The Holy Kings

The Risen Voice of the Mortals

At the end of the 2nd age, The War of Exiles, a miraculous coinciding of fate saw four mortals rise up in their own nations and become their peoples' voice of peace against the endless wars of the Gods. Each of them came from a different walk of life with different stories and experiences, but each felt within them that the Gods had failed and must be made to understand that the time of war had ended and the people had nothing left to give.

Elantr Windoath

The Cleric of the Silvered Palace

The first to draw the attention of the Gods was Elantr Windoath, a Therranian Elf and Cleric of Aphrodite. Tending the temple daily and spending his nights praying that Aphrodite's compassion may flow to The Olympians as purely as it did the mortals, his strength of heart and love was seen by Aphrodite herself. She sent visions and messengers to the cleric, entreating him to visit her and The Olympians in their domain, high atop the mountain range known as The Silvered Palace.
He began his pilgrimage immediately, spreading his word and the love of Aphrodite on his travels, gaining both ire and agreement from the people in equal measure. As he entered the great desert of Therrania, he did so with a troupe of 120 followers, loyal to his message. Only 15 of them survived the journey across the desert, but they ensured that Elantr could finish his mission. When they arrived at the foot of the mountain, Elantr commanded them to wait here and allow him to make the journey alone that they might rest and hopefully be spared his fate should The Olympians dislike his message.
Weary from the great journey and the climb up the mountain, Elantr could but kneel and pray upon reaching the audience hall of The Olympians. There he pleaded his case to Zeus and his family, desperately praying for them to remember the love and compassion they were forced to surrender to survive. At first, the Gods scoffed; all but Aphrodite, who stood behind the passionate Elf, helping his stand and face The Olympians. As his pleas continued and the kindness in his heart poured out before the very Gods he had sworn his life to serve, they were moved by his fearlessness and the wisdom in his heart.

Lithras Dallem

The Skald's Voice

The second to draw the attention of the Gods was Lithras Dallem, a Human woman from Arvid, trained as a Bard and storyteller of her village. The roaving tribes of the Centerlands of Arvid had all heard tale of her wondrous singing and the glorious battle hymns. They came to her from days travel away to be blessed by the spirit of the Skald; and while she reveled in the stories of glory and the songs of the Gods' favor, she grew ever sadder with each night of drink and celebration, knowing that many of those who drank with her would never tell stories of their own or share in drink with their family again come the next day. She made the decision to travel to each village in Arvid, gathering the stories and the heart of the people in her songs, and take them to Lord Odin that he might understand the weight of the sacrifice his people made for his victory.
The rumors and stories of her journey towards the seat of Valhalla for an audience eventually reached to the Jarls of the holds and eventually The High King and his Clergy Commanders. They saw her journey as a threat to their reign and a direct challenge to their authority and the will of the Gods themselves. She was deemed a traitor to the Gods, branded an outcast, her family stripped of honor and killed, and her home village burned down. She however was not deterred; only emboldened that she was right and she must show the Gods what their pettiness had done to the hearts of their children.
Faithful rose to defend her when the High King's men came for her. They lied, fought, and died to cover her journey and grant her time. It was through their sacrtifices that she made it to the great wooden doors of Odin's Hall at the spire of The White Spear Mountains. Odin had learned of her journey from Huginn and Muninn's tidings, and Baldr bade her enter the hall and speak before him. She did not speak however, but sang. She sang the great battle tales of her people, carrying their spirits up into the halls of Odin's throne room, demanding he recognize their sacrifices. She sang the mounrful loss of fathers and brothers, mothers and sisters, cut down and broken families taken by pettiness rather than valor. Thor and Baldr could not stomach the pain carried out from her voice, and abandoned the chamber, leaving her alone with Odin. It was the end of her final song, when all strength had left her from the journey, that Odin understood the fire in her soul, and that of his people's, for the first time and began to lament.

Krii Tanren

The Beckoned Child

The third to bend the ear of the Gods was a Dragonborn girl of Okoku, Krii Tanren. Born the third child and first daughter of a low-level ambassador in the employ of a temple to Lady Uzume, Krii spent most of her time in the company of the priestesses of the temple learning the tales of Uzume, Inari, Susano'o, and Amaterasu. By the time she was an adult, she had memorized every epic battle, great war, mystical adventure, and raucous celebration.
It was a trip with her father into the western lands of the countryside, across the open plains, that opened her to the anger of the world. There was a farming village along the path they were to stop and rest at, but upon arrival they ounf only charred husks and toppled houses. In the center of what used to be the village stood a great effigy to the Therranian warrior God, Ares; a symbol of dominion and cruel victory left behind by the raiders. Krii's father cursed the nation of Therrania and their spiteful gods, but Krii walked to the pillar of Ares and stared in silence. After a long while, spoke to her father and questioned why the love and reverence of a God should lead to hatred of one's fellow mortals? Could not the Gods' love be shared and experienced together?
With no village to shelter them, Krii and her father were forced to take shelter in a cave in the nearby hills. In the middle of the night, Krii was awoken to the sound of gentle drums, slowly getting louder and joined by the sound of revelry. As she emerged from the cave, she saw a wondrous figure, an impossibly elegant woman twisting and jumping to the rhythms. She knew the stories of Uzume's dances, but never believed she would see a Goddess in the flesh. Uzume spoke to her as her dancing ended; she had heard Krii's questions and saw into her heart. She had grown weary of her brother's lust for violence and war and the people could no longer hear her in their hearts, using her imagery purely for revelry after a battle. Kneeling down to the woman, silhouetted by the fullest moon Krii had ever seen, Uzume told her that she would be her voice for the people, carrying her own joy and love for life to the people and make them understand that endless war was a curse that would kill all happiness in the world.
Krii returned to her father, her heart full, and told him what had happened. It took him time to understand, but he believed in his daughter and set about travelling with her, to reawaken the hearts of the people. The roaving bands and warcamps sought to end her message, but her believers grew from temple to temple as she told the stories of old and questioned what stories of joy would survive from their people if war never ended. It is said that it was Krii's travels and work that gave Uzume the standing needed in her family to be the first one to call for universal peace.

Dahrnic Steeleye

The Blade of Valor

The last of the Holy Kings to come under the attention of the Gods was a Dwarven man named Dahrnic Steeleye. Orphaned at birth, Dahrnic was raised as a child of the streets in a small city in the west of Loccann called Crail. Surviving on wits and determination long enough to become a man, Dahrnic served a time as a Mercenary, having learned to defend himself and fight back from the streets. Eventually his success led him to a post within the church as a footsoldier. Battle after battle, Dahrnic would break arms, legs, and weapons to quell the enemy, but refusing to outright kill when the enemy would not yield or could not be broken. His commanders questioned his dedication to the cause and the Gods, but Dahrnic only remained silent, as the Gods had done his entire life.
It was a raid from Arvid on a fishing village on the edge of The Black Domain; the temple received word of 3 ships approaching from the north. When the troops reached the fishing village, they were shocked to discuver it was a village of refugees from Okoku, praying to their own Gods for protection and bounty. Some of his troop wanted to kill the refugees themselves; others refused to protect non-Loccannians. Dahrnic broke the squabbling by walking silently past them all and standing as a vanguard as the boats approached. The others mocked him, hurling stones and spears, calling him a traitor and and a heretic, abandoning him to be destroyed along with the refugees by the Arvidian forces.
Only two longboats survived the trek, but they still outnumbered Dahrnic greatly. The battle was long, but Dahrnic fought on as he always had. He broke the blades and shattered the axes of the Arvidians on the rocks, driving them back. There were too many however, and his spirit began to flag, unable to stand against their numbers. As his swings grew wild and his eyes grew heavy, he turned back and saw the villagers finishing their escape as he held off their assailants.
One last broken axe as his eyes closed and he began to fall, before a gentle but powerful arm caught him. A gleaming white blade flashed as he opened his eyes weakly, seeing the last of the Arvidians' weapons shattered as they retreated, disarmed and defeated. Looking up he saw a glowing golden suit of armor with a battle weary woman's face gently smiling down at him. Falling to ground and sitting as his breath returned to him, he looked up at the woman in radiant adamantine armor, her shield in one hand and a blazing longsword in the other; The Light of the Sword herself, Goddess of Valor and Justice, Iomedae. After a moment of recognition he turned from her and scrambled to his feet, turning back to the village.
She followed him in silence as he lurched into the small refugee village, inspecting it and finding no damage. She then spoke from behind him "They are safe. As are you. A heart as valorous as yours and as dedicated to true justice for all, not only your own people, is a heart that must keep beating. We have forgotten what purpose valor and justice serve in the millenia of war. The people have never needed a symbol as badly and you will be that symbol. Arise my champion, you will be my blade of valor, a shield to the innocent, and the beating heart of Justice in this land."
Dahrnic spent the next several years travelling Loccann and putting down those who saught war at the expense of the people, becoming a symbol of Iomedae's justice and helping turn the people to her side. He deposed corrupt clergy waging violence in Iomedae's name under the guise of justice and honor. When the Benevolence Accord was first proposed, he was named the first Gold Commander, High Paladin of Iomedae, a title that continues his legacy to this day.