Kelean Mandate

Through light, clarity. Through clarity, purpose.

The Kelean Mandate is a theocratic nation founded during the chaos of The Burn by a faction of devout Eldwelians seeking to build a society in absolute accordance with their interpretation of Solis’s will. Known for its disciplined culture, spiritual fervor, and uncompromising moral codes, the Kelean Mandate stands today as both a beacon of resilience and a bastion of religious fundamentalism.

Established in 1823 AF, the Mandate rose from the ashes of drowned cities and refugee camps, its founding population drawn from former Eldwelian settlers, fringe mystics, and converts stirred by the prophetic revelations of the famed archaeologist and preacher, Samuel Bartholomew Hawk—the man who translated The Sundial of Atulahai Ridge, and whose teachings became the basis of modern Kelean doctrine.

Founding and Philosophy

The Kelean Mandate was born in the southern archipelago of what was once Eldwelian territory, during a time of mass migration, unrest, and moral uncertainty. Hawk’s revelations, which were framed as divine guidance directly from Solis, called for the creation of a “covenant society”—one rooted in clarity, unity, and spiritual rigor.

Keleans believe that The Burn was not merely a disaster, but a divine judgment against a corrupt and wayward world. Their answer was the founding of a new order, a Mandate, where law and faith are intertwined, and every citizen lives to serve a higher, luminous truth.

Society and Structure

Kelean society is fundamentally religious and communitarian. While their customs and mannerisms retain echoes of their Eldwelian heritage, the Mandate emphasizes simplicity, devotion, and industriousness. Homesteaders build multi-generational dwellings with communal altars; most towns center around Sunhalls rather than town squares, and even festivals are meditative affairs of song, silence, and scripture.

Despite their fundamentalism, Keleans are not isolationist—they trade, interact, and even proselytize widely. However, outsiders are typically regarded with a wary blend of hospitality and suspicion, and intermarriage is strongly discouraged.

Women and Power

Kelean society is gender-equal in theory, but women hold exclusive access to high religious office. Only women may be ordained into the Luminary Orders, serve as Flamekeepers, or read from the Scrolls of Solar Measure, the sacred canon transcribed by Hawk himself. This unique arrangement has created a spiritual matriarchy within a broader patriarchal structure—one that fuels both tension and reverence.

Government

The Mandate is ruled by a Council of Light, a seven-member body composed of senior priestesses and civic overseers. These are not elected positions but are appointed through divine selection rituals, often influenced by dreams, omens, and visions interpreted by trained seers.

Beneath the Council is a vast network of sanctioned communities, each overseen by a Sunwarden—a figure who combines the roles of mayor, preacher, and judge. Civil law, criminal punishment, and even educational curricula are based on the divine codes passed down from Hawk’s interpretations.

Culture and Religion

The Cult of Solis in the Kelean Mandate has diverged significantly from its origin in Eldwell. Here, Solis is not merely a sun deity, but the Prime Architect—a being of radiant order, whose light reveals purpose, and whose absence breeds corruption. Night is a time for silence and prayer; light, for action and clarity.

Cultural life is structured and often ascetic. Music is restrained, typically limited to harmonized vocals or single instruments. Art favors geometry and luminosity. Theatrical performance is rare, replaced instead by public readings and reenactments of divine parables.

Keleans are also deeply committed to physical labor and invention. Their society has birthed a surprising number of innovations, especially in sustainable agriculture, solar engines, and light-based architecture—a blend of Engineering and mysticism inspired by the ruins they now inhabit.

The Grand Temple of Kel

At the heart of the Mandate’s capital—Kel’Atar—rises the unfinished but already legendary The Grand Temple of Kel . Built atop the ruins where Hawk is said to have received his first vision, the temple is a marvel of marble and crystal, crowned with five luminous spires representing the five Kelean virtues: Faith, Courage, Wisdom, Resilience, and Unity.

Water drawn from an artesian well is pumped to the spires’ summits, cascading in radiant waterfalls that catch the light of Solis at specific hours of the day, creating a living sundial. When completed (projected: 1872 AF), it is expected to become one of the most important spiritual centers in the known world.

Military and Diplomacy

The Kelean Mandate maintains a lean but fanatically loyal standing force, known as the Sunbound Guard. While small, they are highly trained and often augmented by zealot volunteers known as Dawnbearers.

Relations with neighbors are tense. The Mandate is deeply mistrusted by Eldwell, regarded as both a lost child and a dangerous fanatic. Thierry states consider them unpredictable but occasionally useful. The Mandate itself regards foreign nations as spiritually compromised but potentially redeemable through mercy—or cleansing.