Aurelain Solhaime

The Flameborn Turned: The Redemption of Aurelain Solhaime

Six hundred years ago, in an age scarred by chaos, when magic had twisted the land and monstrous sorcery devoured cities whole, a ruthless holy crusade began: the Great Purge. Magic was blamed for the world’s collapse, and so it was hunted — its wielders, its creatures, even its relics.

Among the feared knights of the purge rode a young warrior of unmatched devotion:
Aurelain, the bastard son of a temple scribe, raised in austerity and forged in flame.

Knight of the Burning Order

Aurelain joined the Ordo Serephine — an elite order of magic-hunting knights sworn to root out all arcane corruption. Cloaked in radiant plate and armed with blessed steel, they were praised as holy redeemers… and feared as fanatics.

For years, Aurelain marched across the continent, hunting rogue mages, spirit-walkers, and ancient creatures. He silenced entire sanctuaries. He saw temples burn, and never questioned why.

Until the day they found the Sun Priests of Marn, a peaceful sect guarding an ancient relic they believed would restore balance — a sword of radiant light they called The Sunblade.

The Breaking

Aurelain led the assault.

But something changed.

The priests did not fight. They sang.
They begged not for their lives, but for the blade’s protection.
Their relic was not a weapon, but a keeper of balance. A gift from the Gods to protect and care for those in darkness.

And when Aurelain’s brothers-in-arms raised their blades to slay the final unarmed guardians —he turned on them.
In a flash of wrath and clarity, he killed five of his companions and let the last priests live.

Chosen by the Blade

The survivors of the order pursued him, and the priest led Aurelain to the heart of the ruined temple. There, surrounded by golden runes and fading sunlight, lay the Sunblade — a weapon forged in the age before memory.

But it could not be lifted by the priests. Or by the few who tried before.
It would test its bearer.

Aurelain, bloodied, broken, filled with guilt but with eyes now open — reached for it.

And the blade rose to meet him.

He wept, not for victory, but for clarity.
He had become what he once feared: a man who judged, who chose, who protected.

The Founding of Solmark

After Aurelain turned against his order and took up the Sunblade, word of his deed spread like wildfire — some cursed him as a traitor, others whispered of redemption. Those who had grown weary of the purges, or who had once harbored kin marked by magic, began to flock to his side. Veterans, outcasts, hedge knights, and broken people of all kinds — all bound by disillusionment and the dream of a land where light did not blind, but protected.

Seeking purpose and a place to begin anew, Aurelain led his followers north — as far as the rivers and mountain wind would carry them. There, beyond the settled lands, they came upon a vast and silent territory, scarred by long-forgotten wars and emptied of all but echoes.

Aurelain rode to the court of the Duke of Nortland, whose claim extended over the ruined expanse. Before the assembled court, Aurelain knelt and asked for stewardship over the fallen land. He pledged that his people would settle it, heal it, and protect the borders of the dukedom from any threat, so long as they were allowed to live by the ideals the old world had cast aside.

The Duke, wary but wise, saw the gleam of the blade and the fire in Aurelain’s eyes. With that, he granted the land — a grim, wind-swept frontier — to the former knight and his sworn kin. They called it Solmark, “the sun’s boundary.”

So Aurelain became the first Count of Solmark, and House Solhaime was born. Their vow endures still:
“When light is used to blind, it is no better than shadow.”