary behind them.
Battle Focus
Primary Role: Rear-guard, supply, and protection
Solaris are the guardians of the line. They are not afraid of battle, but they prefer to protect rather than attack, holding the rear to defend the army's flank, its supply lines, and its encampments. They carry aid to distant garrisons in peace and shelter the wounded in war, and where the fighting is fiercest they raise their radiance over those who cannot raise it for themselves.
When that shelter is broken into, the Solaris answers. Gentle until the moment of need, a roused Solaris turns the full white fire of the sun upon whatever has threatened those in its care.
Rarity and Population
Status: Rare
The Solaris are rare among dragonkind, fewer in number than the Ignivar, Volthar, or Terravane, and a fraction of them remain unbonded. Their scarcity, and the gentleness that keeps them from the front of every battle, makes each one precious to the Dominion in a way that has nothing to do with their use as weapons.
They do not bond easily. A Solaris is drawn to riders of empathy and wisdom, those whose strength lies in understanding rather than destruction, and it will pass over a hundred fiercer souls to wait for the one whose heart it recognizes. To be chosen by a Solaris is to be named, quietly, as someone worth protecting the world with.
"A Solaris does not ask who is strongest. It asks who needs shielding, and then it does not move."
- attributed to the Wardens of the Order of Draconis