Sol, Dawn's Scion
I'Tayil, Clear-Eyed Heavenly Lord; Ifera, Dawn Star
O flame incandescent, father of dawn,
Purge our iniquities, and illuminate our path.
Sol is the High Wolflord of the sun - and all which that entails. Known variously as Eochtal, Rakaim, I'Tayil, and many more, He is revered across Wyral as the igniter of the first dawn, the subduer of deathly winter, and the crucible that purifies souls. But whatever name He takes, the Gilded Lord remains what He is: the world's ceaseless guardian, watching over it from above.
No sin or shadow shall escape His flames. No soul shall reach the heavens but through Him.
Truth in Revelation: Zenith
"I shall rain down the Sun's judgement upon these abyssal horrors. And I shall return the Sun's warmth to those trapped in darkness."
In practically all versions of the mythos, Sol is linked to the first dawn. Many say that He first fashioned the divine eye out of a desire to behold the world below - and in turn, the earth's creatures learned to open their eyes and gaze at the heavens. Others praise Him as a god of boundaries, protecting the world from the star-sailing devourers beyond.
Sol's divine demesne is broad: He is the totality of light, fire, passion, truth, and the heavens. The warmth of a fire in winter or the consuming flames of judgement; the gentle light of dawn or the glare of high noon; the revelation of secrets or the weaving of illusions. He is also sometimes seen as the ideal concept of "purification" - purging filth, impurity and sin.
The sun mages who follow His path are possessed of an inner fire that drives them towards the heavens. Some would cast themselves into the fire to protect what they love. Some would answer the cold, dark corners of the world with nothing but radiance. But all of His chosen pursue truth and transcension in some form.
The Halo Radiant
"All linger to catch the Light. Glory streams forth from His eye, that shall not set tonight."
Just as everything upon the earth craves sunlight, and all mortals aspire to the heavens, Eochtal is perhaps the most widely revered of the Wolflords. He has been worshipped as arbiter, father, healer and protector - oftentimes all at once.
Some civilisations still make offerings at sunset like their distant ancestors once did, beseeching Him to return His light to them the next morning. Blood and flame graced other, grimmer rituals, where fire and life were considered one and the same.
But although the Sun does not discriminate between wicked and righteous, Rakaim did. And when He incarnated, shattered, not even the most pious of priests could withstand His flame.
They who witnessed the Gilded Lord's manifestations often spoke of His heralds, the parhelia: beasts of flame on either side, mirroring the halo of the setting Sun. He Himself was usually described as wreathed in iridescent flame, so bright that even the night sky would seem lit by dawn.
In fact, some believed He travelled in a domain of His own making, where the Sun never set - and where no impurities could endure.
For His fire burns away the world's shackles, returning it to the white night of its birth.
Aspect of the Wolflord: Aether
"...six [layers?] between the earth and heavens... Aethereal fire... brief [gateway?] between..."
The phenomenon known as 'aethereal fire' has been documented and discussed since antiquity, although it has mysterious properties starkly different to any other kind of fire. Supposedly, it is the essence of life made manifest, the embodiment of Sol's radiance. It requires neither air nor fuel, and cannot be doused by water. Only one other individual has ever conjured it, besides the Wolflord Himself.
In the distant past, when the Gilded Lord was said to have fought the star-beasts that tore apart the earth, aethereal flame was the herald of His arrival, and the symbol of His ardent fury.
Even now, when He has long disappeared, that blaze is enough to sunder body from soul.
The Crucible is often regarded as Eochtal's old lair. When it still burned bright, high-ranking members of Zefiru's empire would sometimes cast themselves into the heavenly flames. If they managed to reach the other side of the Crucible, they were considered pure of all 'iniquity'.
They are not the only ones to do this. The Tayali Flamestriders expose themselves willingly to aethereal flame at the end of their initiate training. While the fire leaves strangely patterned scars on their bodies, the change to their souls is far greater. They speak of glimpsing a city in the sky, of having their sight 'illuminated'.
Whatever aethereal flame might do, one thing is clear. No one passes through it unchanged.
That is the distillation of Sol's nature: absolute purity, and ultimate truth.
That molten radiance still burns in your veins - do not forsake this strength during the lightless night.
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