An Imperial decree requiring every citizen to undergo a ritual that infuses them with volatile solar magic. The magic powers the Empire's defenses against the Blight — but it also makes every citizen a potential heretic if their power surges beyond control.
The Decree of Burning Souls
Promulgated by Phaethon through the first Sun-Emperor, Mandatory Awakening requires every citizen of the Empire to undergo the Awakening Ritual — typically at age sixteen. A cleric of Phaethon channels a fragment of divine solar fire into the subject's soul, granting them a permanent reservoir of lumens (measurable solar-magical energy).
Consequences
- Controlled Awakening produces a modest, stable magic — enough to power beacon towers, reinforce walls, or cast simple illumination cantrips. These citizens are the backbone of the Empire's Blight defenses.
- Uncontrolled Awakening — when the solar fire exceeds the soul's capacity — results in Flare-Touched: individuals whose magic surges unpredictably, manifesting as spontaneous combustion, blinding radiance, or destructive outbursts.
- Flare-Touched are branded heretics by the Inquisition and face imprisonment, suppression, or execution — unless they can afford suppressants from the Lumen Consortium.
The Cost
The Awakened magic is not free. It burns the soul slowly — most Awakened citizens live somewhat shorter lives, their vitality spent like slow-burning fuel. The oldest Awakened often develop Sunscorch — a crystallization of the skin into sun-glass-like plates, beautiful but agonizing.