Sarnathi

Sarnathi
Plural	Sarnathi
Spirit Origin	Kairos
Classification	Chrono-Spiritual Humanoid
Homeland	Itharalis
Average Height	5-5.5 ft
Average Lifespan	Unknown
Distinction	Glasslike skin with veins of slow-flowing light, silver-irised eyes, voices that echo with temporal resonance
Language	Sarnathi Signum (spoken with voice and gesture)
Factions	The Chronolathe • Keepers of the Frozen Echo • The Ivory Dwellers

The Sarnathi are an enigmatic people native to the realm of Itharalis, believed to share a spiritual lineage with Kairos, the primordial force of time. Their presence within the icy expanse is marked by silence, longevity, and meticulous observation.

Sarnathi are often mistaken for statues at a distance—their translucent, glasslike skin and motionless posture give the impression of stillness, yet beneath their unaging appearance lies an intense perceptual attunement to time’s subtle flow. They act not in haste but in accordance with long-forgotten cycles and preserved memory, often serving as temporal archivists and stewards of ancient places sealed beneath the ice.

Despite their reserved demeanor, the Sarnathi maintain a structured society, centered on reflection, preservation, and the measured unfolding of events. They are seldom seen beyond Itharalis, and those who encounter them often speak of strange dialects, half-remembered events, and the unsettling sensation of being seen not just as they are, but as they were—and may yet become.

Origin and Nature

The origins of the Sarnathi are obscured by the very element they revere—time. According to preserved inscriptions and spoken records, the Sarnathi emerged in the age when Glacian's domain first crystallized, shaped not by seasonal change but by the deep, glacial stillness that guards forgotten histories. Many believe they were formed through the union of elemental frost and the nascent influence of Kairos, giving them an affinity for stasis, memory, and chronology.

Rather than being born in the conventional sense, Sarnathi are believed to awaken from long-dormant gestation chambers hidden beneath the ice. These sanctums, carved from frozen time-glass and echoing with ancestral voices, are scattered across Itharalis and guarded by elder seers. Each Sarnathi emerges fully formed, carrying fragments of ancient memory and resonating with the rhythms of buried epochs.

Their bodies are composed of a dense, semi-translucent material that resembles glacial crystal, reinforced with living essence. This unique composition makes them highly resistant to both temperature extremes and aging. Some theorize that a Sarnathi can live indefinitely unless shattered or erased from the weave of time itself.

Biology and Physical Traits

The Sarnathi are crystalline entities shaped by the forces of cold and time, their forms simultaneously elegant and unnerving in their stillness. Though humanoid in silhouette, their physical characteristics mark them as wholly otherworldly.

Physical Form

• Body Composition – Comprised of dense, semi-translucent crystal that reflects light in shifting hues of ice-blue, violet, and silver. This material is not mineral but a living fusion of ice and chronal resonance, capable of gradual growth and regeneration.
• Facial Features – Their faces are angular and masklike, with deep-set eyes that glow faintly in dim conditions. Their expressions rarely change, giving the impression of detached serenity.
• Limbs and Movement – Their limbs are elongated and appear segmented, but move with fluid precision. Despite their crystalline nature, their motion is smooth, producing faint chimes when they walk or shift.
• Vocalization – The Sarnathi speak in a language of harmonic resonance, their voices echoing like a chorus across frozen stone. To outsiders, their speech can sound like wind through hollow ice, but among themselves it carries deep emotional nuance.

Senses and Traits

• Chronal Perception – Sarnathi perceive time differently, able to sense echoes of the past in objects or places touched by great events. Elder seers can trace timelines or extract frozen memories embedded in ancient ice.
• Temperature Immunity – They are completely immune to cold, thriving in subzero temperatures that would freeze most lifeforms solid.
• Stillness Adaptation – A Sarnathi can enter a dormant state, remaining motionless for years without decay or need for sustenance. Some serve as living statues, awakening only when their presence is required.

Culture and Society

The culture of the Sarnathi is founded on stillness, memory, and reflection. They believe that time is not a line but a frozen field, and their role is to preserve its layers, not disturb them. Sarnathi society is quiet, methodical, and deeply contemplative, shaped by long cycles of dormancy and observation.

Social Structure

• The Continuum – Sarnathi do not form governments in the traditional sense. Instead, they are organized into temporal castes aligned with their attunement to the flow of time:
• Resonants* – Artisans, builders, and stewards of memory who maintain the cities and their glacial archives.
• Echo-Keepers* – Historians and seers who interpret time-echoes preserved in ice, and advise their kin on continuity.
• Stillborn* – Dormant Sarnathi who serve as guardians or long-term sentinels. Though they sleep, they are revered as pillars of the community.
• Leadership arises by consensus among Echo-Keepers, who trace decisions through historical parallels rather than ideology or ambition.

Way of Life

• Frozen Archives – Sarnathi cities are built around massive ice vaults containing echoes of the past. These are sacred places where history is preserved not through writing, but as temporal impressions suspended in crystal.
• Memory Rituals – Instead of festivals, the Sarnathi hold meditative memory-walks, retracing key moments through preserved spaces. Participants enter trances, allowing shared memories to resurface communally.
• Art and Expression – Their art takes the form of frozen sculpture, harmonic resonance patterns, and time-etched reliefs on crystal panels. These are not created for beauty alone but to preserve emotion, thought, and moment as physical memory.
• Relationships – Sarnathi kinship is not based on blood, but on temporal resonance. Individuals attuned to the same era or echo often form communal clusters called "Harmonic Circles."

Philosophy

The Sarnathi do not strive for progress in the conventional sense. To them, true purpose lies in the preservation of continuity and the understanding of cycles. Innovation is slow and deliberate, built upon layered consensus and long observation.

• “To disturb the stillness is to forget the shape of truth.” – Sarnathi proverb

Notable Settlements

Though scattered across the frozen plains and glacial shelves of Itharalis, Sarnathi settlements are unified by a shared reverence for stillness and time. Their cities are not hubs of activity but sanctuaries of preservation, each serving a specific role in the cultural and temporal fabric of their people.

Iskar-Thal

The first and largest Sarnathi city, built atop the Shardplain. Its crystalline spires rise from a basin of slow-moving ice, encircling the Grand Archive, a living vault of preserved memory. Iskar-Thal is considered the heart of the Continuum.

Vauren-Voss

A citadel carved directly into the side of a fault-glacier, Vauren-Voss houses the Stillborn Circles—hundreds of Sarnathi in voluntary dormancy, serving as both sentinels and historical anchors. Its halls are kept in total silence, broken only by harmonic bells.

Ysilin Hollow

A subterranean refuge beneath a wind-scoured ridge of broken ice. Known for its deep resonance chambers, Ysilin Hollow is home to Echo-Keepers who study the subtle vibrations of the past preserved in glacial layers.

Tharrask Vein

An outpost city located near the Fractured Scar, where temporal disturbances surface irregularly. Tharrask Vein serves as a research site and frontier guardian, housing small cadres of Resonants who monitor and stabilize rifts in time-flow.

Enclave of Varethis

A drifting settlement built on a floating ice shelf that slowly circles the coastline of Itharalis. It is home to itinerant thinkers, seasonal memory-gatherers, and those whose resonance is too unstable to remain anchored to any fixed cycle.