The Order of the Dawn & Its Legacy

While the Order of the Dawn is celebrated for ending the fifty-year ice age that plagued the Second Era, their legacy is far more complex and fractured than the history books suggest. Following the successful containment of the Eclipse Stone within the Frostborne Citadel, the Order did not simply disband in triumph. Instead, the traumatic events of the journey and the final sacrifice required to save the world shattered the organization into disparate, and sometimes opposing, factions.

The Frozen Saints
Deep within the Frostborne Citadel, the powerful magicians who sacrificed their lives to create the protective shield around the Eclipse Stone did not vanish. It is said that the sheer magnitude of the Aetheric energy required to counter the celestial event turned their bodies into statues of indestructible, rime-covered crystal. These figures, known as the “Frozen Saints”, stand in an eternal circle around the Stone, and their resting place has become a place of pilgrimage for the most adventurous among the scholars that study their ultimate fate.

The Vigil of the Dawn
To protect the Citadel and the volatile artifact within, the surviving martial members of the Order formed the Vigil of the Dawn. Unlike the diverse and cooperative alliance that birthed them, the Vigil has become a fanatical and isolationist paramilitary sect. They view the outside world—even the nations that originally sent them—as a threat to the Eclipse Stone’s containment. There is considerable tension between the Vigil and the Keepers of the Orrery; while the Keepers may have secretly advised the original Order, the Vigil now suspects the Keepers of wanting to study the Stone rather than keep it sealed, leading to a silent cold war between the two organizations.

The Lanterns of Jhokum

During their arduous journey through Iskandria to locate the Frozen Enclave, the Order battled horrors from the planet’s depths that thrived in the darkness. To combat these creatures, Jhokum the Seer commissioned the creation of twelve artifacts known as the Lanterns of Jhokum. These aetheric beacons were more than just light sources, since they burn with a concentrated, artificial sunlight capable of searing the flesh of shadow-dwelling monsters. Only three of these lanterns are known to have survived the campaign: one is held by the High Bastion of the Order of the Bronze Shields, gifted as a sign of respect for their defensive prowess; another one remains sealed within the Vigil’s vault; and the third was lost during a chaotic skirmish near the Black Gate, leading to fears that it may have fallen into the hands of the Abyssal Reavers.

The Festival of the Thaw

The legacy of the Order is most visible to the common folk during the Festival of the Thaw, celebrated annually to mark the moment the sun pierced the shroud 473 years ago. While it is a global joyous occasion featuring bonfires and feasts, it has a fascinating array of different expressions across Iskandria. In kingdoms like Breccia or Leoriel, it is customary to douse all magical lights for a minute of silence at noon, honoring the generation that was born and died in the dark. However, in other places, like the superstitious slums of Veldonia, the festival is often boycotted by those who believe the eclipse was a divine judgment that was interrupted, not solved, and that the Order’s interference will one day demand a steeper price.