The Hero

The Journeying Adventurer - The Hero Core Alignment: Chaotic Neutral Domains: Journeys, War, Knowledge, Light   The stories say that when Kalio touched the various gems that became the Gods, the Hero was not the brightest, nor the sharpest gem. Its cut was rather smooth and colorless, and there was almost nothing that seemed to distinguish it. However, while the rest of the gems were still forming and figuring out what lay at their core, the Hero was the first to walk, and quickly engaged itself with the newborn species of mankind.   The Hero was the first of the gods to experience many things, and even when another god was the one who discovered something, the Hero threw themselves into learning new things and experiencing new people and places faster than it could keep up. With each fall, the gem at their core would chip, and new inclusions would be exposed, with each injury or experience turning what was once a dull and colorless gem into something naturally beautifully cut and colored.   When the Void War came, it was those experiences that lead the Hero to the front of almost every battlefield they were involved in. They saw how beautiful the world was when it was there to be experienced, and it couldn’t let the Void take away all those experiences. But when Kalio passed, and it came time for the Gods to give their hearts for Mankind so that they could be saved from fading away to nothing, it was the Hero that struggled the most, knowing that all of those memories would be lost.   So, as each of the Gods passed, the Hero took nearly a month to finally decide it was time to follow the suit of his brothers and sisters, and it was the first of the reborn Masks that sat with him after he gave his heart to Kalio. He sat with her for 25 days, telling the tales of everything he could remember, until he reached the last of his stories, and closed his eyes, knowing that someone would remember. In the days that followed, before he was reborn among Mankind, the chips and changes to his gem slowly reverted, until the simple white gem had returned in the heart of Iyen. It is in this that Mankind learned the importance of Legacy.   That Gem, became known as the White Rabbit, and that symbol is often taken by young men and women worldwide, as a sign that they are new to life and ready to take on its challenges, although this is sometimes taken by experienced craftsmen who move to new cities, expand their business, or among any other number of people and places who are ready and excited to take on new challenges. However, the most common use of this widely known symbol is when Adventurers take the symbol, to show they owe no allegiance to anyone but their own journey.   Worship of the Hero often is something symbolic of young adulthood throughout the regions, but every region takes that worship to new places. In the Militaristic lands of Kandever, new recruits to their armies are often painted with a portion of their armor white, and over time, old blood, mud, dirt will cover the white. A recruit often isn’t even considered for promotion, unless their patches of white show signs of battle and experience. A soldier who’s white fades before it can be covered is a soldier who lacks the experience of life. In Iyen, when a man or woman reaches the cusp of adulthood, they are expected to take a white belt of silk and travel the world for at least a year (sometimes longer in longer-lived species) and when they return, the belt will have trophies of their travels, new fabrics are sewn into the silk where it has torn, metal bangles from far off lands, and tokens of the loves and trials they’ve gained and lost.   Core Tenants of the Faiths surrounding the Hero:   • Life is meant to be experienced. Do not shy away from your duties or your fears. They both will lead to great knowledge if overcome. • Memories are Sacred. Experience of life cannot be wasted in selfishness. Share what you know, and ensure that it will survive to see the future. Those that would destroy memories of the past cannot be tolerated. The Void remembers nothing but its own hatred of the living, and it would wipe memories from Kalio. • There is no such thing as the end. When your journey ends, you will start another, even if you stay in the same place. •Do not horde life for yourself. Defend the right for all mankind to experience what you have, and never let anyone take those rights from others.