Lord of Day
The Lord of Day (Pwo: 晝公, chou kung) is one of the two chief subordinate deities of Pyranism; the faith holds that he, along with the Lady of Night, was brought into being as the last act of the creator-god Abban before he withdrew to the place beyond the world from which he presides as the last judge of humans as they pass into the true world beyond humanity’s current physical existence. The Lord and the Lady are, with the withdrawal of Abban, the deities with whom the priestly castes of Pyranism primarily intercede.
In most interpretations of Pyranism, the Lord of Day (and his aspects) is held to have domain over those things which are carried out in public view or for the public benefit, and over the affairs of men or masculine themes in general. This, and the parallel definition of the role of the Lady over private matters and femininity, has contributed markedly to the perception of Pyranism as strongly patriarchal by outsiders.
In branches such as p'ing-heng, adherents are expected to pay due homage to both the Lord and the Lady, while seeking to keep the influence of the two on their lives in balance, maintaining an equilibrium of the two forces.
Baygil and the White Sun cult
The tradition of worshipping the Lord and the Lady as equals was almost wholly overturned in western Lestria when in 1648 the Pey invaders established the Baygil Empire and adopted the religion of the White Sun, a militant sect dedicated to the Lord of Day, proclaiming the new Hierophany of the Dawn and pronouncing their leader the new Sun-Emperor. His descendants continue to rule the empire today, with adherents of the Lady and her various aspects driven very much to the margins or underground of contemporary Baygilene society.
Corresponding with this unusual monolatry (or even monotheism), the values and themes represented by the Lord were also exalted in Baygil, with a violent and masculine asceticism elevated to become a 'national spirit' of sorts for the Empire, pervading in its aesthetics as well as policies.