Solm - The Old Light

Domains: Light, Healing, Hope, Celestial

The Fading God

Before The Fade, Solm's radiance blessed every dawn and his priests channeled miraculous healing. His temples of white stone caught morning light, their crystal windows casting rainbows across marble floors. Plague fled before his touch, darkness scattered at his word, and hope was more than desperate prayer.

Now his light barely reaches through as Zhar drags the Celestial Realm away. His remaining faithful gather in basements, burning candles against the dark, performing elaborate rituals that produce faint warmth where once they cured disease. The Hopeful insist he'll return. Everyone else just feels sorry for them.

Divine Nature and The Fade

Solm was once a god of overwhelming radiance and miraculous healing. His priests healed with a touch and banished darkness with pure light. That was before the great change everyone calls The Fade - when Zhar began dragging the Celestial Realm away from the Material Plane.

Now he's distant and nearly silent. His power has been fading for years as his realm grows harder to reach. What was once easily accessible to mortal prayers now requires tremendous effort, and even then produces only shadows of former miracles.

The few who still channel true healing power can't explain why they succeed where others fail. His light exists, but grows dimmer each year as the planar distance increases.

Worship and Believers

The Hopeful

The faithful haven't given up entirely. They gather in small groups, mostly in basements and rented rooms, keeping old rituals alive through repetition and hope. Most cities tolerate one or two gathering halls in poor districts where desperate people grasp at fading hope.

Their priests wear threadbare vestments and tarnished symbols, offering blessings that don't take and promising healing that rarely comes. They burn candles against the dark, insisting any day now he'll return to full strength.

Keepers of the Light

What remains are scattered "Keepers of the Light" who can't agree on why their god abandoned them. The moderate ones accept scholarly explanations about planar drift and entropy. The desperate ones concoct theories - Mōrga stealing power, the Five Councils suppressing faith, divine punishment for ancient sins.

Mōrga's church officially ignores them while privately monitoring the unstable groups. Everyone else just feels vaguely sorry for them.

The Diminished Priesthood

His priests struggle to kindle even the smallest blessing. Where once they worked miracles, now they offer comfort through ritual and memory. Most perform old ceremonies from crumbling texts, hoping familiar words might somehow restore connection to their distant god.

The few who still produce real divine healing can't teach others their methods or explain why they succeed. They guard their flickering abilities carefully, knowing each use might be among the last.

Sacred Architecture and Remnants

Before The Fade, temples of white stone caught and reflected dawn light, their crystal windows casting rainbows across marble floors. Now these same buildings stand mostly empty, their pristine surfaces dulled by neglect, their windows dark.

A few cities maintain official chapels, usually in districts where rent is cheap and hope is expensive. Old holy symbols still mark ancient buildings - carved suns on temple lintels, radiant emblems on healing houses, faded murals depicting former glory.

The architecture remains beautiful but hollow, like shells left behind by retreating tides.

Sacred Observances

Dawn Vigil

1st of Sunfire

A summer observance honoring the faded god of light, named after the knightly order that once served as his champions. The festival begins with candlelit gatherings at sunset and concludes with prayers at dawn.

The central ritual is the "Fading Light" ceremony, where participants light lanterns at sunset and keep them burning through the night. Temple districts host formal observances, while taverns become gathering places for sharing stories of Solm's former glory.

The few surviving knights of the Order of the Dawn lead memorial prayers when able, wearing their old armor despite its tarnished condition. The festival serves both as religious devotion for the faithful and cultural remembrance for those who honor tradition without expecting divine response.

Sacred Orders

Order of the Dawn

A dwindling order of aging knights who once served as Solm's champions. Now numbering perhaps a hundred across the entire Crescent, they maintain their tarnished armor and flickering hope that their god's light will return.

Their armor, once brilliant silver and gold, now shows the patina of age and reduced divine blessing. Yet they continue their vigil, maintaining watch posts and offering protection to pilgrimage sites. Still valiant warriors, they represent the last formal military organization dedicated to Solm's service.

The annual Dawn Vigil holiday bears their name, commemorating both their dedication and their god's former glory.

Daily Faith and Legacy

The traditional farewell "Solm's blessing" persists in everyday speech, though most who say it expect no actual blessing to follow. "Solm's grace" remains a reflexive blessing throughout The Crescent, uttered without conscious thought but carrying the weight of cultural memory.

People still light candles in his memory, especially during illness or despair. While these rituals rarely produce miraculous results, they provide comfort and continuity with better times. Some households maintain small shrines with dimmed lanterns, waiting for a light that may never return.

Cultural Integration

Relationship with Other Faiths

Most practitioners maintain connections to other spiritual traditions. The Old Ways provide practical spiritual comfort where Solm's power no longer reaches. Some desperate believers have turned to questionable sources like the Four Wounds, though orthodox worshipers condemn such practices.

Mōrga's church maintains official neutrality while privately monitoring groups showing signs of dangerous desperation. The Gray Faith neither persecutes nor assists the fading light worshipers.

Legacy in Architecture

Ancient buildings throughout The Crescent bear Solm's symbols - carved sunbursts, radiant faces, and dawn motifs worked into stone and metalwork. Guild halls, healing houses, and civic buildings constructed during his height maintain these decorative elements.

The symbols have become cultural artifacts, appreciated for craftsmanship rather than spiritual meaning. They serve as constant reminders of faith's former prominence and the light that once blessed every morning.

Planar Domain

The Celestial Realm

Solm's fading domain of pure light and knowledge exists in distant reaches of the Astral Sea. Libraries catalog everything that ever was or could be. Souls judged worthy by Mōrga study here or serve as celestial beings.

The realm grows more distant as Zhar's influence drags it away from the Material Plane. What was once easily accessible now requires tremendous effort to reach. The few successful divine interventions suggest it still exists, but contact becomes harder each year as the planar gap widens.