It is of sand and stone and the dust of iridescent shells. The Solatian children, tanned by the seashine of a hundred sunny days, play along the shore. Whether of fisherfolk or farmer stock, the children love the sea. It is only as they grow older that some learn to fear it. The sea is the great mother of Solatia, and many of the sweetest songs are sung in her honor. Not a feast day goes by that she is not serenaded. Indeed, especially at the Thrittem, the ceremony of manhood which Solatian boys all celebrate, are the old sea songs sung. Of all the boys who were to celebrate their Thrittem in the coming year, none had a voice for singing like Lann, the only son of Sianna. From his birth on a mossy bed by the side of the sea, young Lann had arisen singing, or so they said in Solatia. He was a wonder, was Lann, with his dark eyes and black hair, so black the like had never been seen in Solatia. For though the fisherfolk were dark, they were fair compared to him. And none could sing so well.
