The Theft of the Sun

There is a bevy of explanations for what happened to the sun. It was stolen. No, it was killed. No, it was simply gone and had left of it's own volition.
I certainly can't fault anyone for their fascination with the subject, especially when one looks to the vast library of stories that have been written attempting to explain away such an event. After all, the descriptions of empires and civilizations past have left behind of the radiant light that they once basked in. Then come the prayers and pleas for it's return.
I struggle to imagine the concept.
From where I stand, the conversation is largely academic. It's gone, has been, and clearly isn't coming back. We adapt and we live on, even if we must live on in the dark.
Amongst the lanterns, scholars still argue the point however, if for nothing else than to have an answer. They've never been one to leave good enough as it is, the few I've known. I don't think they're under any illusion that they can bring it back, don't get me wrong, there's simply no bigger question out there.
The one that I was most fond of, not necessarily for my own belief, was that the sun simply gathered up it's legion of stars, placed his wife, the moon, upon a great steed and all rode to war against some incomprehensible and ancient evil for the good of us all. It speaks to my younger, more hopeful self, I suppose. They say a Delver has to have hope, or they'll never truly leave the ruins that they enter.
That particular anecdote is far better for the mind and spirit than it's opposite; which states that the heavens left in shame and disgust with all of us, Otonomoi and Human both. Depending on who you ask, they may have a particular reason for the abandonment of the heavens, usually followed by choice words about a particular group or cause that they find objectionable.
Even if the sun, stars, and moon didn't leave out of some higher purpose or attempt to teach the world's two races a lesson, I'm not sure we even deserve them back.

Manifestation

The Sun, as well as the stars and moon, are completely absent from the sky at all times.
The world remains dark, bar whatever lights the worlds itself introduces. Luminous fabrics, lanterns wrought from paper and crystal, the natural glow that Otonomoi, plants, and animals give off. Myriad lights amidst a blanket of ink.

"He probably stole the sun." Is a colloquial sentiment, stated in some variation, to express the idea of further wrongdoing. A thief who's caught stealing an apple probably stole the sun, given that none know what else the thief may have stolen, but one may assume with some degree of confidence that there are other thefts.

Type

Natural

---

Out of concern for the ease of reading, I did not touch upon an idea that has become more prevalent in our age of progression and distance from superstition. Some academics have suggested in my presence, that there is significant evidence of a waning of the the light, as opposed to the sudden disappearance that we have operated under the assumption of in this paper as well as previous centuries.

Those that are proponents of this idea, radical in the face of the generally accepted, state that we have misinterpreted much of the evidence currently believed to have come from eras immediately proceeding the theft of the sun. Instead, these murals, artworks, acts of sacrifice, etc, that revere the sun, moon, and stars, are instead attempts to bolster the power of these 'celestial objects'. They say that these ancient societies could see that the source of their light was fading and, lacking knowledge of what to do, they attempted to pray and worship the problem away.