Companion

The Companion, or The Second Sun, is the name Elturians gave the giant light-bringing orb that hung suspended over the city of Elturel from 1497 through 1498. This magical artifact exuded actual sunlight, ensuring that Elturel was never shrouded in darkness. The Companion was also the de facto symbol of Elturgard.
However, the Companion was in fact a Solar Insidiator, a device of infernal origin that imprisoned the solar Nascius and played a critical role in the Damnation of Elturel. Following the Battle of Elturel, the Companion was destroyed.

Creation

Sometime prior to the mid-15th century, a solar insidiator containing the captured angel Nascius was constructed inside of Bel's Forge in Avernus.
In 1447, High Watcher Naja Bellandi discovered that Klav Ikaia, the High Rider of Elturel, was a vampire in disguise. His secret revealed, Ikaia began a massing purge of the city's government, using his vampiric minions to kill or convert anyone that resisted. For 20 days, Elturel tore itself apart during the Reign of Vampires. Bellandi, who had survived her confrontation with Ikaia, led resistance groups against the vampires and prayed to every good-aligned deity she knew of to save Elturel.
Following the tragedy of the High Harvest Slaughter, Bellandi's prayers were answered, but not by the gods. Members of the cult of Zariel had repeatedly approached Bellandi to offer a pact to save the city. Though she refused repeatedly, the High Harvest Slaughter force Bellandi's hand, and she signed a pact with Zariel. On the 2nd of Eleasis, the Companion appeared over the sky of Elturel, its divine light burning away all the vampires and undead caught under its gaze, ending the Reign of Vampires almost instantly.

Significance

The Companion was the shining symbol of the city of Elturel and Elturgard as a whole. The miracle sun attracted travelers, the devout, refugees from the undead, and more.
Naja Bellandi's role in bringing forth the Companion made her a modern legend in Elturel. Shortly after its summoning, Bellandi was named High Observer and made the new ruler of the city.
In the year after the Reign of Vampires, the Companion would inspire the creation of the Order of the Companion, an organization of paladins that serve Elturgard. The founder of the Companions, Cathasach Restat, would become the High Observer of Elturel in 1449. However, the Order of the Companion would quickly be infiltrated by the cult of Zariel until it ultimately became all but the public-facing front of the cult.
The Companion also played a key role in laying the groundwork for the Damnation of Elturel. The terms of Bellandi's pact stipulated that Elturel be teleported into Avernus in fifty years. To do that, the Companion's light and energy bathed Elturel, imbuing in the very stone of the city its energies. Because of this, the Companion was able to reverse its energy output on the 2nd of Eleasis, 1497, and the rending of magical energy hurtled the city through the planes and into Hell.

Beliefs

The Companion is so named because the people of Elturel viewed it as a companion to the sun and to themselves.
In the months following the Reign of Vampires, many in Elturgard attempted to discern the source of the Companion and which god had sent it. However, fearful of potential conflicts that could emerge between religious believers claiming the Companion as their own, High Observer Bellandi declared that the Companion is a gift to all of Elturel and should serve as a symbol to bring the realm together, not divide it. The Creed Resolute, sworn by the Order of the Companion, and later also the Hellriders, maintains that their members would not attribute the Companion to any one god.
The Companion would go on to serve as a unifying symbol for the newly proclaimed nation of Elturgard, also known as the Kingdom of Two Suns. Unity Prayers were introduced into official ceremonies, requiring thanking the Companion before giving thanks to any one god. Such prayers would eventually make their way into non-governmental events and even become common in some temples.
The Companion's light was also seen as a comfort to the citizenry of Elturel. Over time, Unity Tributes, small sculptures of the Companion scattered throughout the city, began appearing. It became tradition in Elturel to leave effigies of oneself at a tribute, so that no matter where one went they were always under the light of the Companion. However, this very same light would make it difficult for non-natives of Elturel to adjust to. The people of the city became reliant on the bells from the High Hall to tell what time of day it is.
Elturgardians also began using the Companion in idioms. It was not uncommon to hear "by the Companion's light" or "bless the Companion" in every day speech.

Description

The Companion was a shining golden orb, hanging directly over the High Hall in the center of Elturel through night and day, never setting or moving through the sky like the natural sun did. Because of the Companion, Elturel itself always appeared to be bathed in daylight.

The Companion could be seen from nearly anywhere within Elturgard, making it a land of unending daylight, though its brightness faded with distance. Some 50 miles away from Elturel, it cast a pale dawn light. Further away, it was a bright beacon in the sky, and from as far away as Berdusk and Boareskyr Bridge, it was an unmoving star hanging low over the horizon.
During the Damnation of Elturel, the Companion's normal bright light was replaced with an orb of blackness. The instability of the magic required to teleport Elturel into Avernus also resulted in discharges from the Companion striking the city randomly in the form of lightning bolts.
The inside of the Companion was austere, as the angel Nascius inside was restrained magically, not physically.

The Companion Post-Damnation

Following the Companion's erratic behavior in Avernus and the reveal of its role in the Damnation of Elturel by the Lost Star Detectives, the Companion lost nearly all of the prestige it once held in Elturian culture. The Order of the Companion, revealed to be a front for the cult of Zariel, was dissolved, unity prayers and tributes ceased, and the Companion was struck from local idioms. Though some still remained devoted to the Companion they had worshipped all of their lives, these individuals were a distinct minority.
Physically, most of the Companion was taken to Mount Celestia by Nascius after he was freed, but remnants of the Companion remained in and around Elturel. These parts have been taken by scholars, Elturian officials, magic users, and others, and a small but minor black market has emerged selling real and fraudulent pieces of the once-revered artifact.

Item type

Unique Artifact

Creation Date

Sometime before 1447

Destruction Date

1498

Owning Organization

Elturgard