During the
War of Broken Chains, five mortal heroes arose to lead the rebellion against the
Ak'teshi Empire.
Cairn
The first was
Cairn, a
human warrior who had grown resentful of his giant masters who used his kind as pawns to carry out the unjust capture and enslavement of other races. In secret, he worked with the dwarven mine workers and the halfling farmers to train them in warfare and to defend themselves using smuggled weaponry. Cairn rose quickly through the ranks of the slave armies, and the fire giant generals believed him loyal to the empire. In truth, he was the leader of a rebellion working to undermine the empire at every step.
His following grew amongst the slave populations. Those that didn’t join them openly secretly supported them and relayed valuable information. Among those to provide such information were slaves who worked among storm giant shamans and fire giant forge workers, closely examining their techniques and dusty tomes.
Arator
Among those to bring shamanistic practices to the rebellion was
Arator, who hid his abilities from his masters. He taught those gifted enough to tap into the primal powers of the elements. Arator awed and inspired his people, and was seen amongst his apprentices and admirers in the rebellion as a mentor, a teacher and a father figure.
Elenwin
Arator was a mentor to one young
halfling woman, named
Elenwin. Elenwin was renowned throughout the resistance as a healer and mystic. She studied under Arator and took a particular interest in communing with the elemental spirit of Water. Through Water, Elenwin channeled powerful rejuvenating
Magic to calm any rage, cure any disease and mend any injury. People looked up to her as a mother and was a guiding figure during the hardships of enslavement.
Duun
Duun was a legendary
dwarven craftsman like no other, and closely studied the forging techniques of his fire giant masters. From them and the wisened stone giant masons, he learned their secrets of
runecrafting, and, channeling the energies of flame and fire into his forges, created weapons powerful enough to fell giants with ease.
Kusatta
Kusatta was a human shaman. More than experienced in the ways of the elements, rivaling even Arator, he saw the old man's practices as weak; why fight fire with fire when more extreme measures would be more effective? Instead of weaving the natural elements, he experimented with the force that bout the elements together; spirit and soul magic, the very magic the
Kobolds once used to weave the soul curse that created humans, dwarves, and halflings. Experimenting on cave rats, he discovered he could bring them back from the dead by binding their souls to their bodies like a string to a puppet, creating some of the first undead. These were the first acts of necromancy, or 'Dark Shamanism' as it was called. The blood-magic he commanded earned him the moniker of 'Kusatta the Bloodied'.
A Lasting Legacy
Today, the mortal heroes are worshipped as saints by many of the human, halfling, and dwarven populations of the world. Some, like Duun, Elenwin, Arator, and Cairn, are openly revered, and their depictions are found in many temples, artworks, and texts. The dwarves of the
Silver Kingdom worship Duun as a figure who reforged them in the fires of war and struggle, while the halflings of the
Kinston Council revere Elenwin as a figure of healing, harvests, and fertility. Populations from various tribes and backgrounds revere Cairn as a noble, heroic figure; the spirit of justice, freedom, and the eternal foe of tyranny. Many societies of mages and magical practitioners revere Arator as a saint of knowledge and learning, and his visages are often wrought in marble and stone.
Kusatta is a figure revered behind closed doors by covens of necromancers, warlocks, and other dark magic users. Worship of Kusatta is illegal in most nations.
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