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# Citadels of Light
Main Citadel of the Children of Light
#### White Stronghold of the First Ray
The main citadel of the Children of Light stands on a high mountain plateau, where dawn arrives earlier than in the valleys.
From afar, it looks less like a fortress and more like a frozen dawn. Enormous white walls rise above the clouds, golden roofs catch the sunlight, tall spires gleam in the morning light, and the central tower, known as the Eye of Dawn, can be seen for miles before reaching the plateau.
Unlike the Fortress of the Last Bell, the White Stronghold does not hide. It must be seen.
It must inspire hope, fear, and obedience all at once. Everyone who approaches it along the mountain road must understand: here, the Light does not ask permission to enter the world. Here, the Light already rules.
The armies of the Steam Empire have attempted to storm the White Stronghold of the First Ray many times, but not once have they succeeded.
#### **Exterior**
The citadel's walls are built of pale stone reinforced with bronze and golden metal structures. White banners bearing symbols of a ray, the sun, and an open eye fly from the towers. Arched galleries, high bridges, watch platforms, signal-lamp stations, and enormous lenses that direct sunlight run along the walls.
The main gates are called the Gates of Dawn. They are made of white metal, polished stone, and bronze doors engraved with scenes of the Light's victories over Decay, the undead, and monsters. Above the gates burns an eternal lamp which, according to the servants, cannot be extinguished by ordinary wind.
A broad pilgrims' road leads to the citadel. On either side stand statues of paladins, Lightbringers, martyrs, healers, and defenders of the Order. The faces of some statues are gentle and sorrowful. Others stare so sternly that they seem to have already passed judgment.
#### **Outer City**
At the foot of the main walls lies the citadel's outer city. It is home to craftsmen, novices, healers, scribes, students, guards, temple servants, caravaners, and residents connected to the Order. There are hospitals, kitchens, workshops, warehouses, schools, dormitories for orphans, scribes' houses, and training yards for ordinary Children of Light.
Unlike the fortresses of Decay, this place is full of activity. Bells ring, carts creak, the wounded are treated, prayers are recited, warriors train, children learn to write, and Keepers of the Flame carry lamps through white corridors. Everything feels alive, organized, and almost beautiful.
But the closer one gets to the inner circles, the stricter the order becomes.
#### **Great Temple of the First Ray**
At the center of the White Stronghold stands the Great Temple of the First Ray. It is an enormous building with a high dome, arches, white columns, and a circular opening in the ceiling. At noon, a direct column of sunlight falls through the opening onto the altar.
There is no statue of a god inside. Only light, an altar, banners, white stone, gold, silence, and the voices of choristers. The walls depict scenes of salvation, healing, battles against Decay, victories of paladins, and Purification Campaigns. But the faces of enemies have been erased from many of the murals. The Order does not like to preserve the names of those it has declared corrupt.
#### **Hall of the White Cloak**
This is where novices become full-fledged Children of Light. The hall is long, bright, and almost empty. Hundreds of white cloaks hang upon its walls. The new ones are pristine; the old ones are stained with blood, ash, dirt, and soot. Each cloak belonged to someone who served the Light until the end.
When a new servant receives their cloak, they walk between the rows of old ones as a reminder: white does not signify a spotless life. It signifies a visible oath.
#### **Tower of Commanders**
The military section of the main citadel. The Tower of Commanders houses maps, reports, intelligence on fortresses of Decay, routes of the Steam Empire, contaminated mines, mutant territories, and disputed lands. Campaigns are planned here, garrisons are assigned, Commanders are appointed, and decisions are made regarding the defense of parishes.
#### **Patriarch's Chambers**
In the upper reaches of the citadel, close to the Eye of Dawn itself, lie the chambers of the Patriarch of the First Ray. This is not a luxurious palace, but a stern white complex containing a council chamber, private chapel, archive, and terrace overlooking a sea of clouds.
It is said that at dawn, the Patriarch steps onto this terrace and is the first to greet the Light before it touches the lands below. To the servants, this is a sign that the will of the Light passes through him into the world.
#### **Lower Halls of the Questioners**
Beneath the White Stronghold lies another citadel — hidden, cold, and almost silent. Pilgrims and orphans are never brought there. There are no hymns, no golden stained-glass windows, and almost no decoration.
These are the Halls of Questioning.
White corridors without windows. Rooms with mirrors. Waiting cells. Archives of confessions. Chapels of Pure Fire. Narrow stairways descending deeper beneath the mountain. The light here is not warm, but cutting. The lamps are positioned so that no shadows remain.
It is here that the Questioners conduct Trials by Truth and decide the fate of those suspected of heresy.
The White Stronghold of the First Ray is beautiful. That is its strength. And that is also its danger. From afar, it looks like salvation. Up close, it becomes clear: the Light, too, knows how to oppress, blind, and burn.
Military Citadel of the Paladins of Light
#### Bastion of the Unquenchable Flame
If the White Stronghold of the First Ray is the spiritual heart of the Children of Light, then the Bastion of the Unquenchable Flame is their battle shield and shining sword.
This fortress stands on the border of dangerous lands, beside a great mountain pass through which the armies of Decay, mutants from contaminated valleys, and forces of the Steam Empire once marched. The Bastion was built not for pilgrims or services, but for war. Paladins, Commanders, elite units of the Children of Light, Keepers of the Flame, and military healers live and train here.
#### **Exterior**
The Bastion of the Unquenchable Flame looks heavier and more austere than the main citadel. There is less gold and temple splendor, and more stone, metal, battle towers, and fortifications. Its walls are white, but scarred by old sieges: cracks, soot-blackened sections, replaced slabs, and marks left by heavy war machines.
The Bastion's towers are broad, with platforms for archers, marksmen, signal lamps, and large mirrored reflectors. At dawn, these reflectors send beams across the entire pass, warning distant parishes of danger.
Above the main gates burns a huge flame in a bronze brazier. It is called the Unquenchable Fire. The Keepers of the Flame tend it. Should this fire ever go out, the garrison would regard it as an omen of terrible disaster.
#### **Gates and Training Yards**
The Bastion's main gates are massive, reinforced with white metal, bronze ribs, and sacred seals. Beyond them lies an enormous training yard. Here, paladins train, units form ranks, weapons are blessed, armor is repaired, and the wounded are received after campaigns.
On one side of the yard stand armories and forges. On the other are infirmaries and field chapels. At the center is a stone circle where paladins swear their battle oath before departing.
#### **Hall of Paladins**
Within the Bastion stands the Hall of Paladins — a long chamber with high vaults, white columns, and rows of shields upon the walls. Each shield belonged to a paladin who died in service to the Light. Beneath the shields are carved not lengthy words of praise, but short lines: a name, the place of death, and the final oath.
It is here that young paladins first understand that the Order does not promise them a glorious life. It promises only meaning in death.
#### **Barracks and Commanders' Quarters**
The barracks of the Bastion of the Unquenchable Flame are austere and clean. Beds stand in orderly rows, weapons hang neatly in their places, cloaks dry beside long braziers, and oaths to the Light are written upon the walls.
The Commanders' quarters resemble military offices more than private chambers: maps, tables, signal flags, garrison lists, scouts' reports, diagrams of fortresses of Decay, patrol routes, and plans for defending the mountain passes.
#### **Trial Yard of Flame**
A separate part of the Bastion is dedicated to training future paladins. There stands the Trial Yard of Flame — a circular stone courtyard surrounded by lamps, braziers, and high white walls. It is here that candidates undergo their nightly trials, stand in armor until dawn, learn to hold formation under pressure, and face their fear directly.
#### **Hall of Invocation**
Deep within the Bastion lies a special hall accessible only to paladins, senior healers, Lightbringers, and Commanders. It is known as the Hall of Invocation.
It is neither an ordinary temple nor an infirmary. Its floor is paved with white stone crossed by thin golden lines forming circles around a central slab. Purified Flur crystals are set into the walls, enclosed in bronze frames and mirrored plates. When a paladin performs the Invocation of the First Ray away from the battlefield, light from the crystals gathers at the center of the hall and falls upon the body of the fallen.
Here, they attempt to bring back those who can still be brought back. But even in this place, a miracle is never guaranteed. If the soul has gone too far, if the body is destroyed, if the Flur within the wound is too distorted, or if the paladin is not strong enough, the Invocation will fail.
That is why the Hall of Invocation is always quiet. No one speaks loudly here.
Even victory here feels less like a celebration and more like a cautious breath after prolonged pain.
#### **Combat Mount Pens and Steam Stables**
The Children of Light do not have ordinary stables filled with horses of the old world. After the Great Catastrophe, the animals of the past either became beastfolk, mutated, or were altered by Flur and machinery. Therefore, paladins use special combat mounts rather than ordinary horses.
The Bastion contains combat mount pens and steam stables. They house large armored beasts purified and domesticated by the Order; mutated animals that retained the intelligence of ordinary beasts; heavy mounts with reinforced natural armor; and semi-mechanical walking machines created by the Order's craftsmen to carry paladins and heavy cargo.
These creatures do not look as grim as the beasts of Decay, but they still bear little resemblance to ordinary animals. They wear white and bronze plates, sacred seals, protective masks, chain reins, and sometimes steam-powered joint reinforcements and lamps of Light attached to their harnesses. Before a campaign, the Keepers of the Flame bless not only the paladins, but their mounts as well.
#### **Overall Impression**
**The Bastion of the Unquenchable Flame** is a place of discipline, martial faith, and constant readiness. Here, the Light does not appear gentle. It is like a blade heated white-hot. The wounded are healed here, but campaigns are also prepared here. Prayers are offered for salvation, but swords are sharpened here as well.
If the White Stronghold of the First Ray tells the world, “The Light rules,” then the Bastion of the Unquenchable Flame says something else:
> ***“The Light is ready for war.”***