Beacons

The lighting of a beacon is a sacred process, and calls for much ceremony and celebration. The flame itself must be transported from the Great Beacon of Hearth, and laid upon a pile of wood anointed with various oils. When the flame is delivered, many will begin to pray or sing in an attempt to fuel the beacon further. If the flame catches, the settlement is blessed with the protection of the sacred Rona. If it is extinguished, then all know that the settlement is doomed, and will quietly pack up their belongings, and leave for civilization.

— Orrin Mason, Cieran Settler on the Cieran process of lighting a Beacon.

Manifestation

Each and every settlement within the Kingdoms has a central bonfire, which is kept constantly burning and regularly has to be fueled. These fires mark a spiritual and practical significance, serving as centers of worship, and as protection from the monsters of the wastes. Beacons grow in size and power based on the number of individuals that live near and feed them. The beacon of a small village is about the size of a campfire, and that of a large city being roughly the size of a building. A settlement's beacon is faith given form, a bold statement against the Winter Court and their minions to stay away from civilized lands. To that end, those located within a beacon's effective radius will find themselves far more resilient towards the effects of the Siren's Song. Thralls find crossing into a locale protected by a Beacon to be physically painful, though they will go through with it to carry out raids and perhaps snuff out a settlement's fire. Fae are completely incapable of approaching the effective radius of the bonfires, having to remain at the fringes of civilization and send forth their minions to sabotage a settlement's Beacon before being able to move in.
Beacons do not make one wholly immune to the machinations of the Fae, however. Elaborate and costly summoning rituals performed by cultists and those who are close to succumbing to Thralldom can summon an Unsidhe into a beacon's radius, allowing them to wreak havoc as they please. More worrying still is the Siren's Song's ability to dominate those within a Beacon's radius, provided they are feeling strong negative emotions such as fear, jealousy, anger, and particularly grief or depression. Though whether or not the charm finds purchase still varies from individual to individual. Most who succumb to thralldom within the confines of a Beacon will immediately attempt to sabotage it, opening the way for a band of Thralls to move in, or any manner of terrible creature or fae. To that end, most settlements guard their beacon 24/7, with multiple guards operating on shifts to ensure the flame isn't snuffed out. Cities have an easier time of this over villages, but most settlements have one or several dedicated "Firekeepers" or "Hearthkeepers" who maintain the beacon, feeding it with conventional fuel and prayer.
Beacons require more than physical fuel in order to sustain themselves, however, requiring some sort of faith to be given in order to bolster their effects. A beacon left unfed will eventually begin to falter, before fading entirely and leaving a settlement defenseless. To that end, most cultures have developed a way of feeding their beacon. All of these means are to the ends of giving over a piece of one's life force, their soul, to fuel their Beacon and ensure it continues to burn. Most Cierans will offer group prayers at regular intervals in order to feed their beacons, with many individuals spending their spare time in a church or other building to give reverence and feed the flame, though in several cities it isn't uncommon to find certain festival days and formal events set aside for feeding a Beacon. Krels will stage regular feasts and festivals around their beacon, feeding it with the residual positive emotion generated from grand dances and tournaments in martial prowess. Mordva feed their beacons through constant, continual meditation and the seeking of deeper meaning, some even going so far as to have perfected the art of directly tapping into their life force to feed it to their Beacon. Those who are cremated on a Beacon following their death, as per typical funerary rites have their souls join with the flame, feeding and bolstering it for a period relative to the strength of the soul and the size of the Beacon. As one could reasonably expect, larger beacons require more energy to sustain.
Another added benefit of the Beacons is their ability to invigorate the nearby wasteland, effectively turning what was once inhospitable tundra or ice into a slightly more arable and liveable locale. This effect can be amplified or reduced by a school of clerical magic known as Hearthkeeping, which revolves around performing specific rites around one's Beacon in order to amplify or reduce some of its effects. Grenesse, for example, amplifies their Beacon's ability to invigorate the surrounding land, allowing them to grow crops far faster than other provinces, and allowing them to never have to worry about crop failure or famine. Briar Glenn's Beacons allow the trees in the surrounding forests to regrow far faster than they would naturally, reaching maturity in half the time it would take in other provinces. These are but a few of the applications Hearthkeeping can be utilized for, and most settlements have their Beacons tailored to suit their needs, regularly performing the rituals required to maintain the enchantment.

Localization

The range of a Beacon varies heavily on its size and the rites performed upon it. In a small mining town, for example, the Beacon might be condensed to just cover the town's limits and the mine, requiring less upkeep and making the effects more potent. A farming town, however, might require their Beacon to encompass a larger radius so that the outlying farms can be protected. The beacons of large cities typically have their unmodified radius encompass both the entirety of the city, and the outlying city limits due to the sheer volume of people feeding it. The Great Beacon of Hearth for instance is capable of covering approximately half of Valmere.