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Now I know I said the great figures were named from now on, but there is one notable exception, The Hero. The Hero is like everyone’s favorite folk hero, but larger. Greek mythology gives a decent comparison. Theseus is the local hero for Athens. Agamemnon and Jason are the heroes for Argos. Odysseus is the hero for Ithaca. You get the idea. Every Greek city had a local hero. The Hero of Gurutama is like that, but he is the local hero for everyone. And not how Hercules is the national Greek hero. I mean that almost every city on Gurutama has a myth about how The Hero visited them and learned so and so skill or slayed so and so monster.
Every society claims The Hero as their figure. The dwarves say The Hero was a dwarf. Najarns say he was Najarn. Elves say she was an elf. Rana say she was a rana. And if you’ve caught on at this point, patriarchal societies say he was a man while matriarchal societies say she was a woman.
One thing is clear in each culture’s tales about The Hero is that s/he is an enemy of evil. S/he journeys the world and then goes to back to Najar with a rana sword to defeat a great evil there. That much is true, but all other information on The Hero is in dispute. Whether a particular myth is true or not will be up to the DM that is in charge at that time.
563 NA: The dwarven host issued forth from Syluk and crashed upon the walls of the Holy City of Najar in the largest battle in history. The dwarves suffered under the arrows of the Najar and their strategies seemed to be constantly given over to the enemy. The dwarven army attempted to storm the city, but they were repelled. The retreat to Syluk, at first organized, turned into a rout due to constant guerilla attacks in the night. The army scattered into the mountains. Many dwarves were captured and enslaved. Others escaped and small dwarven communities sprouted up within the Red Peaks.
564 NA: From the carnage a Hero was born. His initial years were sculpted by Najaran passion and the growing philosophy of dwarven mechanization that had seeped into the Empire during the dwarven occupation and integration. He drifted for decades throughout the continents of the known world. From the mighty Tiers of Golden Mach to the heights of Cui-Xoloc, the young man studied under sages and common men, learning mastery over all. And from his travels he gained incredible insight on the true plight of the Najar under the rule of their Black Emperor.
603 NA: On the misty shores of the Tonsil, the rana forged a legendary sword for the young Hero, and at last he returned to his home, the Holy City and the seat of the Demon-God.
No one is certain what happened in the crypts below the fiery mountain, or if The Hero vanquished Navillus or died in the attempt. But silence sunk into the place in his wake, and the doors to the holy crypts were sealed. If The Hero returned, he did so without his sword, and he refused to speak of what transpired in the caverns. Regardless, all felt the Dark God’s influence shrinking away. The city of Najar nervously breathed in the freshness of the world…
The dwarves of Syluk rejoiced at the victory of the Hero over the Prince of Gorgoth.
619 NA: The grez learned the ways of siege warfare. They prepared ice catapults, glacier towers, and icicle rams in the frozen north for an invasion that had long been brewing. The polar ice extended over the land connecting Ksilartlu to the Red Peaks and Najar. The Great Volcano of Najar fell dormant and blizzards and ice covered the ancient crater. The grez sent all their strength to take over the city and kill all the inhabitants. Many died in the battle, including, some say, the Hero. Those who were not slain froze into terrible ice sculptures made by grez magic. The world cowered in fear. None knew what to do in response.
-Mister Ed
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