"There is purity in fire! By fire did Great Solkan cleanse the fog-devils from Westerland, by fire were the heathen Kurgan driven back into the wastes. By fire we will purge this place."
- —Auernheimer, witch-taker of Solkan[4b]
A statue of Solkan, the god of vengeance, light, and Law, who is a member of the pantheon of the Gods of Law.[12a]
Solkan, also called the "Father of Vengeance," the "Lord of Vengeance," "The Avenger," "The Merciless," "The Mighty,"[6a] "Fist of Retribution," the "God of Law and Light" and "Lawful Vengeance,"[3b][6a][10a] is the god of vengeance, light and Law, an angry deity who inflicts the retribution of the Gods of Law on those who offend them. Solkan is the most popular of the Gods of Law and many witch hunters worship him. His followers are held in general fear and mistrust by the bulk of Old Worlders, who find the moral absolutism and bigotry associated with his worship uncomfortable.[1a]
The only God of Law that is at all well-known in the Old World is Solkan the Avenger, who is a popular patron for witch hunters. The Cult of Solkan is feared by many, and none of the other religious cults of the Old World can be said to be cordial towards its devotees.[2a]
Worship of Solkan is especially predominant in the Tilean city-state of Remas. His main temple is located in the city, having taken nearly three hundred years to construct.[5a] In the Empire, the god Söll, an ancient deity of vengeance revered by the tribe known as the Menogoths, is sometimes believed to be an aspect of Solkan. Worshippers of Söll are prominent in the southern lands of the Empire in old Solland and vocal in their demands of a reinstitution to full autonomy of the former province.[7a]
The faithful of Solkan believe that the mortal world will end when sin and corruption rise to a point that the Avenger will no longer tolerate it. If his chosen servants fail to cleanse the world of evil before Solkan's patience runs out, he will descend from Solkan's Palace to destroy the world and cast all that live into damnation.[6a][8a]
The sphere of influence of the goddess Fury overlaps with Solkan's.[8a]
History[]
Legend of the Shattered Amulet[]
"All this have I divined by my researches. I am also aware that the rat-like Skaven seek my shard of the Amulet. Why do they want an artefact of Law? Perhaps they seek to prevent it from being used against the Chaos Powers they serve. Who can know what motives pass through such alien minds? I have heard it said that they hear it will be wielded against the Demon-general Praznagar when he returns. Whatever their true purpose it must be terrible. Of one thing I am certain: they seek my fragment with a will. Three times my spells have repulsed attacks by warriors of Clan Mors. They have forced me to employ bodyguards, summon my former apprentice and move from Parravon to a fortified tower. Despite the discomfort, I am confident that I have now placed the Amulet beyond the reach of the Skaven."
- —Last entry in the journal of Jervais-Revered in the year 2412 IC.[9a]
All four fragments of the amulet worn by Solkan that was shattered in his contest with Fernadrang, a Chaos Ogre and champion of Khorne.
The following is a legend concerning the God of Law Solkan. Solkan's war with Khorne was a dreadful, epic affair in which mighty armies clashed, wizards toppled mountains and the gods themselves felt the ecstasies and the bitter pain of victory and defeat.[9a]
The Blood God Khorne whispered into the ears of his followers, and they slid into the ancient Reman Empire's heart like a stiletto. They brought false advice, illicit witness, assassination, corruption and conceit to the government of Emperor Giovanni VII of Remas. Their foul Chaos Cults spread upon the land, displacing those Powers of Heart and Sky who had served the simple people for centuries. Finally, Khorne spoke again, and there was war.[9a]
From a deep slumber awoke Solkan the Avenger. Though he cared little for Men, Solkan revered the temple in his name that stood in the Tilean city-state of Remas, heart of the Reman Empire. When he heard the screams of his dying priests as Remas burned to the ground, Solkan arose, magnificent in armour of blazing silver.[9a]
Before him came Fernadrang, general of Khorne's armies, a misshapen and corrupted Chaos Ogre. Fernadrang's axe spat hot blood, and a tongue slithered from its haft to lick the blades. Solkan wielded a silver scythe and many who watched the battle were cut down by its blade.[9a]
They fought for hours. So great was the hand of Khorne on Fernadrang that not even Solkan could strike him down. And, for a moment, the Great Scythe stuck, spitted upon such a weight of bodies that Solkan could not lift it. Fernadrang struck a blow with his Sword of Fire, and aimed mightily at the chest of Solkan.[9a]
But it did not slay him. The Sword of Fire hit an amulet that Solkan wore, breaking it into four pieces which flew off over the horizon. And Solkan was then avenged upon Fernadrang, and gutted him from pelvis to larynx so that all the pestilence inside him was released to consume the corpse. Thus ended that war of Solkan and Khorne.[9a]
Solkan's Imprisonment of Praznagar[]
That Solkan won a victory of sorts over Khorne is already known. So too is the fact that he wore a magical amulet which saved him from the blow the Chaos Ogre Fernadrang aimed at him with the Sword of Fire. But the Shattered Amulet's power and purpose are not explained in the legend.[9a]
In a previous war against the minor Chaos God of the Skaven, the Horned Rat, Solkan defeated and captured the Rodent God's leading Verminlord general, Praznagar, the Prince of Agony. So dangerous was Praznagar that Solkan should have slain him out of hand -- but he did not. Instead, he constructed a prison from pure water, the only thing he could find that was wholly free of the taint of Chaos, known as the "Prison of Ice." And he froze it around Praznagar, and banished the Daemon to a place of everlasting desert night.[9a]
The Shattered Amulet allowed Solkan to teleport his followers to the prison from anywhere in the universe so that he could check on Praznagar. A map of the prison is engraved on the amulet, with words of warning. It is this that made it so important to the Skaven to find the four pieces of the Shattered Amulet. It is their misfortune that Solkan manufactured the amulet so that it could never be used by Skaven. Men, Elves and Dwarfs, on the other hand, can make use of the artefact. So it was that in time the Order of the Shattered Amulet was formed among the priests of the Cult of Solkan to find the fragments of the amulet and end the danger posed by Praznagar.[9a]
Appearance[]
Solkan is portrayed as a tall man in Classical robes, wearing a gold mask sculpted with an immaculate beard and an expression of resolute fury. Around his head is a blazing nimbus, representing his role as a sun god.[12a]
Game History[]
As reported by Graeme Davis's Blog, Solkan was his creation. As he worked on the "Religion and Belief" chapter of the 1st Edition of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, he decided that the existing Gods of Law were too abstract to be of very much use in the game. Shamelessly stealing the name and image of Robert E. Howard's Puritan adventurer Solomon Kane, he created a patron for witch hunters and all others who sought to take the fight to Chaos.
As Warhammer lore developed over the next few years, though, Sigmar took over the role of the witch-hunter god, and Solkan was effectively made redundant. Davis had some plans to introduce a secretive cult of Solkan in the White Dwarf Marienburg series, whose members were even more fanatical and frightening than the witch hunters of Sigmar, but that never came to pass. However, it could have led to the original concept of the Knights of Purity.
Trivia[]
Solkan and his cult are based on Sol Invictus, a deity considered to be the official sun god of the later Roman Empire.
Sources[]
- 1: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 1st Edition: Core Rulebook (RPG)
- 1a: pg. 210
- 2: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 1st Edition: Apocrypha Now (RPG)
- 2a: pg. 26
- 3: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition: Marienburg: Sold Down the River (RPG)
- 4: The Black Plague: Blighted Empire (Novel) by C.L. Werner
- 5: Brunner the Bounty Hunter (Novel) by C.L. Werner
- 5a: Where Walks the Mardagg
- 6: Archaon: Everchosen (Novel) by Rob Sanders
- 6a: Prologue
- 7: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition: Archives of the Empire Vol I (RPG)
- 7a: pg. 17
- 8: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition: Tome of Salvation (RPG)
- 8a: pp. 44-45
- 9: Advanced Heroquest: Rules for Heroic Roleplay (RPG)
- 9a: pg. 52
- 10: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 1st Edition: Daying of Light (RPG)
- 10a: pg. 118
- 11: Liber Chaotica (Background Book)
- 11a: pg. 295 (Digital)
- 12: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition: Archives of The Empire III (RPG)
- 12a: pp. 52-55, "The Cult of Solkan"