The Black Sun Standard

The Black Sun Standard is raised when Drazakar declares a campaign of total state commitment. Its dark disc and ember rays tell soldiers the realm is watching and tell enemies that surrender may be counted before survival is considered. The cloth smells of ash, oil, rain, and old campaigns. It is not hope; it is certainty made portable. Units gather beneath it with blades marked, rations counted, and hostages named. Its beauty is dreadful clarity: all private hesitations are burned away under one black sun.