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MO BAUSTRA

The Praxian Sun Dome Temple

Common Knowledge

Mo Baustra

They give deep respect and obedience to their strong laws, and properly honor the gods of light, following their example in all things. Their leaders are men who prove themselves with their deeds. Their culture is properly modest and chaste, and both men and women follow their separate and different natures with an appropriate balance of piety and practicality.

The Sun Dome Templars traditionally have rented out their soldiers as mercenaries. Although the Sun Dome Templars fought for the Lunars at Moonbroth, they are not Lunar puppets by any means. Their current leader, Count Solanthos Ironpike, is very tough-minded, and relations with the Lunars have become slowly more strained in recent years.

Mythology and History

Mythology

We know the struggle between the Destroying Gods and the Many Lights was the Gods War. It was a terrible time, full of savagery, fury and woe. The destroying gods carried the battle into Heaven and the Many Lights perished in droves. They carried the battle to the Cities of Light upon Earth and those cities were snuffed out like candles in the Wind. Thus began the Victory of the Destroying Gods, a time better known as the Darkness. In that black time, the Destroying Gods hunted down the few lights and one by one, they fell.

When his brothers had perished, the Destroying Gods came for the Last Light in the Darkness. Being brave, he waited for them at the Hill of Gold. Being cruel, they did not kill him there and then but prolonged its agony. The First defeated the Last Light in a contest of arms and disarmed him. If you visit the Hill of Gold you can see the cuts where their weapons sliced through the ground. The Second cut him open so that the Last Light bled. If you visit the Hill of Gold, you can see where his blood fell, though the Second drank most of it. The Third froze the Last Light where it stood so that it could not run away. If you visit the Hill of Gold, you can see the place where the Destroying Gods, sated, left the Last Light alone to perish in the Darkness.

But the Last Light still shone, and so long as he slept, the Darkness could not take him. He spent a whole age up there recovering from his wounds. Finally when he was strong enough, he descended from the Hill to fill the world with light once again. The destroying gods did not oppose him then. How could they? With nothing else to hate, they had turned upon each other and so destroyed themselves. The Last Light went to the corpses of the Few Lights. Once having been full of light themselves, they easily retained the light he offered, and so shone again.

The hungry, homeless, and lost gathered around these shining corpses and began to have hope. With light they were able to withstand the Darkness and recover some of the happiness and peace that they had lost. With their new lights, the people made their way into the ruined, lifeless, cities. Under the direction of the Last Light, they raised up the buildings that had been cast down and the Cities of Light began to live again. When the Cities were strong, the inhabitants lifted up their heads and sang. On the strength of their songs, the light from the Cities rose upwards and lit the Many Lights in the Sky once again. But the work of the Last Light was not yet done.

He went into the Underworld, where the Destroyed Gods were wailing and gnashing their teeth over the corpse of the One Light, beseeching it to let them live again. The Last Light then gave himself, and the One Light, Yelm, lived again. So great was the power of Yelm's return, that the Destroyed Gods came back to life even though they did not deserve it.

The Last Light was again hidden, deep inside the visible, burning Sun, Yelm. We now pray to that deep Brightness of the One Light, Yelmalio. When needed, we can call too upon the Cold Fire, the Last Light.

History

The second return of Yelmalio was when the prophet Severinalus came. When Dragons conquered the Cities of Light, many people went hungry just to sate their prodigious appetites. So great was their hunger that having devoured cities and rivers and mountains, the Dragons began even to consume the light. Severinalus saw that one light existed that the dragons could not devour, and he called this Tharkantus the Empty Saving Hearth, before he realized it was Yelmalio come again.

To save his people from the hunger of the Dragons, Severinalus founded many new Sun Dome Temples. One of these was our temple, Mo Baustra, built at the edge of the World. Others were old temples, reawakened. The Dragons were aware of Mo Baustra and tried to devour us with their magic. Severinalus had instructed all the priests to do nothing to oppose the dragons, and the true Light of Yelmalio protected us.

After the dragons devoured the Cities of Light, they soon returned to wherever they had come from. Yelmalio returned to Yelm and the Temples once again slept, save for Mo Baustra. Our Temple alone did not sleep, for our people were at the mercy of the nomads, the trolls, and the wastes. Rather than calling for Yelmalio to emerge once again purely for our benefit, we took inspiration from his example and remained true to the light through our minor darkness. This time we call the Solitude of Testing. Because we had been true, we survived where a greater city fell. When Monro came to us with the news that Yelmalio had emerged from Yelm for the third time, many of us were surprised at how short the Solitude of Testing had been.

Monro had seen Yelmalio emerge from Yelm at Vanntar, to prepare the world for the disaster yet to come. Monro then made it his mission to re-establish all the old Sun Domes. He even visited us, offering his new wisdom, and learning from us the truths we had preserved. We honored Monro, but did not recognize him as the Prophetic Founder of our temple. Monro's followers were outraged, thinking we had snubbed him, but Monro forbade retribution, seeing the truth of our actions. Unbelievers were cleared away from the Sun Dome Temples, as the Truest Light was brought forth once more. We are preparing to maintain the Light through the disaster yet to come: the Hero Wars. Only by remaining true to Yelmalio will we survive the coming cataclysm that will destroy the unbelievers. When the Hero Wars pass, the light shall once again shine out from our temple into the world.

Sun County Cultural Keywords

Men

Physical Abilities:	Close Combat (Spear and Shield), Endurance.
Mental Abilities:	Mythology of Yelmalio, Sun County Customs.
Personality:	Moral, Respectful.
Relationship:	Worship Yelmalio, to Sun County, to family.

Women

Physical Abilities:	Domestic Chores, Maintain House.
Mental Abilities:	Mythology of Ernalda, Sun County Customs.
Personality:	Moral, Obedient.
Relationship:	Worship Ernalda, to Sun County, to family.

Sun County Occupational Keywords