Skyrunner

It was a strange sight, to see a person walk into the air as if walking up a set of stairs. With each moment I watched them rise higher into the air. I watched the group run easily half a mile into the air, to the island floating above us. As it pulsed around the air, they deftly stepped onto the floating region without a second though. Trackers? possibly, but I couldn't take the risk of engaging with them, I had a journey to continue, I was turned around enough by the moving islands to worry about these sky walkers.

— Dandrith Coresyne's entry describing a group of Skyrunners

Skyrunners are a collective of scouts and explorers who have trained to attain the title to traverse the various islands of The Moon Shards. They are called Skyrunners due to their unique ability to step into the sky using a set of trained arcane abilites allowing them to run across the sky. The title is offered by members of the Lantern Wanderers and is often linked with the Land Walker and Sky Warden faction of the Wanderers. The training is said to take up the majority of a person's childhood.

Description

There are three ways to identify a Skyrunner, besides their ability to run into the sky. The first is an insignia they wear on their chest.The insignia is a triangle facing up with an s-curved line going through it. This insignia is based on an ancient Alkemancy smybol meaning air combined with the Giant s-curve that meant to move or to run.

The second and third identifier are a combination of formal wear that protects a Skyrunner. The first is a set of boots that possess two embroidered wind symbols on either side of the boots. The final identifier is a multi-coloured scarf that the Skyrunner made as part of their training. It is subtley enchanted to ensure they can breathe clearly in the air.

Most Skyrunners wear clothes that flow around them, usually this is to give them freedom of movement as they travel around the skies. This has lead to a devisive debate over the use of capes. Some of them are adamant that a cape can help them identify each other by the colours that appear on the fabric, as well as adding additional protection from intense weather. However, many point out that a cape is something else for a creature to hold a Skyrunner, additionally, it also provides no real functional benefit.

Skyrunner

Historical Information

Notable Skyrunners

Talek Moshtan Yena Tornbask Endrash Cloudskein Fyar'osh Tovarn

Organizational Information

Organization	Lantern Wanderers
Type	Scout, Explorer
Term	Indefinite
Duties	Search the various islands of The Moon Shards Record natural and hypernatural phenomena Inform the elders of incoming threats

History

The Skyrunners first started to appear in 194 AR when the Lantern Wanderers were first starting to form their full mission to explore and protect the Moon Shards. These first Skyrunners were already skilled arcanists who used arcane means to allow themselves to fly into the air and explore the upper eschilons of The Moon Shards.

By 238 AR, the selection and training process for new Skyrunners began, finding that some individuals were uniquely adapted to travelling the skies in a similar manner to the original arcanists. Their adaptation was passed down through their bloodline, allowing these people a limited inherent ability to step on the sky as if it were stairs. Under strict training, many of these people learned to harness their ability and use it to scout local areas.

Through to 619 AR, the Skyrunners had remained unseen by the many people who had explored The Moon Shards and returned to the mainlands. However, the explorer Dandrith Coresyne discovered a small Skyrunner crew who were seeking out one of the upper islands at the time. He chose to keep their existence a secret until he published his journal on his deathbed in 673 AR. Since then, arcanists have attempted to travel to the island in search of the Skyrunners, but have mostly been unsuccessful in discovering them.

Three Skyrunners are believed to have travelled beyond The Moon Shards, but have found their abilities limited away from its strange source. Leading to confusion of the height of the Skyrunners abilities. However, since 753 AR, one explorer seems to have learned some of the magical abilties of the Skyrunners, meaning that there is the ability for someone not born on The Shards to learn.

Selection

Skyrunners are selected from a young age, usually by selecting a child who shows skill with magic controlling the winds. However, there are some tribes who let children fight for the ability to claim right ot becoming a Skyrunner. In these parts of the Lantern Wanderers, these children see Skyrunner as a great title to be earned.

Where there is no contest, an elder among the tribe decides if a child is ready. This leads to some who have the potential to be a Skyrunner being significantly older before they approach the start of training.

Training

There are two primary stages to the training of a Skyrunner:

Alith'dorn is the release of attachments, letting oneself rise high into the sky as needed. This is often why new Skyrunner recruits are children, so they have less tying them to the ground. Alith'dorn also teaches the Skyrunner to harness their magical potential, should it be needed.

Bren'lovir is the grounding of skills. Skrunners are taught how to read the land and recount what they have learned on a mission. Bren'lovir also teaches the Skyrunner how to use a martial weapon, primarily for their own protection.

Notable Skyrunners

Name	Pronouns	Description
Talek Moshtan	He/Him	Orc Skyrunner. Talek was one of the first Skyrunners, his skills and abilities over the years have allowed him to become well known as a Skyrunner among the Lantern Wanderers. Until his death, he became a reknowned teacher and elder to the many Skyrunners that came after him. Talek's name is still attached to many notes related to several of the islands held by the Lantern Wanderers.
Yena Tornbask	She/Her	Wood Elf Skyrunner. From among the early generations of Skyrunners, Yena has been the longest serving among the current group of Skyrunners. She originally served her term as a Skyrunner, then a Pack Leader, then after a long career, she retired to teaching for the last 50 years. However, this retirement hasn't dampened her skills.
Endrash Cloudskein	They/Them	Storm Giantkin Skyrunner. Endrash was one of the oldest recruits to be trained among the Skyrunners. They had an innate affinity for manipulating the sky around them, but they were constantly not selected due to their lack of the base ability to run in the sky. Eventually an encounter with a Runic word of power for Sky, Endrash learned to harness their wind based abilities to create platforms in the air to walk upon.
Fyar'osh Tovarn	She/Her	Ignis Elementra Skyrunner. Among the latest crop of Skyrunners, Fyar'osh was an adept at the skills to walk in the air. They put themselves forward as an envoy to the rest of the realm rather than another scout. After deep consultation, Fyar'osh's proposal was accepted with the Lantern Wanderers leadership providing her starting materials to traverse to the other continents. To this day, Fyar'osh travels the lands to learn more and return to her people.