In Skies of Arcadia, Soltis is the ruined capital of the ancient Silver Civilization, the most advanced society ever to exist before the Rains of Destruction. It is not merely a lost city, but the shattered heart of the old world: a place where humanity came closest to godhood and destroyed itself in the process.
To most people in the modern era, Soltis is myth.
To scholars, it is the source of nearly all ancient Moonstone technology.
To empires like Valua, it represents unlimited power.
And to those who understand history, it is a warning.
Thousands of years before the present age, the Silver Civilization dominated the skies through mastery of Silver Moonstone energy.
Unlike modern nations, which specialize in one Moon affinity, the Silver Civilization learned to manipulate all Moonstones simultaneously.
They created:
continent-sized cities,
climate manipulation systems,
artificial ecosystems,
impossible architecture,
autonomous machines,
living weapons,
advanced airship technology.
Silver Moonstone energy allowed them to transcend the limits of ordinary magic and engineering.
At the center of this civilization stood Soltis.
Soltis was built as the ultimate city:
the political capital,
scientific center,
military command hub,
spiritual symbol of human perfection.
It floated high above the world beneath the Silver Moon.
Descriptions of ancient Soltis portray:
glowing towers,
floating structures,
massive crystal arrays,
suspended bridges,
endless light reflected across silver architecture.
The city itself was partially alive:
its systems responded to Moonstone resonance and the will of its rulers.
Many structures had no visible support:
they floated through gravitational manipulation and ancient Moonstone technology.
At its height, Soltis was considered eternal.
The people of Soltis believed humanity could surpass nature itself.
Their ideology centered around:
perfect knowledge,
total control,
technological transcendence,
mastery over the moons.
They believed suffering and chaos existed because humanity lacked sufficient power and understanding.
This belief drove rapid advancement.
Eventually, they sought to control the hidden Dark Moon.
That decision doomed the world.
The rulers of Soltis discovered traces of a seventh celestial force:
the Dark Moon.
Unlike the six visible moons, the Dark Moon embodied:
destruction,
entropy,
annihilation,
corruption.
The Silver Civilization attempted to harness its power through massive Moonstone reactors beneath Soltis.
At first, their experiments appeared successful.
Then reality itself began to destabilize.
Reports from surviving records describe:
cities vanishing,
madness spreading,
Moonstone systems malfunctioning,
storms consuming entire regions,
creatures mutating uncontrollably.
In desperation, Soltis created the Gigas.
The Gigas were colossal biomechanical war entities designed to stabilize or suppress the Dark Moon crisis.
Instead, they became instruments of catastrophe.
Each Gigas possessed immense Moonstone power tied to a specific affinity:
fire,
ice,
lightning,
destruction,
gravity,
arcane force.
When unleashed, the Gigas devastated the world during the Rains of Destruction.
Entire civilizations burned beneath beams of Moonstone energy.
The skies themselves changed.
The ancient world collapsed.
Soltis fell soon afterward.
No surviving account fully explains what happened during Soltis’s final hours.
Legends describe:
the sky turning black,
the Silver Moon disappearing,
the city fracturing midair,
impossible storms swallowing entire districts.
Some stories claim Soltis exploded.
Others say it phased partially outside reality.
What is known:
the city crashed into the Dark Rift,
the Silver Civilization ended,
most advanced knowledge was lost forever.
The survivors who rebuilt the modern world feared ancient technology afterward.
By the time of modern civilization, Soltis exists as:
a ruin,
a legend,
a forbidden destination.
Its remains drift hidden within the skies and the Dark Rift, protected by:
violent storms,
ancient security systems,
unstable Moonstone fields,
autonomous guardians.
Most explorers never return.
Those who do speak of:
silent silver towers,
floating debris fields,
endless crystal corridors,
dead cities untouched by time.
Soltis does not resemble modern civilizations.
Its design appears alien compared to Valua or Nasr.
Features include:
smooth reflective surfaces,
gravity-defying structures,
crystalline towers,
shifting geometric halls,
suspended pathways,
glowing Moonstone conduits.
The city often feels eerily silent.
Many systems still function after thousands of years.
Doors open automatically.
Machines activate when approached.
Lights respond to movement.
It feels less like a ruin and more like a sleeping civilization.
Soltis possessed technologies modern nations barely understand.
Examples include:
gravity manipulation,
atmospheric control,
self-repairing machines,
energy barriers,
autonomous constructs,
biological engineering,
dimensional resonance systems.
Some devices blur the line between:
science,
magic,
consciousness.
Modern engineers can sometimes activate ancient systems but rarely comprehend how they work.
This makes Soltis both valuable and dangerous.
Ancient defense systems still protect Soltis.
These include:
Moonstone automatons,
floating drones,
crystal sentries,
biomechanical guardians.
Some continue operating according to ancient directives.
Others became corrupted after exposure to Dark Moon energy.
Many attack intruders automatically.
Certain areas remain perfectly preserved because no living civilization has breached them since the collapse.
The Valuan Empire obsessively searches for Soltis.
Imperial leaders believe recovering Silver technology would guarantee total domination of the skies.
Valuan scientists especially seek:
Gigas control systems,
Silver reactors,
ancient weapons,
Dark Moon research.
This obsession is extremely dangerous.
Many historians warn Valua is repeating the same arrogance that destroyed the Silver Civilization.
To some cultures, Soltis is cursed.
To others, sacred.
Ixa’Takan traditions describe it as:
“The city that reached beyond the heavens and fell.”
Some Silver cults worship the civilization’s lost knowledge.
Others believe the souls of Soltis remain trapped within the ruins.
In Glacia, legends claim the city still dreams beneath the storms.
Soltis should feel:
beautiful,
lonely,
godlike,
terrifying.
Exploring it should evoke:
awe at impossible achievement,
fear of forgotten mistakes,
tension between discovery and catastrophe.
The city is a monument to humanity’s ambition.
Every corridor reminds visitors that the ancient world achieved miracles…
and destroyed itself anyway.
Soltis represents:
the peak of civilization,
technological transcendence,
humanity’s refusal to accept limits.
But it also represents:
arrogance,
hubris,
obsession with control,
the danger of forbidden knowledge.
It is both paradise and warning:
proof that humanity once touched the divine,
and proof that it could happen again.