Personal journal of Preceptor Kharan of the Dawn Legion

The Long Night has made prey of us all, but it did not make us weak. Our ancestors survived the End of Days by sheltering in the light of our newly awakened Lamp, and by cannibalizing the bones of the Old World to build hasty barricades at the light’s edge. At first the only enemies they faced were bands of survivors or marauding raider gangs, drawn from the Dark by the light of the Lamp. Some of these newcomers were spared and allowed to enter the growing fortress and when they did, they were put to work reinforcing the walls or clearing land for farming. When the Thramorri came however, our ancestors felt that the slapdash walls and palisades were no longer enough and so a great undertaking was begun: within the protection of the Old Walls, a new shield wall would be built, using only the sturdiest materials, and built to last through the ages. Our ancestors burned their remaining fuel reserves to power their ancient builder machines to lay the foundations of the shield wall; vast poured stone pylons connected by thick hollow walls rising high above the heads of the tallest men. The spaces between the pylons were filled with a lattice of thick metal beams that to this day show no signs of rust or decay. These lattices were sheathed on both sides with heavy granite blocks ripped from the surrounding buildings and topped with more poured stone. Though parts of the walls have needed repair or replacement over the long centuries, the shield wall has never been breached.
Within the safety of our great walls, our people prospered. The now-abandoned towers of steel and glass were repurposed to become the sky-towns or terraced gardens where we grow food. Even though many of these ancient towers have fallen to ruin, their wreckage has not gone to waste. We have learned how to make fires hot enough to melt the iron and steel found in the ruins – more than we would ever need to arm and armour every man, woman and child in our lands – and we crush the poured stone and use it to pave our roads, fill holes in our walls, and shore up the foundations of our cities. Many of our homes are built of stone or chiseled bricks of poured stone, while many others are made of sturdy hardwoods harvested from the small forests that grow throughout our lands.
And we became warriors. After one of our ancient sages discovered a way to infuse crystals with some of the power of our Lamp, we began to send outriders out into the Long Dark to find other survivors, if any yet lived. We soon found other Lamps near our own, and while most of these settlements were friendly, some sought to steal our knowledge and goods for themselves. Between the Thramorri and these human thieves, our outriders were under near-constant threat of assault, and so in response our ancestors founded the first of the legions. Our weapons and armour were unmatched and soon our training transformed our early legionnaires into some of the most feared warriors in the known lands. Within a span of years our reputation had grown such that our outriders were no longer harassed; in some cases, they were even hired to assist other settlements with their problems. In time, our services became as sought after as our steel and our people grew wealthy as our influence grew.
We are stronger now than we have ever been. Our shield wall remains strong and whole, and our people prosper. Within the wall are three different sky-towns and a host of smaller farming towns. Our last census tells us that there are nearly thirty-thousand Theranii citizens here, and our vast legions protect them all. We are no longer afraid. We do not fear the raiders and we do not fear the Thramorri. Let them come; they will break against the shield wall as all other enemies have broken before them. We will lead our people into the Dawn.

The Great Bastion at Theranis, Third Lamp East, Sixth Lamp North from the Brightspire