The Madrugad

ASPECTS
GENERAL INFORMATION
ARCANA	Temperance
ORIGIN	Light
PRONOUNS	She/Her
"Even while [the Sun] was still whole, its later selves were recognised as Names." 'Sunset Passages'
OTHER TITLES
- The Cindered?
WF Catalogue Entry

'We call upon the Madrugad, which goes before the Sun; who quells and quiets; who cannot be unbalanced'

The Madrugad is one of the Solar Hours, a fragment of the Sun-in-Splendour divided by the Forge of Days in the Intercalate. Even before that she was recognized as an aspect of the chilly winter dawn, who presided over death and the passage of the Dead into the House. Her aspects are Winter and Forge, and her hour is 2 p.m.

Events

• A Name of the Unconquered Sun: The Madrugad was among the Names of the Sun-in-Splendour recognized by the Church of the Unconquered Sun.

• Intercalate (1582): The Forge of Days was long prophesied to unite with the Sun-in-Splendour, who she loved. In reality, the Forge divided the Sun, killing the Hour and creating the Solar Hours, including the Madrugad.

• The Second Dawn: It has been foretold that some day the Sun-in-Splendour shall return, with the indication that the Madrugad and the other children of the Sun will be consumed in the process.

Servants

• Church of the Unconquered Sun: An organization influential in the Third and Fourth Histories that worshipped the Sun-in-Splendour and his Names like the Madrugad, though it also had relations with the Sisterhood of the Knot and acknowledged the non-solar Hours they followed. Its priests were all male, though they had rites in which women could cross ceremonially to manhood. It allied with the Sisterhood during the War of the Roads against the Children of the Leashed Flame, but after that event and the Intercalate soon after they were severely weakened, and no longer hold significant power.

Relationships

• The Sun-in-Splendour: The Hour who ruled the House of the Sun, under which the Madrugad served as a Name before the Intercalate.

• The Meniscate: A fellow Solar Hour born from the Intercalate, who represented the Sun’s night-self.

• The Sun-in-Rags: Another Solar Hour who was the Sun’s aspect as the departing sunset.

• The Wolf Divided: The last child of the Sun. Unlike the others, the Wolf-Divided is not a Solar Hour who once acted as a Name, but rather the wound of the Sun’s Division.

• The Velvet and The Mare-in-the-Tree: The Velvet, the Mare-in-the-Tree, and the Madrugad form together the Calyptra, a law or governing body or enforcement triumvirate among the Hours that makes sure that secret knowledge is concealed, forgotten, and hidden. They have a relation to Vak, the Peacock Door.

Real-World References

• The Madrugad takes the place of Temperance in the Tarot of the Hours. The Temperance card can represent balance, moderation, and peace. The card often indicates keeping a clear mind and a calm heart.

Other Notes

• The Madrugad is tied to the Cindered Tally, from which comes the currency of lifespan called Stolen Years collected and traded by the Reckoner Mobs of the Exile legacy. The uses of Stolen Years include prolonging one’s own life and youth. as well as healing wounds and curing illness rapidly.
• The Madrugad takes the role of a psychopomp for the House of the Sun, guiding the recently deceased as they pass into the Mansus. She also appears to keep some record of the lifespans of mortals through the Cindered Tally.
• The White Ceremony is sacred to the Madrugad - it's learned from the Sunset Passages.
• The Madrugad is involved in the alchemical processes of Forge.

Theories and Questions

• In the interpretation of the Tarot numbers as times of day, the Madrugad and the other Solar Hours stand out for their positions not aligning with their role in the day-night cycle. The Madrugad is the Hour of the dawn, but takes place at 2 pm. Part of this is likely simply due to their role in the Tarot having greater symbolic significance than their time of day. The in-universe explanation though is likely a result of the Intercalate disrupting their original positions, as hinted by the phrase “Sunset at noon.”
• It is not explained how the Cindered Tally works, exactly, or how Reckoners are able to acquire the Stolen Years recorded in it, especially since they try to avoid dealing with the Hours for the most part.