Introduction
The Shinarian Civilization was a highly-advanced society centered around the south of the sundered supercontinent of Asterra, known to encompass at least some of what would become Myrland and very likely all of pre-sunken Sidoia. Its sudden fall and the disappearance of its people is to some degree similar to that of the Sith Pari on Sarducaa. The Shinarians were known to engage in slavery and kept at least one slave race, as exemplified by the Sidoians who have survived into the modern day.
While the fate of the Shinarian peoples is unknown, the eventual fall of the Shinarian Civilization is self-evident. When The Sundering of Asterra occurred the continent upon which the civilization was based sunk into the sea, taking with it most of its structures and records, leaving behind only the islands which would later be known as Sidoia.
Whether or not the Shinarians themselves were a race or if their citizenry was made up of multiple races is entirely unclear. It is entirely possible—but somewhat unlikely given the survival of the Sidoians—that they all perished during The Sundering, or that any survivors integrated with other cultures and were too few to maintain a unique bloodline.
Some explorers have even speculated that the Shinarians were transformed into Sator, though this is probably a misunderstanding brought on by tribes of Sator opportunistically occupying Shinarian ruins. As well, some Tindremenes have presented the dubious claim of being direct blood descendants of the Shinarian race, and less dubiously the language of Old Tindremic resembles in some ways the written language used in surviving Shinarian documents.
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Architecture & Symbolism
Shinarian symbolism appears to have been based around both geometry and flora, with it being entirely possible that they perceived their civilization or Nave herself as a “garden”. This was reflected in tapestries and wall reliefs found in what appeared to be a Shinarian Temple on the southern coast of Myrland prior to The Irruption.
Additional depictions of this temple demonstrate a preference for the use of geometric shapes and patterns in both design and architecture, an obsession seemingly still shared by most modern Sidoians.
Also notable were the statues of an unknown creature or entity in gold, as well as wall-mounted depictions an animated guardian which some explorers claimed could be found in the lowest reaches of the structure.
Perhaps most noteworthy though is a common symbol appearing to be a unicursal hexad knot which has been found in both Shinarian and underground Huérgar symbolism.
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