Alverion

Magician_B2 by Ui Joo Moon

Alverion. A name that brings warmth to the heart of all in Bastion. He is the savior of all. He is the creator of our world. He is the light holding back the darkness. He is our god and our path to salvation.
Alverion's presence is felt always in the form of his celestial throne Arlethenon shining above, and the barrier that encompasses and protects Bastion. One need only look up to see His glory made manifest. Practically speaking, Alverion's wisdom and guidance reach us through the Church of Alverion and, if one has strayed too far, The Court.

Titles

There are a great many laudatory titles that we have used to refer to our savior. The most commonly used being The Divine One. What is less known among the masses is that He has only ever instructed the use of two. When He arrived during the He graced the people with His name and title: Alverion, The Illuminated Archon. Upon the creation of Bastion, all glory to Him for our world, He amended this to: Alverion, The Illuminated Archon, God Emperor of Bastion. Some may argue that he granted himself his second title, but I would argue he simply gave voice to the truth. That Alverion is emperor over the six kingdoms of Bastion is undeniable; he made the world and granted the kingdoms to his Exarchs. That he is our god is contested only by the insane, for there can be no other explanation for heresy given Alverion's indisputable glory.
Chapter 1 of expounds on the heavenly realm Alverion descended from, but the meaning or origin of the Illuminated Archon title is never explained. Titles exist to distinguish the bearer from others, which implies the existence of other heavenly beings, but any discussion of them is notably absent from . Are there other archons? Are all the heavenly beings equal? Was Alverion a ruler among them as He is here? It is Alverion's way to provide simple guidance toward His light so that through struggle we may earn glory in His name. I fear, however, that no amount of mortal endeavor will be able to answer these questions.

Arlethenon

Arlethenon is the ever present light in the sky above Bastion. It is a physical manifestation of Alverion's power. It is also home to the Celestial Throne from which The Divine One rules over Bastion. As far as we mortals are aware, the only citizens of Bastion to be granted passage to Arlethenon have been the nine . None have ever provided a detailed description. In fact, each of them has claimed that while they remember clearly their interactions with Alverion, may we be ever worthy of his grace, they are unable to clearly remember anything about their surroundings.
While we may never know the true nature of Arlethenon, we benefit from its presence every night. Its glow maintains a serene twilight throughout or world, preventing darkness from ever fully grasping Bastion. More importantly it is the conduit through which He maintains the Barrier.

The Barrier

The Barrier is the foundation of Bastion. Without it, our world would crumble into the darkness of the old world. On a bright day it can be difficult to see, but as soon as dusk begins to settle all of Bastion can see the soft blue shimmer that envelopes our world.
While it is not an official pilgrimage endorsed by the Church, many choose to visit the barrier. When approached you can see that beyond it is a perpetual tempest that no mortal could survive. Whether that is part of what the Barrier protects us from, or if the Barrier's power causes the storms is source of debate among clergy and scholars. The Divine One has declined to answer the questions, as is His way. We are ever meant to struggle to show ourselves worth of His light, and this mystery is one more opportunity to do so.
Those who touch the barrier report that there is almost no sensation. They feel a slight warmth and nothing else. It does not even feel as though they are touching anything, they simply cannot push beyond it. The nature of the storms may be a worthy topic, but trying to comprehend the power of our god being channeled through his Celestial Throne to form a wall is surely beyond the mortal mind.

Revelation Day

The Pillar of Heaven, a gleaming white structure of divine construction, stands at the center of , directly beneath the Celestial Throne. Even on the brightest days, its heavenly light casts the entire plaza in the soft white glow of the Divine One's grace.
The pillar is 45 feet tall, has a diameter of 28 feet and its entire surface has symbols carved into it. The are granted understanding of Alverion's celestial language, but even they cannot understand everything the pillar contains. In time we may more fully understand His glory and be able to discern their meaning. Or, perhaps the struggle to learn is just one more opportunity we have been given to prove our worthiness to be at His side in the light.
The the seventeenth day of Lightcrest sees more sunlight than any other day of the year. This would be reason enough for festivities, but by Alverion's grace we are given an even greater gift each year: Revelation Day.

It will be fourteen hours until the nobility leaves for Purifying Light. Keep the food and drink coming, keep the music going, and keep them happy. If you ruin Revelation Day you may find yourself at the base of The Pillar next year.

— Serf butler to his staff before Revelation Day

The evening before, in the moment the sun vanishes from sight below the storms of The Barrier, Arlethenon brightens beyond it's familiar glow. It shines so brightly that the night, so close to claiming its dominion over Bastion, is driven back. Day returns and remains until midnight at the end of Revelation Day. These added hours of daylight are filled with celebration throughout Bastion.

Purifying Light Ceremony

Ma, I know you and Pa always said it weren't worth the coin or dealing with the ignobles, but I went this year. I been watching His arrival my whole life from hundreds of miles away. Seeing that light streak through the sky every year was too amazing, too confounding. I had to go see it for my own self. I can hear Pa hollerin now as if he were here. "It's all just stories and cheap horse fucker magic." You know I loved Pa and it pains me to speak ill of him but he was wrong. Prior Lund told it true, every word.
I know it gladdens you when I have to admit you were right and as I write this I regret I did not heed you telling me to work harder at learnin my letters. Maybe then I would have the words to make you understand. I know what I get onto this paper won't change your mind, but I have to tell you how it was.
Ma, you could fit every house in Brekka in the Archon's Plaza and still have room left to get Ol' Berg's entire herd in there. There were hundreds of thousands of people there with me. I could have stood there counting for days and not got them all. I even saw a goliath. I know that would have perked Pa right up. There were no word of a lie in those stories either. That goliath man was every bit as terrifyin as they say. Pa probably still would have pestered the giant to tell him about the wolves.
I feel no shame to admit I had started to feel some fear. The crowd just grew and grew but the plaza was staying the same size. You know how it is. Us folk from a place like Brekka are never in a place with more than thirty people at one time. I was getting a might uncomfortable. Just as I was thinkin I might make a fool of myself in a panic, the Barrier turned solid white and the sun that had just climbed up to noon vanished behind it. Then His home up there dimmed way down and brought us suddenly to night. I tell no lie, I can't rightly say now how I felt at the time. I think I forgot to feel anything at all.
Then it happened, Ma. Just like the Prior told us all along. That great beam of light we've always seen, it shot down from His throne and crashed onto the Pillar of Heaven. Oh, Ma, the Pillar. I aint even told you about the Pillar yet. It is better than we heard. Folks like us don't know how to talk about things like that. It looks like a piece of His throne is right there for the crowd to see and all the carvings shine like the Barrier. Not a letter of it made sense to me but it was hard to keep from tryin to read it.
Sorry I got off the path there. The light crashed down like I said but it didn't last long. Just as soon as it had arrived it was gone, but in its place up there on the Pillar, was Him. He looked like a man but I could feel it, Ma. I have no words to say what it was, but I could feel it. He didn't speak, but then the Vicar and the Adjudicator joined him up there even though I never did see any stairs. Now, you know I am on time to things so I was early to the plaza but it turns out so was everybody else so I was a ways back. Even so, when the Vicar spoke, I heard him clear as a bell like he was standing right next to me. I wish I could tell you exactly what he said but I don't have a head for remembering such things. What I gathered was that the Vicar asked Him to let us see His mercy.
The Ajudicator spoke then. He said a name I surely cannot spell and then an arlvar man rose up from around the base of the pillar until he was just floating there near the top of the Pillar. They read a list of the crimes the man had done. Ma, just then I was real glad you never came. If he really did all they said then I fear the Barrier does not hold back enough darkness.
Until that moment it never struck me but He had not moved. Not even a twitch the whole time. But the last crime they listed for that man was heresy, and at that moment He put His eyes to the man and the man started to glow from the inside. At first I thought maybe my eyes were telling me tales. I thought the fear from before and being in His presence and just everything had sent my mind off somewhere else and left me behind. But my mind was right there with me. The man really had started to glow, like a light deep inside him was shinin out through his skin. The light grew and grew until it came right out of him and then he was just gone. The light faded away and there just was no man anymore.
I know I said I have no head for remembering exactly what people say, but I remember what came next. The Vicar spoke again and he said "Behold the mercy of the God Emperor. Even so vile a man as this may find a place in the light through His mercy." Then I heard the loudest sound of my life as the crowd cheered in praise of Him. The whole thing with a name, and the crimes, and the light happened four more times. The Vicar spoke again at the end thanking Him for letting us witness his glory. Then He left just the way He came, riding that light back to the sky. The Barrier went back to its blue shimmer, the sun was back, and the whole thing was over.
From what I gather, all the festivies from the night before were going to kick off again and get even rowdier but I wasn't of a mind to stay in a land where I needed a piece of paper to say I own myself so I set off back to home with most of the others bound for Tasyod. Ma, I know after what happened with Pa you aint likely to see things any different, but He is everything they said. I always thought Pa might have had the right of it, but after that day, I fear all his anger wasn't worth a damn.
I love you, Ma. I promise to make it back to Brekka to see you as soon as I can.

— letter from a Tasyodic man after his pilgrimage to Alenora for Revelation Day

The Illuminated Archon, God Emperor of Bastion, The Divine One, Savior of All, The Light...