The Edglings get their name because they live in the Sixth Ring of the Ringed World. The Sixth Ring is on the very edge of the world, so “Edglings”. Yeah, I know, I’m so creative *sarcasm*
Yet, they call themselves the Shaa, but other races of the world never caught on to that.
– Edglings –
What do they do?
At the time of “The Choice of Aurvandil”…
Oppress Kathula for unknown reasons. An Edgling family from the Army of the Shaa is assigned to oppress a particular Kathula family. They then become the Kathula’s Saboteur.
A Saboteur’s job is to frighten Kathula to make sure they will never rise up against Edglings. They can do this frightening in any way they want as long as they don’t kill Kathula.
Not all Edglings are Saboteurs.
At the time of “The Gold of Charmteller”…
The Edglings are focusing on their own issues while trying to work with other races to make a peaceful world. If you wanna know how they went from mean to rather peaceful, I guess you’ll have to read “The Choice of Aurvandil” 😉
Related article: Kathula – a Wiki
What do they look like?
A shadowy mass that can pass through solid objects at will. They have blood-red eyes with no pupils. They are shape-shifters, can imitate voices, and are good with languages. Some privileged Edglings (check Extra Information below) have preferred shapes they take on (their “default form“) which most likely reflects their personality.
Habitat
Sixth Ring: The slowest Ring in terms of environmental evolution. A lot of lava and volcanic flat plains. No vegetation. No natural mountains. But a lot of underground caverns. Always hot, dark, and there is a single large bright red sun like a red ball in the sky. The farther north you go the shorter the days are until you get to the farthest north where day never comes.
Edglings build upwards. Using molten rock, they create mountainous structures and when it hardens, they carve living spaces on the made mountains.
Inspiration for the city of the Edglings on Pinterest: here.
Gender
Male (Shaao), female (Shaai), genderless (Shaar)
Language
Their language is often guttural, coming from the throat. They can speak other languages as well: Kathula languages and the Universal language.
Diet
Carnivores. But they don’t eat Kathula.
Hierarchy
The Edglings live under a monarchy within the Sixth Ring.
King: The highest rank. Everyone must obey the King.
Army of the Shaa / The Privileges: Everyone must obey the Army. The Army must obey the King.
Related article: Army Ranks of Edglings (Shaa)
Gravelings: Gravelings are those that live in the rocky areas surrounding the High Castle of the King. They are mostly families for providing healthy children to make them into Shaavigs (low ranking Edgling soldiers). Every single family functions in exactly the same way. They just follow orders and structures and live. In cruel terms, they are almost like cattle.
Mucks: Mucks are those that live near the lava rivers and lakes. These Edglings, think of them has insects. They live in a large colony and eat, breed, and just live.
Powers
The Edglings create magic through potion making using ingredients such as bones and blood. Ones under the king have access to soul magic (check Extra Information below).
Names
Not all Edglings have individual names. Only certain Edglings of certain status have individual names which they give to themselves. Having an individual name means two things in Edgling culture.
- It demonstrates their high status.
- It tells others they are powerful enough to stand as an individual without the backing up of other Edglings.
Yet, some Edglings might keep their name hidden for whatever reason.
Most often Edglings will distinguish each other through sounds, scents, or their default form.
Extra Information
Traveling to Other Rings
For any race, there is no way into the Sixth Ring except the Edge Portal, the last and most ancient portal connecting Rings and heavily guarded by High Collection police. Even Edglings seldom use the Edge Portal. Seldom, meaning, they can sneak by or use their shape-shifting skills to trick the police. However, they prefer to avoid such scuffling and usually just use space travel.
They have their own ways to travel the Rings without causing commotion every time they do.
Edgling Ruling Is…
a monarchy dictatorship of utter control and strict policies ruled by a single King.
Even when the King is female or genderless, they are still called “King”. This is because the Universal word “king” happens to mean “lord” or “high ruler” in Edgling language.
Related article: A Language for Everyone – about Universal language
Edglings cannot function without rules, orders, or guidelines (such as prophecies). Just like you can’t live without food, Edglings can’t live without order and structure.
Without it, they will either go insane, just sit around and do nothing but stare out into space, and in the worse case they can die.
Edglings Do Not Aspire Without Soul Magic
Edglings who don’t have soul magic don’t ever aspire to be anything. That’s just not how they function. So, a lesser ranked Edgling without soul magic will not wish to be promoted to higher ranks. All they can do is become stronger because it is a rule.
Soul magic is a particular type of magic that comes from the soul and it also helps Edglings express individuality. An Edgling will often morph into a mixture of various creatures depending on their personality.
Edgling Individuality is a Privilege
Edglings view expressing individuality (such as having individual names or a particular default form which differs from others) as a privilege not as something that represents freedom of self expression.
Why?
Well, they are all born looking the same. Why the need to be different when you all look the same from the beginning? Those who can express individuality are those that can use soul magic.
But not all Edglings, of course, have such privilege. A special ceremony is performed to assist in accessing soul magic. Otherwise, even those privileged, cannot just access soul magic out of the blue.
Also, those Edglings with soul magic are stronger than those without and do not die so easily because they can morph into tougher material or perform more complicated spells.
FOXWOOD FOREST 