Rites and Rituals

Hour of the First Ray

Every morning in the parishes of the Children of Light begins with the Hour of the First Ray. The servants turn to face the dawn, open their palms, and recite the oath:

“I carry the Light where there is none. I preserve life where others seek to extinguish it. I will not retreat before the darkness, even if the darkness speaks with my voice.”

Afterward, the day's ordinary duties begin: training, services, healing, patrols, teaching novices, repairing walls, helping local residents, and preparing for campaigns.

Rite of the White Cloak

When a novice becomes a full-fledged Child of Light, a simple white cloak without gold or ornament is placed upon their shoulders. It is to be worn not as a sign of superiority, but as a promise to remain visible.

It is easier to hide in the shadows. It is harder to remain in the Light.

If the cloak turns gray from the road, ash, and blood, it is not considered a disgrace. On the contrary, senior servants say: the Light must not fear the filth of the world if it wishes to save it.

Trial by Flame

Those who wish to become paladins must undergo the Trial by Flame. The candidate stands within a circle of sacred lamps. Throughout the night, they must remain standing in full armor, holding a sword with its point lowered. They may not sit, speak, close their eyes, or ask for help.

It is believed that on this night, the Light reveals the future paladin's greatest weakness. Those who face their fear and do not retreat earn the right to bear a consecrated blade. Those who break remain servants, but can no longer become paladins.

Invocation of the First Ray

The Invocation of the First Ray is one of the rarest and most demanding rites of the Paladins of Light. Unlike the Rite of Return practiced by the Servants of Decay, which raises a dead body without its soul and turns it into undead, the Invocation of the First Ray is intended to restore true life.

The paladin channels the power of the Light through their own body, amplified and transformed through Flur crystals. The Light, like Decay, is connected to the underlying power of Flur, but uses it differently: not to control dead flesh, but to attempt to return the soul to the body, preserve the fading spark of life, and restart what has nearly ceased to function.

Such a rite requires immense concentration. The paladin kneels beside the fallen, places one hand upon the dead person's chest and the other upon their own breastplate emblem or Flur crystal, then recites a prayer to the First Ray. At that moment, the Light passes through the paladin's body, burning through their strength, searing their nerves, stealing their breath, and seemingly taking a portion of their own life to restore another.

An ordinary paladin cannot perform this rite often. Even a powerful warrior of Light can usually perform the Invocation of the First Ray only once per battle. Afterward, their hands tremble, their vision blurs, their armor feels impossibly heavy, and every movement becomes difficult.

The strongest paladins, such as Tirion the Lion, are capable of restoring several fallen companions or beastfolk to life on the battlefield, but even for them this is no simple miracle — it is a grueling feat. After such an Invocation, a paladin may barely be able to remain standing, because the Light passes through them not as a gentle radiance, but as a white-hot current that demands a price.

The Children of Light regard this rite as the highest proof of the Light's mercy. The Servants of Decay despise it and call it a desperate attempt to cheat the inevitable. But even they acknowledge the difference: Decay returns the body to service, while the Light attempts to restore a living being to life.

Mirror Confession

A ritual of the Questioners. The suspect is placed before a tall, polished mirror with a bright, focused light burning behind it. The Questioner asks questions in such a way that the accused looks not at the judge, but at their own reflection.

In its gentler form, it resembles a confession. In its harsher form, it becomes an interrogation from which many never return unchanged.

The Questioners say that the mirror does not lie. The Order's opponents reply that a mirror shows only the face, while fear can force anyone to confess even to something that never happened.

Rite of Pure Fire

A rite officially intended to destroy corruption: contaminated objects, relics of Decay, bodies that cannot be buried, and places deemed dangerous. It is performed by the Keepers of the Flame under the supervision of Lightbringers or Questioners.

In darker times, this rite became a form of public execution.

It was under the sign of Pure Fire that Demondred's mother was burned by the Questioners. To the Children of Light, it was purification. To Demondred, it was a crime that forever transformed the Light into an image of flames, white masks, and cold voices.

Purification Campaign

A Purification Campaign is declared against places deemed sources of corruption. It may target a fortress of the Servants of Decay, a lair of the undead, a contaminated mine, a mutated settlement, a secret cult, or a territory where living beings disappear with alarming frequency.

Officially, the purpose of such a campaign is to save the world from darkness. In practice, sometimes all that remains afterward are white banners, ash, ruined homes, and mass graves.