Red Talon's Destiny

"You have done so much good in your time. Our Empire is proof of this. The Great Goddess has blessed you with strength and beauty eternal. Why not enjoy your life here, among friends and companions?"Silverscale asked Red Talon. 
"We know the truth of the corruption now," she replied. "Its source is clear, and it can be stopped for all time. If I can free Reluria and all of Tyr from this threat, then I must try. Will you aid me old friend?"
Silverscale considered, he was brave and true. But the Accursed Isle in the Sea of Dread... few had returned from such a voyage. And he had a lover and was enjoying the riches of the great city. But Red Talon was such that no one could refuse her. "For you my friend, I will risk it all once again. Let us journey together and for the glory of the great Gods take this world back from Chaos." 
She clasped his shoulder and smiled. Some say, that a star fell from the sky at that moment. An ill omen indeed.

- The Book of the Shield

Summary

The reasons have been lost to history, but there came a time when Red Talon came to believe that the source of Chaos could be found on the The Accursed Island in the The Sea of Dread. Certain members of the old heroes had been there before, and while the island was dangerous and wild it was did not seem to hold any ties to the great enemy.
Still Red Talon was convinced, and many of her companions traveled with her to the Accursed Island. They had many adventures on the way there, stopping in lands that would become The Guild Islands and the Iri Islands. Eventually they came to a place in the sea where "no ship could pass unscathed". After a challenge and the loss of a hero, they are able to pass into the southern seas.
They came to the Accursed Island, and found a it inhabited by humans and elves. They were eager to help the hero, but unsure of what she sought. They lived on the coast and dared not journey inland. They admitted that the island was plagued by beasts more fearsome then any ever seen. But Red Talon was fearless and her group entered the dark forest.
It is said they battled great Wyrms and monstrosities of all kinds. It is said that the dead rose to fight them. It is said that madness started to twist the minds of some companions. One by one they fell to the monsters or insanity. Still Red Talon pressed on, more and more convinced that she had found the true source of Chaos.
She came to a place more ancient than any seen by the eyes of the children of Ashtyr. Some say it is the navel of the world. Here she faced an enemy who was beyond her understanding. Her axe sliced through again and again, but even as she struck she became weaker and weaker. Finally she drove the horror back, crawling and oozing into the depths of the earth. With all her might, she slammed her axe into the walls around her, burying herself, the axe and the evil.
A few companions survived, ashamed that they were unable to help her in her final battle. They carried the news of her fall and her sacrifice with them. The companions who did not come with her were deeply shamed. They took up the mantle and attempted their own journeys, but already Chaos was moving against them and Reluria was plunged into conflict.

Historical Basis

There exist monuments in certain places on the Guild Isles and Iri Islands that mark a spot where Red Talon or her companions stopped or did something heroic. There was also a marble tablet found in The Rift that specifically mentions Red Talon's fall at the "Isle of Dread". There are no specific dates mentioned, but some of framing images on the tablet show Red Talon in an island with tropical trees and battling a dragon of enormous size.
There are songs about the adventurers that are old enough to be composed by Nikitas Terzo. There is also an old rhyme from the Iri Islands that is about a red bird flying against the darkness and being gobbled up by a black snake. Some attribute that to be a children's song about Red Talon.

Variations & Mutation

The reason for the voyage seems to change depending on who it telling the story. Most human versions of the story speak of Red Talon finding the source of Chaos. Elven sources say that Yeno herself was supposed to have been held on the island, but it was all a trick to kill Red Talon. Some First Folk traditions speak of Red Talon seeking the entrance to the Underworld at that spot. The reasons for her interest range depending on the teller, some even saying that Emid dared her to go as a joke. When she died, the old God mourned her for forty days and nights and didn't laugh for a year. The island is also ill defined in all the stories and seems to shift depending on who is telling the tale. Some say it was huge and covered in forests and burning mountains. Others say it is barely a speck on the map with only the village and a forbidden palace on it.  Which heroes accompanied her and which ones survived also seems to change greatly. Sometimes only Ashtyr's children brave the journey. Other times it is a mixed party but only the elves die. The official version of the Tyrian church holds that heroes of all kinds went, but Ashtyr's children gave their lives in noble sacrifice, while the children and Yeno and First Folk survived - not brave enough to give everything for the hero.

Cultural Reception

Deeds of heroism and bravery are the most popular tales of Red Talon, but her death holds an important part of the story. Even though the hero falls in the middle of nowhere in the Sea of Dread and the axe is lost, in a couple decades she returns. She looks different, but the axe is the same and bravery and devotion to Ashtyr are unchanged. Her first death is the most mysterious and most mythic (one of her later deaths is by falling off a ship and getting eaten by a shark). As such it holds an important place in the cannon of the legends.