The tyrant sun-god whose burning gaze illuminates the Empire. He demanded the casting down of the Old Gods and decreed Mandatory Awakening so that every soul might burn as fuel against the Blight.
The Burning Eye
Phaethon is the supreme deity of the Aethelgard Empire — a radiant, tyrannical sun-god who rose to supremacy during the transition from the Age of Dusk to the Age of the Sun. He is depicted as a towering figure of molten gold with a single burning eye that sees all within his light.
Dominion
- Light and Fire — all illumination is his gift; all darkness is his enemy.
- Solar Magic — the Awakening ritual channels a fragment of his divine fire into mortal souls.
- Order and Surveillance — his Inquisition watches from every watchtower, enforcing doctrinal purity.
The Decree of Awakening
Phaethon commanded the first Emperors to instigate Mandatory Awakening, reasoning that a populace infused with solar magic would collectively hold back the Blight. Whether this is genuine divine wisdom or a mechanism of control is a matter of dangerous debate.
The Eclipse of the Old Gods
Before Phaethon's ascension, a pantheon of nature, moon, and star deities — now called the Eclipsed Old Gods — held sway. Phaethon cast them into the Cimmerian Deep, where they festoon in darkness, neither dead nor alive. Their worshippers persist as rebels and cultists in the shadows of the Duskweald.