Cult of Sol Invictus

## Common Knowledge

Scholars across Talios, Galkador, and even the late Jericho hold a unique fascination and fear for the ancient Meztec Empire. Its brutal, millennia-spanning war against the entire world left uncountable scars across central and eastern Orelisle, even after its utter annihilation. This barbaric legacy was brought about largely by the Meztec priesthood, and their state-mandated worship of their terrifying war god: Sol Invictus, the Unconquered Sun.

## Beliefs

The Cult of Sol Invictus worships the sun god as a deity of war, absolute domination, and immortality. Believers offer Sol Invictus their obedience to his rule, ritual sacrifice, and glorious conquest in his name. In return, Sol Invictus offers power, fortune, dominion over others, glory, and even his personal assistance in times of need. Different factions of the Cult, ranging from the founding Meztec Sidi to the modern warlord praying for strength, abide by at least some tenets of the Leges Victorum, a set of guidelines given by Sol Invictus himself to ensure his chosen would overcome any obstacle on their road to total conquest.

The worship of Sol Invictus is predicated upon a single idea: strength. To the Cult of Sol Invictus, strength is everything. Respect, love, veneration, fear, and obedience can only be attained through strength, making strength the basis for personal relationships and society as a whole. Sol Invictus, then, is the absolute epitome of strength, to which all others must dedicate themselves, on pain of annihilation

## The Worshipped

The cult worships Sol Invictus as a supreme being, to whom all beings mortal or otherwise must be subordinate to. Sol Invictus is the giver of life, the bestower of comfort, the arbiter of justice, and the administrator of death. Sol Invictus is an unparalleled warrior in mind, body, and soul, a master tactician, champion and king of the Meztec Empire. Everything is for Sol Invictus and in his name, no matter the cost to his worshippers.

In many ways, the priests of Sol Invictus, known as the Sidi (Sidus in singular), were worshipped as the sole interpreters of Sol Invictus’s will. In their power as the link between the mortal populace and Sol Invictus himself, the Cult venerated the Sidi for their blessed divine connection. Sidi primarily only existed during the Meztec Empire’s reign, though some in modern times take up the traditions associated with the Sidi.

Under the Meztec specifically, the Solaris Judex, the Meztec head of state, was also worshipped to some degree as the divinely chosen master of the Cult of Sol Invictus. Judices would conduct the largest sacrifices to Sol Invictus, and were considered Sol Invictus’s personal advocate on the Material Plane while he chose not to walk upon it. This veneration extended slightly to the Solaris Jurators, Meztec appointed governors, as well.

## Religious Practices

### Eternal War

By the divine command of Sol Invictus and his Sidi, and later by the holy edicts of the Leges Victorum, members of the Cult of Sol Invictus made war upon all who opposed them. Beginning at first with neighboring Lizard-Folk tribes, the Eternal War soon encompassed much of central Orelisle.

All conquest was done in the name of Sol Invictus, spreading fear of him as they travelled. The Eternal War served to spread not only the power of the Meztec Empire, but also to instill fear of Sol Invictus into the hearts of the conquered or the soon-to-be-conquered. This fear factor fueled Sol Invictus’s own power greatly, which in turn empowered the Meztecs through his blessings.

### Ritual Sacrifices

In accordance with tradition and the Leges Victorum, the Cult of Sol Invictus dedicated many sacrifices to their sun god. Sacrifices varied greatly, but an alarming number were sapient mortal beings, often prisoners of war, traitors, and blasphemers. Sacrifices usually involved binding the target, placing them upon an altar or similar flat surface some elevation above ground level, cutting them open, extracting one or more organs, and burning them. The body would then be burned once the final cinders of the sacrificial organ petered out.

Sacrifices could be used to prophesy future events, seek counsel from Sol Invictus for advice, dedicate a battle or series of battles to Sol Invictus, ask for Sol Invictus’s blessing, or even attempt to call an Avatar of Sol Invictus to aid the Meztec on the battlefield.

Sacrifices could be conducted by any figure with recognized or established authority, so long as the guidelines of the Leges Victorum were followed during the sacrifice itself. The grisly nature of these sacrifices often meant that only Sadi, Jurators, and Judices conducted sacrifices as an obligation to the state and to Sol Invictus. Judices in particular were intended to conduct their sacrifices upon the highest altar of the Zenith Temple, so that the blood would run through the whole city.

## Celebrations and Holidays

The Cult of Sol Invictus had no official holidays, though it often celebrated days on which miracles of Sol Invictus supposedly occurred. These included their victory over the goddess Birugali in ancient times, the Battle of Bone Peak, the “Victory” against Lolth, and others.

## Religious Scripture, Artifacts, and Locations

### Leges Victorum

A massive document scorched into the side of Bone Peak Mountain top to bottom after Sol Invictus’s divine intervention against the retaliatory Galkadorian army. The Leges Victorum are the Laws of Conquest laid out by Sol Invictus to ensure that his people would never know defeat, and that he would always and forevermore be known as the Unconquered Sun.

#### Contents

The Leges Victorum contains four hundred (400) laws of conduct which must be observed to attain victory, each accompanied by an explanation and recommendations for their best application. The laws cover a broad range of topics, including combat techniques, military tactics, self-control guidelines, specifications for sacrifices to Sol Invictus himself, war ritual fundamentals, and many others. In many instances, some laws will be repeated to give emphasis to certain ideas or to ideas discussed in adjacent laws. Given that listing every law would be absurd, only an assortment of them are detailed below, in no particular order.

1. There are many gods, but Sol Invictus is the strongest among them.

2. There are many mortals chosen by gods, but the Meztec are the strongest among them.

3. Only through Sol Invictus do you succeed.

4. Victory is life. Victory is survival.

5. Only victory matters. Only victory.

8. There are many emotions which dwell in the hearts of mortals. Emotions, too, are tools.

9. Only the fool does not use tools provided.

10. Chief among the emotions are fear and pride. Use them to strengthen your hearts, use them to drain your foes’.

14. Blood begets blood.

### Sacra Solaris Judex

The Sacra Solaris Judex is a mythical text described in Meztec myths and surviving oral traditions. Supposedly, it is a continuous collaborative work that outlines the rituals and sacraments only meant to be performed by the Solaris Judex to call upon Sol Invictus. Judices were expected to continue writing in it to detail how they would summon an Avatar of Sol Invictus to battle, including the exact specifications of the mortal sacrifices necessary. This text was also supposedly a physical tether, binding the might of Sol Invictus to the position of Solaris Judex.

Unfortunately, such a text was never recovered. It was supposedly entombed within the deepest bowels of the Zenith Temple, in a hidden chamber reserved exclusively for the Sacra Solaris Judex. The Zenith Temple was mostly destroyed when Meztec’s capital was laid to waste, and oral tradition holds it was lost even before then. If it does exist, it may be in an ancient sealed vault belonging to Talios, Galkador, Jericho, K’vesten, or another power embroiled in the chaos of the Eternal War’s end.

### Bone Peak

A sharp-tipped mesa about fifty miles northeast from Galkador into the desert. Bone Peak was the turning point in the Galkadorian Incursion against the Meztec. Myths speak (and a great deal of evidence suggests) that Sol Invictus himself intervened to prevent a total rout, saving the Meztec from certain doom. Many mountains nearby have deep black scorch marks from the battle.

The Leges Victorum, as described above, was initially scorched into the side of Bone Peak, following the appearance of Sol Invictus’s avatar.

## Personage

The Meztec priests, known as the Sidi, were responsible for spreading Sol Invictus’s gospel, interpreting his will, and directing his followers to fit that will. Sidi conducted local and regional sacrifices and ceremonies, usually with the assistance or supervision of Solaris Jurators. The Solaris Judex, the priest-monarch of the Meztec, was considered the closest mortal to Sol Invictus, and acted as his true agent among mortals when not walking the earth himself. The Judex was responsible with the largest and most impressive rites of the Cult, usually involving mass sacrifices, the immolation and consumption of organs, and painting various objects with blood.

## Founding and History

### Ancient History

The original Cult of Sol, the one from which Sol Invictus’s worship grew, predates the fall of the Old Kingdom by a few thousand years, and in fact originates from the deserts of Beckonend. Centuries of travel within Beckonend, and later the Apotheosis Desert, would erode Sol’s worship down from potentially hundreds of aspects to only a few, the most prominent among them being Sol Dans and Sol Mortem until the rise of Sol Invictus.

### Role in the Meztec Empire

The Cult of Sol Invictus returned to prominence shortly after a supposed incursion by worshippers of a storm goddess called Birugali. Driving back the invasion, or perhaps the following counter-invasion, led to the return of Sol’s Invictus aspect. As the Meztec began expanding outwards to incorporate, conquer, and otherwise impose their will onto neighboring Lizard-Folk groups, Sol’s Invictus aspect integrated itself into the lives of the Meztec. Once conquest became a major part of the early Meztec Empire, the worship of Sol Invictus spread like wildfire until the Meztec were wiped out in 2068.

### Modern Worship

The Cult of Sol Invictus persists in many forms today, but only in small pockets of roaming tribes scattered across Orelisle and in hushed whispers of the dwarven city of Myrdirit. Millennia of separation has led to the utter collapse of anything resembling a unified religion, with Sol Invictus’s distant worshippers scattered amidst hundreds of sects. Some, but not all, of these distinct groups cherry pick specific sections of the Leges Victorum to base new interpretations of strength and how Sol Invictus fits into that interpretation. The modern worship of strength above all others makes members easy targets for conversion and recruitment by other organizations seeking powerful ne'er do wells to do their bidding.

## Further Information

* Meztec Empire
* Sol Invictus