Priests of Pelor

The priests grew from a roadside shrine into Harwell's most trusted institution. During the Red Thaw, they fed refugees after the river flooded and earned the town's first formal charter. During the War of Three Banners, they converted the basilica into a hospital and sheltered prisoners from every side, angering the victorious army but winning the loyalty of ordinary people. Their greatest triumph came during the Ashen Fever, when their quarantine network and public kitchens prevented the sickness from destroying Harwell. Their greatest setback followed when several priests used the crisis to interrogate patients and seize private correspondence under the claim that infection was evidence of moral corruption. The watershed moment came twelve years ago, when the Lantern Vault beneath the basilica briefly filled with black sunlight. Three acolytes vanished, one senior priest died, and every temple bell in Harwell rang at noon. The order declared the event a demonic attack, but the sealed records suggest that the priests themselves opened the vault while attempting to contact Pelor. Since then, the temple has become more cautious, more secretive, and increasingly willing to treat uncertainty as danger.