Editing Summary:The Sunlit Man

Nomad wakes from [[Worldhopping|skipping]] not knowing where he is. He is questioned by people who speak a language he doesn't understand, and he doesn't have enough [[Investiture]] to have [[Auxiliary]] translate what they are saying. He notices that the plants around him are growing extremely quickly, and that is just before dawn. People in white coats are chaining people to stakes in the ground. When one of the white-coated people tries to place manacles on him, Nomad tries to fight back, but his muscles lock up. He remembers he is beset upon by a Torment, a mysterious condition caused by him having held a [[Dawnshard]] that makes him incapable of causing harm, even in self-defense or defense of others.

A mysterious man—missing his chest, which is replaced by a glowing ember in the center of a burned-out hole—then attacks Nomad with a bat, and Nomad finds his Torment is preventing him from summoning any sort of weapon. He also notices the brightness of the soon-to-rising sun seems much too large for a normal planet. After Nomad stops one of the attacks with his bare hands, the ember man (and others around him) are surprised. The light from the horizon begins to blaze with intense heat, and all the plants around them begin wilting. Nomad is beaten to the ground by another ember man, where his is chained to a rock.

The rising sun continues getting brighter, making the ground smoke and burn, and Nomad concludes the sunlight is Invested, making it extremely intense. Nomad and Auxiliary briefly consider trying to absorb the Investiture, but conclude the sunlight is far too intense to safely do that. After failing to manifest a weapon, he creates a small crowbar that lets him break the chain. He then hurls the chain at a hover bike that's flying away and is dragged away as the sunlight begins to burn him.

The hover bike slams Nomad to the ground at a high speed. While low on Investiture, Aux engages Nomad's healing. Aux notices that the hover bike can easy outspeed the sun, and concludes that the planet has a slow rotation. The hover bikes, including the one Nomad is attached to, stop for seemingly no reason other than to regain their bearings. After a short conversation, the hover bikes start back up and fly again.

After flying for what felt like an hour, Nomad sees a floating city, lifted around thirty or forty feet above the ground by the thrust of hundreds of engines beneath it. Nomad had seen them before on other planets, but none has look as ramshackle as this one. Nomad looks up at the sky for the second time and sees a collection of rings overlooking the planet that pointed toward the sun, tipped at a slight angle to perfectly reflect sunlight upon the planet.

Nomad is hauled upward and is brought up onto the metal surface of the city. A small crowd gathers around him, as well as five people behind them with embers for hearts. He sees that there are many varieties of skin color in this one city. A newcomer with deep-red glowing eyes enters, and people make way for him. Nomad sees a glowing coming from his chest behind a coat, and assumes "Glowing Eyes" has an ember in his chest as well. He takes Nomad and asks him a question several times, getting angrier with each attempt. Nomad replies with a language the man doesn't understand, saying he can't speak their tounge. Glowing Eyes realizes that Nomad isn't going to answer and pulls off his glove, revealing an ordinary pale hand. He seizes Nomad by the face, and nothing happened. Aux recognizes a few words in the language, and is able to make out being called "One Who Escaped the Sun". A few officers grab Nomad and drag him off as the city begins to break apart.

The city reorganizes into a colosseum and the captured people, along with Nomad, are pitted against ember people. Nomad is forced into a set of bracers. A particular ember woman with green eyes and black hair streaked with silver and a machete goes after Nomad. He evades her with assistance of a large red-headed man. Nomad can only use Aux defensively, but Aux changes from a crowbar to a barbell in a way that traps the ember woman. Then Nomad is frozen by the bracers.

Nomad awakens chained to a large plate of metal, and the Cinder King is feasting on the souls of the weaker peasants. A stronger peasant is brought forward, then stabbed with a glowing spear which turns her into an ember warrior. Nomad and Aux discuss whether the investiture from the spear could be captured, which might allow Nomad to form a Connection enabling language. Then the red-headed fellow is brought up to be embedded. Nomad breaks his own hand to get out of the manacles, and is able to throw Aux as a 6 foot sword, by aiming away from the Cinder King. The Cinder King is awed by the blade, but as he brings Nomad to the Cinder spear, an explosion rocks the arena.

In addition to explosions, an attack freezes all the ember people. Aux is able to protect Nomad from the bracers but the Torment prevents other weapons or tools that Nomad might use to escape the other manacle. Nomad mentions he might have practised more if not for his perpetual need to be on the run. People conducting the attack retrieve the green eyed, black and silver haired ember woman from near Nomad. They ignore Nomad until one of them is taken out by a rifle shot from Cinder King. He shields the surviving woman with Aux. He can use a rifle to a very limited degree, such as blowing away his other manacle. They retrieve red-headed man and flee at the rear of a pack of hovercycles, but the ember people wake and give chase.

Nomad notes that the ember people are targeting the ships core, so he shields that. The weird atmospheric pressure brings to mind his former master. He thinks of how Aux has changed since the night Brigade caught him that one time. He leaps to a pursuing vehicle and pulls their energy source, rushing their vehicle and gaining the energy for himself. His red-headed comrade is amazed but the hovercycle pilot missed his prowess.

*[[Zellion (Threnody)|Zellion]] (mentioned only)

Nomad searches the body of the CinderKings scouts corpse and finds a drawing done by a child. Nomad puts this back into place and doesn’t mention this to Rebeke who is very disturbed as this is her first kill. Rebeke insists on salvaging the ship for scrap as it is easier than “mining” more metal.

Nomad lays on the floor healing while the leaders meet and discuss options, or lack thereof. 10 % of Beacon was lost in the fight.

Nomad tried to help Elegy and designs a steam engine. Aux mentions flight, and Nomad reflects on how Aux was all but killed due to the Dawnshard he took as a favor to Hoid. He examines a spent sunheart, described as smokestone.

*[[Zellion (Threnody)|Zellion]] (mentioned only)

*[[Admiral]]