Guiding Light

Hello, friends!

This month, I will be sharing some background on the Radiant Temple and the Solis Imperium, which reign over a considerable share of the landscape.

In the centuries after the calamity of Darkfall, much of humanity fell into squalor, famine, and despair. Kingdoms crumbled. Cities were deserted. Scores died in the chaos, the survivors ruled over by warlords and petty tyrants.

Within this landscape stood a monastery, the Abbey of Returning Morn, within which lived the last remnants of the Brotherhood of Cleansing Light, an order of eunuchs within the old Ionecan Church that protected the armies of the Holy Sumican Empire. In the walls of this abbey was a sunsphere, an orb of warmth and light empowered by the monks' prayers that allowed them to grow food in their gardens through the darkest days of winter. After the sun in the sky had gone dim, the sun in the abbey continued to provide.

Over time, refugees from surrounding lands came and settled near the abbey, seeking food and protection. The monks were eager to share what they could with the newcomers, but it soon became clear that the small sunsphere in the abbey was not enough to grow food for them all. The Abbot decided they must construct a second, larger sphere.

It was a difficult undertaking, taxing in both lives and treasure. Materials had to be procured from far afield. Rites had to be performed at every hour of the day, for weeks. The abbot himself was driven to his deathbed by exhaustion. But the monks and the refugees worked hand in hand with diligence to give birth to this new miracle. And with the dull glow of dawn on the 47th day, there was soon a new light that beamed across the land, a beacon shining from atop a great pillar, creating farmable land for miles around.

The lands surrounding the abbey prospered, but over the years, the brothers of the Cleansing Light saw their numbers dwindle. More and more, the prayers that sustained the sunspheres had to be led by others, and from these lay brothers and lay sisters arose a new clergy. Around the base of the pillar, they built a place of worship that grew ever grander with the designs of each passing generation. Those who sustained the sunsphere with their prayers became known as the priests of the Radiant Temple.

With rising prosperity, however, came the attention of covetous warlords. The temple militia was formidable enough to deter small bands of raiders, but with no real fortifications, their lands were difficult to defend. Banditry became more common at the outskirts, forcing the temple to increase patrols, but still the problem seemed manageable. Then, a bandit chief calling himself Varus the Red united these raiders for a more daring assault. Varus led his forces to strike at the Abbey of Returning Morn.

The temple was caught unprepared, and Varus sacked the abbey, taking a great deal of the temple's wealth, and a fire that started during the raid destroyed much of the abbey's archives. It was a demoralizing blow against the faithful of the temple, and it led to the realization that something needed to change. It was no longer enough to simply defend the lands of the temple and the people who lived there. The temple now had to pacify the lands that surrounded them. They would have to teach other people to live harmoniously, as they did.

The forges ran hot, as the temple raised a true army, fashioned in the style of their Sumican predecessors. With spear and sword, pilum and bow, they routed the bandits at their doorstep, then they followed them home and conquered their villages. The temple brought with them food and water, laws and education, to civilize their vanquished foes. Then they conscripted from their enemies to grow the army ever larger and continue the march. The sun in the sky grew brighter as the temple expanded its reach, and many saw this as an undeniable sign of the righteousness of their cause. The faithful began to speak a new word with conviction: “imperium.”

What started as a need for security changed into a divine mission. But now, instead of worshipping gods, the temple preached a gospel of human brotherhood, unified under the returning light of the sun.

As hearts of men did sour, the light was taken from us.
As faith in gods laid unanswered, the light was taken from us.
As strength of arms was weak and fractured, the light was taken from us.
Yet in brotherhood, the light was restored.

With the expansion of land and armies, there would be governors, generals, ministers, senators, and finally, an illuminated divine emperor. They forged an empire of the sun, the Solis Imperium, from the ashes of the Imperium Sumicum Sacrum.

For many, the forces of the imperium came as saviors, ending oppression and elevating the downtrodden into better lives. For them, the light of the temple brought hope. But there were other places in the world where people found their own ways of surviving through the long night. These people still followed the old ways. Though they had no gods to hear their prayers, they still venerated the servitors. Spirits, rhanna, and other creatures of the supernatural. Beings with no real investment in the wellbeing of humankind. The imperium was able to subjugate these people, but converting them to the ways of the temple would prove more difficult. Expansion slowed, and at last came to a halt as the imperium was forced to reckon with entire nations states formed around these unruly pagans.

Today, the Solis Imperium still holds vast tracts of land, and is rightly feared for the strength of its armies, but the gears of state struggle to turn under the bulk of its holdings, and corrupt officials are ever more common. The lands of Traul, which the imperium conquered less than a century ago, have been an ongoing drain to finances, due to periodic rebellions and poor management. The imperium also suffered through an expensive boondoggle not long ago, attempting to occupy and colonize the city of Unjat in the Shrouded Lands, which they were subsequently forced to abandon.

Outside the imperium, the faithful of the Radiant Temple are viewed with disdain, called "sunthumpers" or worse. Many are fearful of what would happen if the imperium invaded their homes. In truth, the quality of life under the imperium remains good, but at the expense of curtailed freedoms, particularly religious freedoms. Few are willing to give up their beliefs or their way of life to live under the security that the imperium offers.

That's all for today. Hope you're all staying safe and healthy!