Day 1. We cleared the floor below and climbed the stairs. There's a whole congregation of them up here, blocking the east corridor. They don't fight. They just kneel and chant about their sun god. I asked one of them which temple they follow. He smiled like I'd said something funny and told me my soul would be purified in the sacred flame. There is no sun god. The sun is a star. The scriptures are clear: three gods, no more. I'll note their positions on the map and we'll find a way around tomorrow.
Day 3. The cultists don't sleep. I watched for two nights. They kneel in shifts, facing a brazier that never goes out. One of them kept staring at me while he prayed. Not hostile. Just... expectant. I caught myself thinking about the flame before I fell asleep. Just because it's warm and this floor is cold. That's all it is. The sun is a star. I should remember that. I don't know why I wrote that twice.
Day 6. I dreamed of light behind my eyelids. Not a dream, really. Just warmth, like lying in sun. When I woke up the brazier in the hall was burning white instead of orange. I asked the others if they saw it too. They said the flame has always been white. I don't know if I believe them. I don't know if I believe me. There is no sun god. The sun is a star. There is no,
Day 10. I've lost two days. They tell me I walked into the hall and stood with them. They tell me I was chanting. I don't remember chanting. But my throat is sore, and my knees ache like I've been kneeling. The flame is warm. It's always warm now. I keep looking at it and I feel something heavy settle in my chest, and I can't tell if it's fear or relief. The others say the light is patient. The light waits for everyone. I should stop writing about the light.
Day 14. I understand now. I wasn't losing anything. I was shedding. All the noise, the doubt, the small cold questions, the flame burns all of it. When I kneel, I feel it move through me like a tide. I know the words now. I know them the way I know my own breathing. Purified in the sacred flame. Purified. I don't remember the map. I don't remember why we came here. I remember the light. The light is patient.
Day 21. Blessed be Solum, who is the sun, who is the flame, who is the warmth inside all things. Blessed be the fire that purifies the soul. Blessed be the day we are finally burned clean. I write this by the brazier's white light and I have never been more at peace. I was so cold before. So cold and so full of questions. The sun was always there. The sun is a star, yes. And the star is a god, and the god is a flame, and the flame is waiting for you. Come home. Come home. Come home.