Taran Calben

The Dreamkeeper

Taran Calben (pronounced TAH-ran CAHL-ben), also known as the Dreamkeeper, is the Anaetherial god of dreams, imagination and sleep. He was a Halfling who mastered the art of lucid dreaming and learned how to wander into other people's dreamspaces. He created the Dreamscape, a realm where all dreamers are protected from the denizens of the Anaetherial Expanse, and transcended mortality by becoming it's guardian.

Table of Contents

1. Dogma
2. History
   1. Origins
   2. Road to Divinity
   3. Transcendence
3. Relationships
4. Appearance
5. Divine Intervention
6. Church

Dogma

The act of dreaming or imagining anything, is an act most divine of pure creation. Every living being with a soul has access to the endless possibilities of dreams, and has both the right and obligation to dream and imagine as many worlds as their soul can possibly take. In imagination and slumber, we rest from the hardships of this world, and as such, sleep is the most important moment of the day. On the other end, those who deny possibility and imagination, those who curse the weight of their eyelids, and worst of all, those who abuse and prey on the souls of those who dream, who dare to dream, are most vile. For this, we guard the sleepers and dreamers, for the night is dark and full of terrors.

History

Origins

Taran Calben was a young Halfling in the old kingdom of Hyvest, who loved ink and words more than life itself. He devoted his youth to the art of writing, tirelessly seeking the words to bring new realms to life. He wasn't particularly good at it, historians say, but since the moment he learned how to put word to paper and until his final conscious moments, there's no less than a thousand scriptures, poems, stories and scribbles attributed to him.
He managed to reach such a proficiency through the abuse of substances and arcane means aimed at reducing or simply nullifying time wasted in sleep, the bane of his existence. Even so, the effects of years of sleeping bare minutes per day were unavoidable. His vision blurred, his hands shaking, his mind slogged and slow, his creative spree ground to an alarming stop. His mind was just too tired to think of anything new. He still refused to return to a regular and healthy sleeping schedule, fearing the time lost in bed could be used to find his muses again.
This went on for months until Taran, one day, broke through his writer's block. He began writing feverishly for days on end, a manuscript he could have sworn was the single greatest piece of written art in existence. Upon putting his signature on the last page, nearly blind from the years of denied sleep, he ran out of his homestead to the nearest scholar that could judge his work. Sadly, in his sleep-deprived state, he failed to notice the fast approaching carriage and the horseshoe that tread over his work and his skull one moment later. At the young age of 23, Taran fell into a deep slumber he would never wake from, although his body would take years to give out in the end.

Road to Divinity

Transcendence

In his final years, Valen began to hear tales. Unsettling ones, of entire towns slaughtered and razed to the ground. At times, they told of an army. Others, of a single fighter. A tireless force of rage and chaos. However, there was always a name: Legion. It was then that the First Children called to him, asking for his aid. The Soldier himself asked Valen to aid them in conquering this unstoppable force, for it threatened to wake Naminus from his eternal rest. A force so great and furious, that even Aetherius could not manage to banish it from the world. The Deity of War told him that, should he manage to weaken Legion for just a moment, they could use the advantage and cast this monstrosity out of the universe, into Abyss, an endless pit it would never crawl out from. He accepted without hesitation, and the gods blessed him with divine strength, speed and wit, as much as a mortal could withstand, in order to even the field.
When Valen finally crossed paths with Legion, it was to his horror that he witnessed the truth behind it: his old troupe had gone mad worshiping the god of chaos and destruction, Naminus. They had gained powers beyond imaginable, by binding themselves to each other in death. They ravaged the land, destroying everything and everyone, recruiting and enslaving more fighters for their cause. As their bodies fell, their souls, twisted and bent on the destruction of the world, rejoined the bodies their companions, passing on to them the accumulated martial prowess of a lifetime. By the time Valen met Legion, it was down to the last fighter standing; a single entity of fury and rage, an amalgamation of dozens upon dozens of hateful wills and the equivalent of centuries of combat skill.
Valen knew this would be his last battle. Their blades met, each blow from Legion rocking through his soul, shaking the very earth with every impact. He fought with the abomination ceaselessly for three days and their nights, sustained purely on divine stamina, and once that run out, adrenaline, their blades managing to land on flesh only one out of every hundred blows. However, the abomination seemed to tire slower than him by the fourth dawn. Spent, wounded, and more dead than alive, Valen saw the sunrise of the fourth day. For that one moment, as his eyes adjusted to the light, he basked in the sunshine he would not see a single more time. He lunged at the tired aberration, and in one last bout of strength, while grappled by the beast, he impaled both it and himself with his blade, and called for the gods' aid. He asked them to send them both to the mouth of Abyss. The gods complied, using Valen's sacrifice as the key to banish both out of this universe. With what little life was left in him, Valen pushed Legion down the endless pit.
With his blade buried in the ground, standing guard at the mouth of the pit, stood a dying Valen. Aetherius, as a reward for his grand work, set out to return the fighter to the land of the living, healed, and as a hero. However, he found himself unable to return the man to Namyria. Valen's willpower anchored him and his blade to the ground he now stood in, refusing to die or move a single fraction of an inch. His indomitable spirit, now turned into an aegis of immovable stone, stronger than any metal in any plane, engulfed the entirety of the maw of the endless Abyss.
To this day, the Martyr still guards the entrance, atop the Eternal Bastion, awaiting the Legion climbs out of Abyss once again. His sacrifice, an act of heroism without compare for millennia to come. Songs and statues were made in his name, and he became a symbol of self-sacrifice and redemption. Champions of the people, knights and protectors wield their blades in his name, to defend the defenseless, to treat the people justly, and to put their lives between evil and those it seeks to harm.

Relationships

Legion

The Legion is Valen's greatest nemesis; a force of destruction and death bent on ending the world, killing everyone in its wake. Valen stands guard against it to this day atop the Eternal Bastion, as it craws in the endless depths of the Abyss.

Gerrash Vahar

As an executioner gone homicidal, Valen sees Gerrash Vahar as a monstrous entity the likes of Legion, if only less centered on the destruction of the world, only the thirst of blood.

Taran Calben

As the guardian of the Dreamscape, Taran Calben protects the dreaming minds of mortals from being preyed upon by creatures not of this world. For this, Valen considers him a great ally in the protection of the weak and defenseless.

Indira

The Hoardless Dragon, a bringer of prosperity for those in need, is another just and kind ally for Valen's cause of protecting those who need it most.

Appearance

Apparitions of the Martyr are vague, and rare, but if he is to show himself to mortals, then he appears as a young man, of whatever race feels more comfortable for the viewer, wielding silver armour and a longsword.

Divine Intervention

Acts of intervention form Valen are rare, for he is immersed in his fight against Legion. In the cases that he interferes, his devout and blessed might find themselves suddenly inspired and filled with bravery, or even supernatural strength, to fell those who would prey on the weak.

Church

There is no formal church for Valen, but protectors and champions will often call themselves his clergy, followers and practitioners of the way of the Martyr, protecting the weak from the evil, and bringing redemption to those willing.

Divine Domains

Dreams, dreamkeeping, imagination

Alignment

Divine Classification

Anaetherial Ascended