The Hero Program
The Hero Program was created by a sumarrian operative who came into possession of several rescued children. When he returned to the empire he got the Emperor's permission to formalize the organization. Those kids formed what would become the main force of the hero program. Now they are propped up by a large PR budget.
Now they take orphans, bastards, or children in need, and if they have potential they are trained heavily for years until they rise to an acceptable level of power. Then they are used as government agents and solve crises around the empire. These children become powerful and are instilled with loyalty to the empire and to each other.
Garyx. Garyx is one of the original heroes. He is a hexblade fighter, using a polearm. He is highly capable but lacks foresight or leadership skills. He is a master of many different weapons but prefers a glaive.
Now they take orphans, bastards, or children in need, and if they have potential they are trained heavily for years until they rise to an acceptable level of power. Then they are used as government agents and solve crises around the empire. These children become powerful and are instilled with loyalty to the empire and to each other.
Notable Heroes
Balthazar. The most powerful hero and leader of The Hero Program, Balthazar is a hexblade paladin multiclass. He is immensely powerful and is used for missions that absolutely must succeed. He is also the public face of the organization and has a lot of PR work done to improve his image. He is painted as a great knight of the empire and defender of the people but in reality, he has a disdain for chivalry and those not powerful enough to defend themselves. He is sometimes known in the Shattered Sea as the Black Knight of Vengeance. He is one of the original hero's along with Garyx and the recently killed master assassin Null.Garyx. Garyx is one of the original heroes. He is a hexblade fighter, using a polearm. He is highly capable but lacks foresight or leadership skills. He is a master of many different weapons but prefers a glaive.
Structure
Balthazar leads the Hero Program basically unilaterally. Beneath him are 4 positions each overseeing an aspect of the Hero Program: Combat, Marketing, Support, and Shadow.
Garyx is head of Combat, when Balthazar isn't involved in a combat mission Garyx is in charge. Generally he picks who is sent out and how they organize the missions. Often his solution is to take care of it himself.
A man by the name of Zong is the head of marketing. He runs several propaganda and survey teams. He maintains the public image of the Hero Program and covers up the less than ideal parts. About half of his budget goes to covering up deaths and operations of the shadow department.
The head of support is Jerry, a cripple with a perfect memory, it was Null who spotted his potential and took him from the orphanage. Jerry has become a walking encyclopedia and now runs support on the most important hero assignments. Using a network of sending stones he maintains their intelligence network and has the most up-to-date information available. The Heroes are supported by those who were adopted by the Hero Program but might not have been cut out to be heroes. They form the majority of the clerks, marketing team, and other non-combat roles. They are raised with combat heroes to create a sense of brotherhood that is harder to develop in adults.
The shadow department was run by Null but has now been taken over by his protege, a woman named Zix. The shadow department takes care of the things that need to be done but can't be seen being done by Heroes. Assassinations, thievery, and spying are all regular assignments there. It is kept much smaller than the other departments and generally keep to themselves. It is through this shadow department that political issues are often resolved.
Garyx is head of Combat, when Balthazar isn't involved in a combat mission Garyx is in charge. Generally he picks who is sent out and how they organize the missions. Often his solution is to take care of it himself.
A man by the name of Zong is the head of marketing. He runs several propaganda and survey teams. He maintains the public image of the Hero Program and covers up the less than ideal parts. About half of his budget goes to covering up deaths and operations of the shadow department.
The head of support is Jerry, a cripple with a perfect memory, it was Null who spotted his potential and took him from the orphanage. Jerry has become a walking encyclopedia and now runs support on the most important hero assignments. Using a network of sending stones he maintains their intelligence network and has the most up-to-date information available. The Heroes are supported by those who were adopted by the Hero Program but might not have been cut out to be heroes. They form the majority of the clerks, marketing team, and other non-combat roles. They are raised with combat heroes to create a sense of brotherhood that is harder to develop in adults.
The shadow department was run by Null but has now been taken over by his protege, a woman named Zix. The shadow department takes care of the things that need to be done but can't be seen being done by Heroes. Assassinations, thievery, and spying are all regular assignments there. It is kept much smaller than the other departments and generally keep to themselves. It is through this shadow department that political issues are often resolved.
Culture
Life in the Hero Program is hard. Training starts at 6am every day, conditioning, covert ops, learning, weapons skills, more conditioning, small group instruction, then sparring. They get out around 5pm have 3 hours of free time before evening conditioning at 8pm. After that is bedtime but they don't enforce curfew. If you lag behind the next day because you were out all night that's on you. Those who fail to meet expectations are punished with extra work.
After you are through with training you are either on assignment or a mentor. Training the next generation of heroes. Often mentors do their own workouts and training while instructing the class. The adults also keep themselves occupied with sparring either 1v1 or with teams.
After you are through with training you are either on assignment or a mentor. Training the next generation of heroes. Often mentors do their own workouts and training while instructing the class. The adults also keep themselves occupied with sparring either 1v1 or with teams.
Assets
The Hero Program is based in a large compound up the mountain outside Sun's Last, there are 1200 steps to climb to get there. They have their own hotsprings, buildings, living quarters, chefs, library, and dungeons. They have also installed an astral projection device linked to a demi-plane similar to that found in the Talon School. Allowing them to go all out in mock combats without killing each other, they are not trained by half measures. Balthazar also wields the Blade of Destruction, a legendary weapon. This allows almost the entire Hero Program to take a Hexblade dip.
Type
Military Order
Training Level
Elite
Demonym
Heroes
Ruling Organization
Parent Organization
Location
Related Ethnicities
