The Harbingers of the Rising Dawn
The Harbingers of the Rising Dawn were an old group of adventurers from the early days of the new era that quickly gained fame for their ability to quickly complete difficult quests, surprising the ones who hired them in the first place, and instilling a sense of hope into the anxious hearts of those affected by The Dawn . These extremely talented individuals would later found Krakonia City , and later still The Kingdom of Krakonia , disbanding the title of their old party in favor of their individual talents and government posts. It is rumored that the Harbingers never truly disbanded, but if they do exist, no one really has any idea as to what they are doing these days, or why for that matter.
During the Dawn, there was a massive influx of people appearing from many different planes of existence, appearing quite randomly all throughout Requerm . The story goes that, as part of this process, Daerius Quintus , a samsaran bard from the Golarion plane of existence found himself quite alone in the wilderness, about to become Great Beast food, when he was saved by a friendly passerby, Samuel Evergreen , a hyur wizard from the Hydaelyn plane of existence. The two discussed their origins, quickly learning that they were not from the same world. See, they were both knowledgeable sorts, and could tell from process of elimination that there was no way neither of them had heard ANYTHING about the other's homeland, so the only logical explanation was that they were from different worlds. They decided to team up to try and find their ways home, learning over time that this was easier said than done. While exploring, they came across Ashley Windsong , a sheikah courtesan from the Hylia plane of existence, currently escorting a young ratfolk child, Horus Spintail , from the Terram plane of existence. Windsong turned about to be quite knowledgeable as well, understanding the spellcasters' discoveries about the plane well enough without being a spellcaster herself. She decided that these nerds would be her best chance to get herself back home, offering her services as a socialite to help gather information and treaty with any intelligent dissidents they came across. They agreed, and decided to bring the child with them as well, despite him having basically no idea what the heck any of them were talking about the entire time.
After some time, the adventuring party found some success in learning the basics about the world that they were in, a place the locals called Requerm. One day, while discussing some of the finer points behind why extraplanar travel didn't seem to be functioning the same as it should in their home worlds, Kah'Rael Warenza , a khajiit rogue from the Nirn plan of existence, overheard their conversation and, after determining that these were highly intelligent, talented people, decided that this was the party she would align with for her own interests. With their new scout in the party, they found greater success in exploring the vast world of Requerm while avoiding the many Great Beasts that ruled the land. During one of these ventures into the wilderness, they came across a young pinnavran druid, Fyliss Streamwalker , who excitedly offered her services as a guide to Requerm, as she was a native to the land herself, and wanted to learn more about her new companions' worlds and adventures. She turned out not to be that useful of a guide, on account of her never really paying attention to anything in great detail, but by the time they figured this out, they had all grown attached to her antics, and let her stay with them as a healer instead.
After a long string of failed leads and empty stretches of land, the party decided to shift gears. At this point, they had already successfully helped out a few other strangers in their travels out of the goodness of their hearts, and decided to start seeking these people out for profit. Over time, their party developed a reputation for being talented, powerful, easy to work with, and generally kindhearted, a welcome reprieve from the bandits, warmongers, and monsters people were used to meeting out in the wilderness. The party helped defend quite a few small, budding settlements during this time, assisting other refugees of the Dawn with getting used to their new situations. It was because of this reputation that locals started referring to their party as the Harbingers of the Rising Dawn, as these adventurers brought the light of hope from the dawn of the new era into the lives of those who desperately needed it. The party took a liking to the name, so they decided to take it on officially. Evergreen in particular appreciated the name, claiming that he had heard a similar name of a group he admired in his home plane of existence, and as such appreciated the irony in being named something familiar to what he admired in another world.
Despite this reputation as a group of heroes, the Harbingers of the Rising Dawn never forgot their original goal, which was to discover the secrets of the Dawn and help find everyone's way home. Having earned much experience and resources from the many side quests they completed over the years, they eventually were able to venture deep into the even more dangerous parts of the map, where many before them had met their end. Here they discovered the Thrones of the Ancient Lords, a large expanse of ancient ruins from a time long since passed in Requerm. Quintus in particular was quite excited with the discovery of these ruins, believing it to be the biggest lead they had found since any of them first came to Requerm. Prior to this point, they had known that an ancient people had once existed here, due to the occasional ruins being discovered on their quests, but this land they had just found was easily the best preserved of these ruins, holding much ancient text to decipher among the expanse of a massive dilapidated city spanning several hexes of the map. The Harbingers gathered as much information as they possibly could in this location, collecting artifacts and writing in-depth notes, in the hopes of finally discovering something concrete about the world they were in. No definitive answers about the Dawn were discovered, but Quintus had learned the next best thing: The culture of The First Civilization , a term he coined describing these ancient people's way of life, defined in part by the mysterious tragedy of what he called the "Fall of the First Civilization", or "The Fall" for short. These ruins confirmed their existence, but they did not confirm how or why they disappeared. Believing, through no actual evidence, that there was a correlation with the nature of The Fall and The Dawn, Quintus was eager to encourage everyone in Requerm to learn what they can about The First Civilization.
Venturing further northeast of the ancient ruins, the Harbingers eventually uncovered the remains of an old, surprisingly intact tavern. Ancient text referred to this place as The Hook , a place where adventurers in the First Civilization would go to mingle and learn about potential "quest hooks" that they could then accept and resolve. Inspired by this discovery in particular, the Harbingers decided to revive The Hook, partially in the hopes that more adventurers would come by to share their discoveries, and also in the hopes that by bringing the history of the First Civilization to the knowledge of the layman, they might encourage others to learn more about them, thus discovering the connection between The Fall and The Dawn that may or may not actually exist.
What they did not count on, however, was a bunch of eager civilians looking for a safe place to take refuge from the increasing number of conflicts between different warring factions of people from different worlds. The party leveraged the goodwill they had amassed over the years to quickly construct a castle around The Hook, naming it Silver Gull Castle after the seagulls living nearby on the coast and the modest silver they had spent in order to get it constructed. The castle soon became a beacon for those looking to protect themselves from the increasing dangers of the outside world, bringing both adventurers and peasants alike. Having seemingly bit off more than they could chew, the Harbingers officially founded Krakonia City , named after the symbol of the Hook as well as the Arbiters' marks found on all of the Harbingers' bodies (It was long believed that Warenza was the exception to this before the party finally learned that she simply hid it from them for years). As the city brought more and more mouths to feed, it also developed more and more positions normal people could have in its budding society, to the point that it had inadvertently become a force to be reckoned with. During this period of growth, any actual defensive forces were limited to mostly the Harbingers themselves, who were more than enough to fend off the greedy bandits trying to take advantage of the new settlement until it had grown mighty enough to stand on its own.
Having created a haven for many different, clashing cultures in a single settlement, eventually the Harbingers set their eyes on the future, hearing the many pleas of their citizens to bring peace to Requerm. While it essentially had nothing to do with the Harbingers' original mission statement, they could no longer turn a blind eye to the suffering surrounding them. It was due to this that eventually the Harbingers decided that they would need to disband in order to protect the peace they had cultivated over the past couple of decades. Having no interest in war, Streamwalker stepped away from the rest of the party to start a local shop, naming it Marlin Medleys , selling basic supplies to those in need. The rest of the Harbingers took steps to plan for war, with Evergreen being delegated the sole role of continuing his research into the Dawn, offering his services as a mage to the war effort when necessary.
Once plans were complete, the remaining Harbingers of the Rising Dawn officially disbanded the party title and declared war on territorial conflict itself, calling it The Unification Wars . Each member of the party would later become prominent members of the newfound Kingdom of Krakonia , each leading their own important guild, other than Daerius Quintus himself who would become king. And this is where the story of the Harbingers of the Rising Dawn ends.
Or it would, anyway, except rumors about this group have perservered through decades of history. Many believe that the Harbingers of the Rising Dawn never truly disbanded, and simply went underground for whatever purpose. None know for sure if any of the original members are still a part of this group, or if the group even exists, but there's enough conspiracy around the kingdom to suggest the possibility. Many suggestions have been made over the years as to the purpose of this disbandment, the most popular being a sort of gentleman thief explanation, wherein prominent members of upstanding society can't fully accomplish their goals of peace while also upholding the laws they themselves created, so they have to operate in the shadows to protect those they otherwise could not. Others believe that the fantasy of the Harbingers was simply a front so that people would worship these leaders as heroes when in reality they are simply parasites leeching off of the hard work of the common man. Others still believe that the Harbingers are a completely different group altogether that has simply evolved over the years into something unknowable. Regardless of any concrete details about the topic, the sheer number of people who believe in the continued existence of this group is surprisingly large, in part due to fantastical legends that have sprouted up about them from all across the morality spectrum. This, combined with all the rumors about certain tactics made during the Unification Wars, has led to one particular detail that basically all the rumormongers and conspiracy theorists can agree on: Somehow Kah'Rael Warenza is involved.
During the Dawn, there was a massive influx of people appearing from many different planes of existence, appearing quite randomly all throughout Requerm . The story goes that, as part of this process, Daerius Quintus , a samsaran bard from the Golarion plane of existence found himself quite alone in the wilderness, about to become Great Beast food, when he was saved by a friendly passerby, Samuel Evergreen , a hyur wizard from the Hydaelyn plane of existence. The two discussed their origins, quickly learning that they were not from the same world. See, they were both knowledgeable sorts, and could tell from process of elimination that there was no way neither of them had heard ANYTHING about the other's homeland, so the only logical explanation was that they were from different worlds. They decided to team up to try and find their ways home, learning over time that this was easier said than done. While exploring, they came across Ashley Windsong , a sheikah courtesan from the Hylia plane of existence, currently escorting a young ratfolk child, Horus Spintail , from the Terram plane of existence. Windsong turned about to be quite knowledgeable as well, understanding the spellcasters' discoveries about the plane well enough without being a spellcaster herself. She decided that these nerds would be her best chance to get herself back home, offering her services as a socialite to help gather information and treaty with any intelligent dissidents they came across. They agreed, and decided to bring the child with them as well, despite him having basically no idea what the heck any of them were talking about the entire time.
After some time, the adventuring party found some success in learning the basics about the world that they were in, a place the locals called Requerm. One day, while discussing some of the finer points behind why extraplanar travel didn't seem to be functioning the same as it should in their home worlds, Kah'Rael Warenza , a khajiit rogue from the Nirn plan of existence, overheard their conversation and, after determining that these were highly intelligent, talented people, decided that this was the party she would align with for her own interests. With their new scout in the party, they found greater success in exploring the vast world of Requerm while avoiding the many Great Beasts that ruled the land. During one of these ventures into the wilderness, they came across a young pinnavran druid, Fyliss Streamwalker , who excitedly offered her services as a guide to Requerm, as she was a native to the land herself, and wanted to learn more about her new companions' worlds and adventures. She turned out not to be that useful of a guide, on account of her never really paying attention to anything in great detail, but by the time they figured this out, they had all grown attached to her antics, and let her stay with them as a healer instead.
After a long string of failed leads and empty stretches of land, the party decided to shift gears. At this point, they had already successfully helped out a few other strangers in their travels out of the goodness of their hearts, and decided to start seeking these people out for profit. Over time, their party developed a reputation for being talented, powerful, easy to work with, and generally kindhearted, a welcome reprieve from the bandits, warmongers, and monsters people were used to meeting out in the wilderness. The party helped defend quite a few small, budding settlements during this time, assisting other refugees of the Dawn with getting used to their new situations. It was because of this reputation that locals started referring to their party as the Harbingers of the Rising Dawn, as these adventurers brought the light of hope from the dawn of the new era into the lives of those who desperately needed it. The party took a liking to the name, so they decided to take it on officially. Evergreen in particular appreciated the name, claiming that he had heard a similar name of a group he admired in his home plane of existence, and as such appreciated the irony in being named something familiar to what he admired in another world.
Despite this reputation as a group of heroes, the Harbingers of the Rising Dawn never forgot their original goal, which was to discover the secrets of the Dawn and help find everyone's way home. Having earned much experience and resources from the many side quests they completed over the years, they eventually were able to venture deep into the even more dangerous parts of the map, where many before them had met their end. Here they discovered the Thrones of the Ancient Lords, a large expanse of ancient ruins from a time long since passed in Requerm. Quintus in particular was quite excited with the discovery of these ruins, believing it to be the biggest lead they had found since any of them first came to Requerm. Prior to this point, they had known that an ancient people had once existed here, due to the occasional ruins being discovered on their quests, but this land they had just found was easily the best preserved of these ruins, holding much ancient text to decipher among the expanse of a massive dilapidated city spanning several hexes of the map. The Harbingers gathered as much information as they possibly could in this location, collecting artifacts and writing in-depth notes, in the hopes of finally discovering something concrete about the world they were in. No definitive answers about the Dawn were discovered, but Quintus had learned the next best thing: The culture of The First Civilization , a term he coined describing these ancient people's way of life, defined in part by the mysterious tragedy of what he called the "Fall of the First Civilization", or "The Fall" for short. These ruins confirmed their existence, but they did not confirm how or why they disappeared. Believing, through no actual evidence, that there was a correlation with the nature of The Fall and The Dawn, Quintus was eager to encourage everyone in Requerm to learn what they can about The First Civilization.
Venturing further northeast of the ancient ruins, the Harbingers eventually uncovered the remains of an old, surprisingly intact tavern. Ancient text referred to this place as The Hook , a place where adventurers in the First Civilization would go to mingle and learn about potential "quest hooks" that they could then accept and resolve. Inspired by this discovery in particular, the Harbingers decided to revive The Hook, partially in the hopes that more adventurers would come by to share their discoveries, and also in the hopes that by bringing the history of the First Civilization to the knowledge of the layman, they might encourage others to learn more about them, thus discovering the connection between The Fall and The Dawn that may or may not actually exist.
What they did not count on, however, was a bunch of eager civilians looking for a safe place to take refuge from the increasing number of conflicts between different warring factions of people from different worlds. The party leveraged the goodwill they had amassed over the years to quickly construct a castle around The Hook, naming it Silver Gull Castle after the seagulls living nearby on the coast and the modest silver they had spent in order to get it constructed. The castle soon became a beacon for those looking to protect themselves from the increasing dangers of the outside world, bringing both adventurers and peasants alike. Having seemingly bit off more than they could chew, the Harbingers officially founded Krakonia City , named after the symbol of the Hook as well as the Arbiters' marks found on all of the Harbingers' bodies (It was long believed that Warenza was the exception to this before the party finally learned that she simply hid it from them for years). As the city brought more and more mouths to feed, it also developed more and more positions normal people could have in its budding society, to the point that it had inadvertently become a force to be reckoned with. During this period of growth, any actual defensive forces were limited to mostly the Harbingers themselves, who were more than enough to fend off the greedy bandits trying to take advantage of the new settlement until it had grown mighty enough to stand on its own.
Having created a haven for many different, clashing cultures in a single settlement, eventually the Harbingers set their eyes on the future, hearing the many pleas of their citizens to bring peace to Requerm. While it essentially had nothing to do with the Harbingers' original mission statement, they could no longer turn a blind eye to the suffering surrounding them. It was due to this that eventually the Harbingers decided that they would need to disband in order to protect the peace they had cultivated over the past couple of decades. Having no interest in war, Streamwalker stepped away from the rest of the party to start a local shop, naming it Marlin Medleys , selling basic supplies to those in need. The rest of the Harbingers took steps to plan for war, with Evergreen being delegated the sole role of continuing his research into the Dawn, offering his services as a mage to the war effort when necessary.
Once plans were complete, the remaining Harbingers of the Rising Dawn officially disbanded the party title and declared war on territorial conflict itself, calling it The Unification Wars . Each member of the party would later become prominent members of the newfound Kingdom of Krakonia , each leading their own important guild, other than Daerius Quintus himself who would become king. And this is where the story of the Harbingers of the Rising Dawn ends.
Or it would, anyway, except rumors about this group have perservered through decades of history. Many believe that the Harbingers of the Rising Dawn never truly disbanded, and simply went underground for whatever purpose. None know for sure if any of the original members are still a part of this group, or if the group even exists, but there's enough conspiracy around the kingdom to suggest the possibility. Many suggestions have been made over the years as to the purpose of this disbandment, the most popular being a sort of gentleman thief explanation, wherein prominent members of upstanding society can't fully accomplish their goals of peace while also upholding the laws they themselves created, so they have to operate in the shadows to protect those they otherwise could not. Others believe that the fantasy of the Harbingers was simply a front so that people would worship these leaders as heroes when in reality they are simply parasites leeching off of the hard work of the common man. Others still believe that the Harbingers are a completely different group altogether that has simply evolved over the years into something unknowable. Regardless of any concrete details about the topic, the sheer number of people who believe in the continued existence of this group is surprisingly large, in part due to fantastical legends that have sprouted up about them from all across the morality spectrum. This, combined with all the rumors about certain tactics made during the Unification Wars, has led to one particular detail that basically all the rumormongers and conspiracy theorists can agree on: Somehow Kah'Rael Warenza is involved.
Comments