Walking around the perimeter first of the Coral Cathedral gives the impression of the name being a very well selected name. This structure first of all is massive, just how large is hard to say as you can never see more the one side at a time, and there are few if any angle in the structures main lines. The outer wall, aren't walls at all but a curved line of pillars forming a nearly perfect circle. Gaps and slight position differences with the pillars formation give the impression of a very large oval with cuts length and width wise. These cuts are in fact pathways, long enough to not be able to see the end of each on from the other even if there weren't something blocking each one. Higher up however swimming creatures are able to zip in and out of certain ports like long limbs a single living being. The pillars and the floor are all intricately carved or formed from black shiny stone of some kind with coral lining each groove in the surface. The ceiling is white with a matte surface and reflective lines all over it forming some sort of pattern that is yet to be understood. The area outside it bathed in a warm light making it very easy to see many things and learn things about some of the creatures already identified that couldn't be seen beforehand in the oceans darkness. Circling above, giant grey sharks lazily play in the light above the structure. Rolling dipping, diving, bouncing off each other and gently biting each other from time to time these magnificent sharks make for an amusing sight.
----------------------------------------
Auraelish is dumbfounded and speechless, with his escort silently snickering and guiding him along with a few limbs. Eliysiah had seen this place many times before, and remembered being as stupefied herself the first time seeing this place. Guiding her charge with a gentle touche of her many limbs as needed she found this intimacy normal as a shimmer guard but also a beloved privilege of her position. There have been those who have abused this privilege, and they have been dealt with brutally.'good riddance' thought Eliysiah to herself and any god listening in. As a shimmer-guard Eliysiah had guided dozens of shimmers to there next stage of life, young Auraelish would be her last shimmer ward.
----------------------------------------
Eliysiah would be joining Auraelish into his next stage as she herself moves into the new stage of guardianship herself. She should have done so before now but loved her time with the shimmers too much to let go just yet, but she had the respect of the elders to stay in place for this long. But now there was need of her experience in the next stage & new guardians where being held behind where they should be in life as is. Hatchling, shimmer, Lustre, Lumen, Glimmer, Brilliance; these are the stages of an eclipsa life as the luminari tribe names them.
Eliysiah attended the cathedral as a shimmer, a guardian as a lustre, and became a hatchling guardian as a lumen, she started guarding shimmers as a glimmer. She would now be guiding this shimmer into his life as a lustre, then perhaps into the lumen stage allowing more guardians to move up into those positions as well. The later stages don't require guardians depending on the individuals task nexus posting etc... Elders are all in the brilliance stage of life and have more of the same serving them to administer or relay info as needed.
Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
----------------------------------------
An elder watches over the coral cathedral at all times, same for other cathedrals and temples. Another watches over the hatchery gardens, where the Eclipsa breed and birth the young shimmers en mass. One watches over the warrior ministratum, Which is a mysterious place to even members of the luminari warriors nexus. And one for the guardian core, which is a giant pearl in an ancient amphitheater used as the headquarters & alter for the guardians to worship and join in fellowship with each other away from the others of the tribe.
Each of the communities within the tribe has an elder and purpose with everything they do. and with each of these communities they have experts in the various purposes they are dedicated to. An elder guides each community with a cadre administering or relaying info on the elders behalf, hence why some of them are called administers/ministers/ministrants of their tribal community. These communities within the luminari tribe are called nexus, multiple nexus working together called arrays when for a long term purpose. Or for emergencies which only last till the task is done, they would simply be called a convergence. When a convergence lasts long enough the elders may reform them as an array with it's own elder governing its task, while an array existing long enough may form a new nexus with an eldar and full cadre as needed. This is how the war nexus was formed long ago, and the guardian nexus.
The war nexus has a fairly obvious purpose, to maintain war time readiness, and to train warrior. sometimes sending them out to learn and share or act on the tribes behalf. Waging war for eclipsa is legendarily rare. The guardian nexus, is a bit more nuanced among the nexus collective called the luminari tribe. The elders also form at the luminari elders chamber to make decisions on behalf of the tribe as a whole, with nomadic elders taking up the posts of temple and cathedral elders so those posts are never unoccupied. Yet other elders visit other tribes as diplomats, organizers, instructors, or whatever purpose becomes needed among the tribes. These luminariats may be alone or with a full cadre to serve some purpose, and sometimes they may bring along with them some youth out of or into the tribe. the Eclipsa species as a whole sometimes form alliances and such for military,trade, or diplomatic reasons, but mostly just operate as friendly neighbors with each other. As for the other nation forming species out in the world, the Eclipsa are highly respected and often worshiped. however they can be feared and hated by some also, those usually keep there distance however. The last war that eclipsa luminari waged may have something to do with that, or the previous war with most of the eclipsa tribes in concert against surface dwellers.