Aeralith Vaelor is a storm-born sky warden formed from wind, lightning, and cloudstone, patiently guarding floating skylands and preserving atmospheric balance and memory
Aeralith Vaelor is widely known as the Cloudbound Warden or the Sky-Sentinel of the High Reaches. These names reflect its role as a watchful presence over the upper skies rather than a title granted by any single culture.
| Size | |
|---|---|
| Height | 50-58 cm |
| Length | 85-95 cm |
| Weight | 11-14 kg |
It is believed that Aeralith came into existence during the First Skyfracture, a primordial era when the sky itself ruptured and vast floating landmasses were torn away from the world below. For decades afterward, relentless storms raged, and within that chaos wind, lightning, and mineral-laden cloudstone fused into a living entity. According to legend, the sky required a stabilizing force to prevent the drifting isles from falling back to the earth, and Aeralith formed at the heart of the storms. It was not summoned, shaped by gods, or deliberately created, but instead assembled itself out of necessity. Its nature is neither wholly beast nor spirit, but a convergence of atmosphere, instinct, and enduring memory.
Aeralith’s body exists in a semi-corporeal state, solid enough to rest upon yet capable of dissolving into mist at will. Beneath its translucent exterior run veins of softly glowing sky-crystal. Its eyes mirror the conditions around it, appearing clear blue when calm and shifting to storm-violet when it feels threatened. Rather than flapping wings, it possesses wing-like structures that manipulate air pressure directly, allowing it to move by reshaping the sky itself.
By disposition, Aeralith is solitary and rarely tolerates the presence of others like it, assuming any still remain. It patrols the highest regions of the world, favoring floating plateaus, storm crowns, and powerful wind corridors. When it rests, it does so while suspended within slowly rotating rings of cloud, formations often mistaken for ordinary weather. It watches civilizations from afar and refrains from interference unless the balance of the skylands is endangered. Despite its immense scale and power, it is deliberate and patient rather than hostile, and legends say it may observe a single valley for generations, committing every change to memory.
Aeralith holds dominion over the atmosphere itself. It can calm storms or drive them into greater fury across a wide area, redirect powerful air currents to prevent aerial landmasses from collapsing, and create zones of reduced gravity that allow safe landings on otherwise unstable skylands. These abilities are tied closely to its deeper connection with the sky’s memory.
It carries what scholars call the memory of the storm, retaining ancestral knowledge encoded in pressure patterns and lightning scars across its form. Through this, it can manifest past events as living illusions shaped from cloud and light. Some ancient thinkers believe that this is how history endures in the upper air, preserved not in stone or text, but in weather itself.
When floating regions are exploited without regard for balance, Aeralith may pass judgment. Its interventions can include disabling airships, forcing evacuations through sudden and severe shifts in weather, or sealing access routes behind permanent fog. These actions are not considered acts of cruelty but measures of ecological enforcement, intended to preserve the fragile equilibrium of the sky.
Among mortals, Aeralith is revered and feared in equal measure. Sky-nomads and highland monks regard it as a sacred sign, while pilots tell stories of being silently guided through deadly storms by a distant silhouette in the clouds. Only a few individuals throughout recorded history are said to have encountered it closely and survived, most often those who displayed humility or restraint rather than ambition.
Some traditions claim that Aeralith selects observers rather than followers. These chosen individuals are said to possess an intuitive sense for weather or to dream of wind and open skies long before they ever learn to fly. A well-known prophecy speaks of a future time when the skies become overcrowded and the winds lose their ancient paths, foretelling that the Warden will descend not to bring ruin, but to restore order.
