Sol

"Constructed by gods. Governed by mortals."

Epithet: The Heavenly City

Known as the heavenly city, Sol is the home of the Seraphim, and currently the seat of power for Metatron the Archangel. It shares its name with Rhyst’s burning sun, a bright beacon of light amidst a cosmos of flickering, distant specks and a place that Zahhak himself calls his true domain. Though the city itself is small in comparison to the mass of the celestial body, it is nonetheless a sprawling metropolis that boasts shining marble architecture in the locations where the population is most dense, and golden fields of lush farms in its countryside. To many, Sol is nothing less than a utopia provided by the Eidolons of Rhyst, to others it is a political labyrinth of ennui and uncertainty.

Background and History

None could truly say when Sol was constructed, though many believe it was given shape following the Cycle of Soul’s beginnings. The mythos that some Seraphim believe is that an ancient mortal hero earned the attention of Rhyst’s Dragons, and when given an opportunity to be rewarded, the hero was humbled yet declined any recognition. Instead, they asked for their next life to be a joyous one, and so upon their death, this hero passed on and was reborn as the first of Sol’s inhabitants.

Throughout its history, Seraphim have been born within Sol as souls from Rhyst pass through the Styx and on toward Limbo. Where they would otherwise be directed along Yggdrasil’s roots to be reborn in the natural world, those that stood as unique and remarkable in their previous life are sometimes lifted and given new life instead within Sol itself. In this way, only Seraphim reside within Sol, and so only Seraphim have ever known its nature.

The city itself owes its loyalties and laws to Zahhak directly, though all of Rhyst’s Dragons are respected and even worshiped within grand temples that dot its lands. For centuries Zahhak left the leadership of Sol to be elected by its populace on the basis that the Seraphim would always choose the most noble of their kind to act as shepherds to the rest. A council of nine Seraphim, known as the Hegemony and individually titled as Primus, governed Sol beneath its patron Eidolon.

During Zahhak’s absence, the Hegemony faced its first genuine crisis as a schism of philosophies divided the people. Many wished to intervene upon Rhyst while others insisted such a precedent had never been broached before. The Archangel Metatron was sent from behind the veil of Limbo to act as a figurehead after a member of the Hegemony was assassinated. This was the first murder ever recorded within Sol, and it proved that the city, as perfect in design as it was, could not shield itself from mortal iniquity forever.

Though none on Rhyst would believe it to be a true war in the sense of violent battles and orders, two sides had clearly formed within Sol, and they continue to stand firm even today as unreconciled oppositionary forces. Though Zahhak was freed and has given leave to some Seraphim that they might descend to Rhyst, others reject the very notion of risking what the natural world may pose to their kind.

Trivia

The Red Dragon flight resides upon the sun itself, though they often fly overhead within Sol, and many find friends within its walls

Even with Zahhak’s return, Metatron still stands as the new head of the Hegemony, an act that makes it clear that Eden is no longer a bound spectator, but an active force within the cosmos

Seraphim have confirmed that Amada traverses the barriers between Rhyst and the sun by gliding along its rays. She is the most notable spirit known to its inhabitants.