Saint Aureth

Saint Aureth, known as the First Sunlord, is the most revered warrior-saint of the Holy Solarian Empire, second only to Solenara herself in devotion and honour. Once a warlord in the chaotic age before the Empire’s founding, he became the chosen champion of the Radiant Flame, leading the War of Illumination, a brutal campaign that united the fractured lands under a single divine banner. His name endures as both a symbol of holy conquest and unwavering faith.

The Vision of the Sunlord (Year -27 SE)

Before he was a saint, Aureth was a warrior—a leader of men, but not yet a servant of the gods. The land was in turmoil, torn between feuding warlords, heretic priest-kings, and fading pagan gods. The people suffered beneath endless strife, and Aureth, though a powerful warlord, was just another blade in a sea of violence.

That changed on the Night of the Sun’s Eclipse. As the moon swallowed the sun, Solenara’s voice rang out through the darkness, calling upon a champion to burn away the old and bring forth the new.

"Rise, Aureth, and bear My light. You shall be My hammer, My shield, My fire. The faithless shall break, and the world shall burn with My glory."

When the eclipse ended, Aureth rose with divine purpose, his mortal ambitions burned away by the vision of a world made pure by Solenara’s light.

He swore an unbreakable oath to the Radiant Flame and gathered his forces, transforming his warriors into the first Solari Templars. Thus began the War of Illumination, a campaign that would reshape history.

The War of Illumination (Year -27 SE to Year 0 SE)

Under Aureth’s leadership, the first Solari Templars were formed from his warriors. Clad in heavy armor and bearing banners of white and gold, they marched beneath the creed:

“In Solenara’s name, let the dawn consume the night.”

Aureth’s crusade was ruthless and uncompromising. He marched from city to city, kingdom to kingdom, offering a simple choice:

Kneel before Solenara, or be purified in fire.

Aureth’s crusade united the fractured realms through conquest and conversion. Those who resisted the new faith were annihilated. Cities burned, temples fell, and the old gods faded from memory.

Many resisted—pagan kings called upon their gods, Lunar mystics wove their spells, and the warlords of the old ways fought bitterly. But Aureth’s faith made him unstoppable. His warriors, clad in armour that gleamed like the sun, wielded flaming swords and radiant banners, striking down all who opposed the dawn of a new age.

The war lasted for twenty-seven years, culminating in the Siege of Solinthar, the last bastion of the old gods. There, Aureth struck the final blow, personally tearing down the city's great idol and raising the Sunburst Standard over its shattered walls.

In that moment, the Holy Solarian Empire was born, and Aureth, once a mere warrior, became the First Sunlord.

The Hammer of Solenara and the Burning of Stephis(Year 5 SE)

Following the War of Illumination, Aureth sought to root out heresy in the newly founded Empire. Though many had bent the knee, some still clung to their forbidden gods and Lunar rites.

One such place was Stephis, a city said to house a secret sanctuary of Lunar warlocks. Its walls were impenetrable, its priests skilled in magic, and its people refused to bow.

Aureth, unwilling to let heresy fester, prayed for divine guidance. In answer, a golden hammer descended from the heavens, wreathed in holy fire. With this weapon—later named Dawnbreaker—he struck the walls of , and they crumbled as if turned to ash.

The city burned for three days and three nights, and with it, the last great stronghold of the old gods was reduced to embers. Dawnbreaker was enshrined as the most sacred relic of the Templars, and Aureth’s title as "The Hammer of Solenara" was sealed in legend.

Cult of Saint Aureth

Shrines and Sites of Worship:

• The Hall of the Sunlords in Solinthar — houses Dawnbreaker and the sarcophagus of golden ash.
• The Chapel of First Light in Ironwatch — where Templars take their final oaths before service.
• The Fields of Dawn near the ruins of Stephis— now a pilgrimage site for penance and purification.

Rites and Festivals:

• The Rite of Burning Shadows — a ritual of confession and absolution, where sinners symbolically burn effigies of their failings at dawn.
• The Hammer’s Vigil — practiced by the Phoenix Guard before battle; an all-night fast beneath blazing lamps.

Modern Reverence:
The Cult of Saint Aureth remains the most militarized and politically powerful of all saintly orders. His iconography adorns banners of the Solari Templars, his hymns accompany coronations, and his creed underlies the Empire’s sense of divine destiny.
Yet in recent years, whispers from the more philosophical sects question whether Aureth’s “illumination” was entirely pure.

Miracles Performed

Miracle: The Fire of the Faithful
During the War of Illumination, Aureth’s army once found itself surrounded and starving. Aureth prayed, and their campfires blazed into divine flame that needed no wood or fuel. For seven nights the fires burned, and the enemy—believing the Solari were legion—fled into the dark.

Miracle: The Dawn Ascension
At Aureth’s death, his body is said to have dissolved into radiant light, leaving behind only his armor, still warm as if kissed by the sun. His spirit, according to the Church, ascended directly into Solenara’s embrace.