VIP Exclusive Content: Concept Art, Kingdom of Vin-Nôrë
The Kingdom of Vin-Nôrë survived the century-long Great War by the slimmest of margins. Those who remained after the last Confederation forces were driven from the coast faced challenges that would have defeated many. Their way of life had to be rebuilt, and in most cases literally from the ashes of what once had been. It was as King Castamir's royal palace in Püran-Khir was being resurrected from the rubble that the symbol of the Star Phoenix began to appear in places among the ruins, sometimes crudely scrawled, sometimes lovingly rendered, but always a sight that pointed beyond itself to the hope of a better, brighter future. Such was its popularity that Casrnue ordered the heralds to add it to the official records; in 566 it replaced the old royal "castle and shield" motifs on the official seal. By the war's end in 570 the Star Phoenix was the centerpiece of Vin-Nôrë's "branding", if you'll forgive the use of a modern term.
Among the Medini people, the seven-pointed star was a remembrance of the "Seven Excellences," the traits, or trait sets by which one might live a devout life and find favor with the Guardian Paladin: Courage, Humanity, Justice, Temperance, Aspiration, Wisdom, Leadership.
The meaning of the phoenix to them is much as it is to us -- renaissance, rebirth, rekindling, the triumph of life and light over death and darkness. The colors chosen reflect the fiery spirit of the phoenix.
There are seven blade-like feathers in the phoenix's tail, symbolizing swords, bi-colored to remind them that each of the "Excellences" mentioned above has two sides. They are the corresponding "Seven Imperfections": Cowardice, Beastliness, Injustice, Gluttony, Apathy, Ignorance, Despotism.
Balancing the phallic presence of the sword is the vulvular shapes that surround the phoenix, a tacit reminder of the central mystery of the religion: The Guardian Paladin is both the Lord and the Lady in one.
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