Kiiro Rainbringer

You must step into the wild sea, and there draw the lost souls above the waves.

Heroes. Monsters. Gods. Demons. For most of Wyral's long history, these concepts only truly lived on in stories. When we grow to adulthood, we put such notions behind us - for reality cannot afford such fantasies. Should a mother leave her children behind to slay a despot king? Can a soldier abandon their post to save the world?

Reality deals in decisions and costs. There are many others who can take that first step instead, after all - someone who does not have everything to lose and little to gain. Such thoughts live in the mortal psyche by some universal influence.

But some names still echo from the pages of history, inspiring ordinary mortals to heroism.

The mortal who once bore the authority of a Wolflord, the daughter of the seas, the Harbinger of Ruin known as "Rainbringer" - such do we call her in the present day.

But once upon a time, this youngest Harbinger was known simply as "Kiiro".

There Did Come Cool Rains

"The vast sea's surface is undisturbed, but there is ice in the depths. I feel it creeping upward, consuming all who have drowned already."

— Kiiro Rainbringer

There is little information on the first generation of Harbingers - or indeed anything from the dark time in which they arose. We know for certain that Kiiro was the first to pick up the mantle, and that she was the Harbinger blessed by Imber. Everything else is speculation based on fragmented descriptions.

The Rainbringer is described as a young desert girl in colourful garb, suggesting that she originated from a settlement at the desert's edge. During the Lirustime, most such towns survived thanks to Lifewells - massive trees that tempered the unnatural heat and storms. But they exacted a heavy cost: requiring ever-increasing amounts of power to remain alive.

Perhaps Kiiro once nurtured one of these Lifewells, when she was a regular ocean mage. Or perhaps her village was destroyed when its Lifewell exhausted its life force and withered. No one can quite say.

But whoever she used to be, she surely could not have predicted the power that would soon lie in her hands.

A World Consumed by Frost

"The world already has Rhun and Telum and Xir to drive back the darkness. But you and I? Our duty is to ensure they still have something to protect."

— from the Annals of the End

To the people of that era, the Lirustime must have seemed like the end of the world.

In the northern reaches, the sun set and never rose again; in the south, it scorched the earth barren. Shadows roiled beneath reality, tearing apart the borders with abandon. Even the stars, watching coldly above, fell from their places.

Although the truth in these descriptions is difficult to measure, the meaning behind them is clear. Survivors, refugees and warriors alike believed that reality was on the verge of utter ruin. They were almost certainly right.

So, how could the heralds chained to destruction have possibly inspired this scattered, terrified people to once again stand up?

They may not have known it, but Kiiro Rainbringer was their answer.

When she took up Imber's authority, the Dark first learned to fear mortal strength. In her journey across the desert, she restored some semblance of rest to the withering towns she came across. And, consciously or not, even the other Harbingers were drawn to her - following her path eastward, towards the city that would soon be shattered.

Her dream was simple: to bring healing rain to the scorched earth, and to cleanse the world of fear. Perhaps that was what drew people to her. Maybe it was her uncommon kindness, or simply the shame of having a young girl step forward where you dared not go. But slowly, mortalkind rallied around her - daring to raise their heads and face the shattering sky.

Petrichor

"Though Telum Duskwalker was the one who placed the final seal on the Long Night, one must not forget who first showed mortals that the Harbinger's path was possible: the Rainbringer, she who set out across the vast sea."

— Nightfall's Remembrance, ch. 28

Kiiro Rainbringer may have wielded the authority of water and ice, but she shone as a blazing fire in the encroaching night. She gave mortalkind the strength to take that first step onto the mourning waters - and even though many were lost beneath the waves, they still grasped their fates with both hands.

The concept of a 'hero' is, perhaps, the core of mortal aspiration - found in every culture, friend to every storyteller. The same way that fear and apathy can cause us to falter, courage can drive us onward.

So when the Rainbringer set her feet on this untravelled path, she paved the way for every hero after her - and not just because she helped save the world from ruin.

Because even now, her legacy still guides us towards heroism ourselves.

"The first Harbinger of Imber ultimately chose to call down gentle rains. I wish that were my path, too."

— ??