It was early morning, on the 30th day in the month of cloudburst, 858 years since the divine war. A young man awoke on a grassy mound, in the middle of a bustling city. He could remember nothing, not his past, how he came to be there, not even his own name. He was clothed in nought but a Godly light. It appeared that an immortal had taken pity on him while he lay unconscious, and protected him with their Divine Will.
This was in a time before the Academies employed sages to guide the helpless, and the unnamed man did not know where to turn. As he wandered in the marketplace, fascinated by the alien sounds and smells, he came across a woman, who introduced herself to him as Lady Tasha. She took pity upon his plight, and agreed to help him. It was at that moment a dark shape leapt from the shadows. The thief spat a strange dust over Tasha, immobilising her. The young man leapt upon the thief, but young and untutored, he had no chance. The thief contemptuously threw him aside, and turned back on Tasha. However, Tasha had used those vital seconds to call forth the mighty magics of the Mage, and the thief fled, his advantage of surprise lost.
Tasha was impressed at his courage, calling him 'her Hero' and thus, he was named. To this day, the identity of that thief is unknown, for they are well skilled in disguise.
Hero was impressed too, with the powerful defensive magic of the Mage, and was very happy to be tutored by the comely Lady. She took him to the Academy, a place of learning, and introduced him to Sevenius. The old sage gave him eight quests which Tasha happily helped Hero to complete. During those days, she taught him a rough geography of the land, called Avalon, and showed him a couple of the simpler gold quests so that he might feed and clothe himself. Blessed with a near-perfect memory, along with an aptitude for logical puzzles, he was a fast learner. He found that his home was called Mercinae, the city of Justice.
Having seen the power of the Mages guild first hand, along with the kindness of it's members, he knew which would be his profession. With Tasha seconding him, he asked Tragnarion - the Guildmaster of the Mages - to accept him into the guild. Tragnarion was only too happy to gain an intelligent young apprentice, and welcomed Hero wholeheartedly.
Hero soon befriended several other mages, Muid most closely of them all. The three - Tasha, Hero and Muid - would often talk, and share information that they had learned. More rarely, they also ventured out into the wildlands on quests and expeditions together. However, Hero was somewhat of a loner, and would more often explore alone. He spent many hours in the forests, learning their paths and pitfalls. He would often come across quests, tantalising him with their clues. Hero solved a good few alone, and for most others he only required a hint, or a push in the right direction. He very quickly learned the usefulness of augmentative potions and herbs. With typical single-mindedness he would do gold quests over and over again, constantly, for days at a time, simply to gain the cash to buy the many goods of the alchemists and rangers.
It was at this time that Jharrik approached him. Not knowing the man, Hero was perfectly willing to talk to him. Jharrik tried to talk Hero into joining the order of Andromeda, Goddess of Dreams. Knowing nothing of the Immortals, and of the meaning of patronage, he accepted her High Priest's offer - a mistake he would later regret.
Though he was still very low on skills, he started to learn to use magic on those evil denizens of the forest - first wolves, then bandits. When these provided him with no challenge, he turned to the might Wolf Gate of Goblin Town. In the dark tunnels beneath the mountain, he slew many greenskins. In the hours spent alone, below ground, surrounded by the enemy, Hero took the first steps on the long path to learning to become a fighter. He began to fight mortals too. The very first was a young sorcerer, called Fractell. They battled before the Wolf Gate, and Hero slew him. Surprised at the ease with which mortals like himself could be killed, he started to learn how to fight his new enemies. He fought many thakrians, including Fractell. Most had superior skills, yet Hero won far more than he lost. He soon realised that most could not use their skills to their full potential, to his advantage. Able to use his skills like most could not, he decided upon a strict code of Honour. He knew that if he were to attack and slay others, glorying in the kill, then he would fall to evil, and be no better than his opponents. He began to fight only to protect himself or his friends.
During this time, Hero became good friends with two immortals - Orthwein, god of Fate, and Genesis, god of Time. Having never even met Andromeda, his supposed Patron, Hero considered pledging himself to another god, now that he knew it's full meaning. Hero needed a god who's principles were closer to his own. He spoke first to Genesis, who turned him down. Genesis pointed out that he very rarely took followers, and those were usually great fighters. Hero could fight, but was easily depressed by setbacks, a characteristic which he still suffers from today. He then turned to Orthwein, also a suitable Patron. Orthwein accepted him into the order, and things boded well for Hero.
Some time later, Hero started to grow uneasy. The two great barons of Mercinae, Isildur and Zollrender, seemed to be leading the city into darkness. They were making deals, and apparently reneging on their end of the bargains. When Hero expressed a desire to leave, they tried to bribe him to stay. This only confirmed his suspicions, and he prepared to leave the city he had lived in for so long. It was then that Tasha told him of an idea she had been harbouring for some time. She planned to go to Thakria, and set up a guild of Mage profession there. Parrius had one, and so did Mercinae, but The city of Miracles was lacking. Hero and Muid agreed to go with her, as did a couple of others.
Saddened at Mercinae's fall, he left for Thakria with a heavy heart. He was even more hurt at his abandonment of Tragnarion, his mentor. He nearly turned back, but his love of Tasha kept him with her. By now they were lovers, and Hero looked forward to making a life together in Thakria. He was worried about Thakria's reputation as the home of all evil, but Tasha reassured him that the Warlocks would stay good - to try and convert the city from inside. He very soon began to doubt the viability of Tasha's claim, given the climate in Thakria at that time. Both Muid and Orthwein warned him that Tasha was lying to him, in order to further her own ambitions. Torn between his lover and his patron, he could not decide. It was only when he was given incontrovertible proof that she had made a pact with the Diabolus (an evil god) for power, that he fled to Parrius, broken hearted. Too shamed to return to the Mages, he joined the Parrian branch of his profession, the Enchanters. Even without his or Muid's help Tasha was able to form the Warlocks, much as they had all hoped against it. Muid joined the Parrian Astrologers, and changed her name to Ysabell. That drove a wedge between their friendship, and they slowly began to go their different ways.
Hero soon settled into his position with the Enchanters, and soon began to gain new friends and battle-brothers. Foremost amongst them were Layla, Garet Jax, Eshkadeth, Belvadere and Dankworth.
But soon he was to gain a shock to his new security. Tasha was several months pregnant, with his child. Again he was torn, wondering if he should return to Thakria for the sake of his child. Again, Orthwein aided him in finding him a solution. It transpired that Tasha had begged her new Patron to make him pregnant from his seed, so that his principles would force him to rejoin her. Shocked at the duplicity of his former love, and angered at her attempts to manipulate him, he refused to leave Parrius. Thus was born his son, Michael, who would never know his father. Hero knew that he could never look after a young child, living as he did a violent and risky life. Michael was actually stillborn, but Hero begged Orthwein to restore the life of his child. Tasha and Hero, momentarily united, petitioned Olympus. Orthwein finally agreed, much disgusted that one of his followers could be manipulated so. Their relationship was never to be the same again.
Hero buried his feelings deep inside, and spent more time alone in the forests. In addition, his shame made him change his name to Asgenar - he was not the hero he had once been. He continued to fight those Thakrians that attacked him such as Fractell, Cimares, Astiron, Dall, the recently disgraced Jharrik, and the young Shaitan. Two Thakrian barons saw how Asgenar was beating their citizens, and decided to crush all resistance from him.
The two, both much mightier than Asgenar's still limited skills, repeatedly slew him. Unwilling to spend all his time running from them, he would often stand and fight. But his vaunted status as a giant-killer was no good to him, they were just TOO powerful. Still, he gritted his teeth and persevered. He was beginning to feel deeply for Layla, and had no wish to leave her. But after some time, despite liking Asgenar, and having some affection for him, it was Garet Jax whom she choose.
Having a Patron who no longer cared for him, a city that could not protect him, and a guild that was full of painful reminders, there was little to hold him. For the first time he changed his profession. With the aid of Genesis, and Conteck master of the Animists, Asgenar joined the Druids in their forest home.
He had always felt a deep affinity with the forests, and being an animist felt good to him. He was soon able to leave behind the constant combat and ambushes that had plagued him. He contented himself by using his new skills to find and explore the new hidden parts of the forests. As an Animist, the quests that required violence to complete were no longer condonable, or even possible. He spent his time learning new ones, that mostly only animists knew, which were wholly peaceful. The months he spent were quiet and relaxing ones, for the Thakrian sorcerers Simaril and Sepultura no longer bothered him. In fact, very few people even tried to attack him any more, for the very name of Animist was enough to protect him. Even Macros, the strongest sorcerer left him alone - despite his prelediction for killing animists.
But after a while in the service of Aldaron, Asgenar began to realise a few doubts about his new path. The guild was made up of a wide range of people, with many differing views. There seemed to be a conflict between the two main ideas within the guild - life, and pacifism. Aldaron's view, as god of Life was that life was sacrosanct. He believed that, sometimes, to protect the greatest amount of life, it was allowable to kill. After all, wild animals killed to protect themselves, their families, or for food. The opposing view was that Animists were pacifists, and should never kill. Even the use of non-violent abilities to interfere was ultimately pointless and against the ethics of being an animist.
Asgenar had trouble reconciling this with the murder of his friends. He felt that killing one rampant psychopath, to save the lives of a dozen innocents was justified, if the killer could not be stopped any other way. He compared it to surgery - destroying some cells to save the organism. This attitude was certainly allowable within the Animists, but it did make him feel somewhat of a loner. Realising that in the end, he could better realise his feelings outside the guild, he made his preparations to leave.
In the time that he had been gone, Tragnarion had returned from his sabbatical. Asgenar's old mentor had put Simaril and Sepultura to flight, and done much good for the city of Mercinae. He happily received the older, wiser Asgenar back into the Mages, and Mercinae. Asgenar felt it was time to retake his old name, and was reborn as Hero.
Time passed. Hero's skills increased painfully slowly, unlike the rising star, Shaitan. Though they continued to fight, his old adversary's power increased exponentially, and eventually Hero was no longer able to contest the sheer firepower of the Sorcerer. He continued to fight his old adversaries, and new ones - and he slowly began to regain out his old reputation as a giant-killer. In this time too, he became engaged to be married to a young knight, Serendipity.
Throughout this period, he was without a patron. No longer an animist, he had amicably left Aldaron's patronage. Still smarting from his time with Orthwein, he forged his own path for a long time.
Unable to spend long periods within Avalon, he was only able to enter two of the Gem quests in the run up to the ordination. In the first, a flag quest, he was on the winning side. Put forward by his team-mates as a solid defender, who had greatly contributed to their win, he competed against another team-member, Chaos, for the gem. Unsurprisingly, the experienced Baron of Mercinae and Guildmaster of the Mystics, Chaos, won it.
In the second quest, a contest of knowledge, Hero easily won the Gem of Voice. If he had been able to enter more contests, who knows how many more he could have won?
After a lengthy sabbatical, Hero returned to find Shaitan had wrecked much of the land. Many of the older players that Hero had grown up knowing had left, including Tragnarion, leaving only new faces. Many young players feared for their lives - Shaitan was liable to roam the land slaying all individuals, even the very youngest, for no reason other than they were not Thakrian. With no high level fighters to protect them, they were forced to hide in temple sanctuaries under the protection of their patrons. Hero refused to bow to Shaitan, and died several times because of it, but there was little he could do. Shaitan had over 6 times his skills, plus a multitude of Divine Gems. Fortunately, Shaitan was so power hungry that there were very few competents left in Thakria. So when Shaitan was not there to protect them, Thakrians often bore the brunt of the rest of the land's frustrations, a precedent that would lead to much inter-city hatred later. Hero found too that his love had not waited for him. She had dallied with other young men, and even married Lancelot. She approached him in contrition, but he rebuffed her. He had had enough of betrayal.
Vaunted though Shaitan was, he was unable to complete the invasion of Parrius - made vulnerable by the defection of Cardodius, along with the city treasury, to Thakria. Hero was one of the defenders that presided over Shaitan's defeat - proving that he was not infallible. Hero realised that now he was needed in the land, it was time for him to take a Patron. He once again approached Genesis, his friend, but was once more rejected. After reflection, he saw that Apollo held very similar views to himself, and approached the deity for his patronage. He was accepted, and entered the order of Light.
Months passed, and the Ordination loomed. Things did not look well for the forces of Good; there were only a handful of candidates in the running, and none that could weigh in the with skills and ability of Shaitan. It even looked as if Hero might have to face off against Shaitan, an unlikely proposal. With Hero's two ultimates, and single gem, against shaitan's 14 ultimate skills, and 6 gems, it looked like a foregone conclusion. Circumstances conspired against them however, and they were never to find out. For personal reasons, Hero was forced to withdraw from the contest, and leave Avalon for a time.
Upon his return, he found that Shaitan had indeed won the quest, and obtained immortality. His long time enemy had finally reached the peak of his obsessive quest for ultimate power. Indeed, the sorcerer had burned a massive scar into Avalon, as a tyrant that the likes of which had never been seen before.
In the power vacuum that followed, Hero was much surprised to find his name was well known. He was one of the few Mercinaens dating back to a pre-Shaitan era, and his experience was much valued. He took control of the ailing Mages guild, and with his warrior abilities, his old guild began to regain it's fortunes. At the time of his return, the guild numbered eight active members - today it numbers over sixty. Along with this abrupt rise in guild rank, came his rise within the Mercinaen government. Valued as a straightforward, honest man, he earned the positions of Baron, and Minister for Justice. His chequered past has left him with a cynical resistance to being manipulated, and is trusted in the highest circles for discretion.
But his most treasured accolade was not to come from mortals. Genesis came to him, and stated that after watching Hero's rise, he was finally powerful enough to join the order of the god of Time. Hero seized the chance of a lifetime, and now loyally serves the immortal he first wished to follow.
Who is Hero now?
When Hero was young, he dedicated himself to a Code of Honour. Today, he still holds that honour dear. He treats his opponents with the same respect he expects in return. If an enemy breaks faith with him, then they can only expect to be treated with similar disrespect.
Archmage Hero is the Mercinaen Minister for Justice, a post he is well suited for. With a personal feeling for Justice, and the ability to swiftly punish transgressors, crime has been virtually eliminated from inside the walls of Mercinae. Now most Thakrians think twice before ambushing a Mercinaen inside the city.
To retain his position as one of the more powerful fighters in the land requires much practise. His reputation is now such that very few attack him without warning - a far cry from the days of his youth, when he had to be constantly on his guard against ambush. This, combined with the lack of crimes against the citizens of Mercinae means that he has to find other ways to keep his skills honed. Periodically, he will sally forth to Thakria, and challenge all those in that city of his strength or greater. These challenges are optional, and many take the opportunity to avoid fighting. However, there are still Thakrians of ability and courage who come to meet him on the field of battle, thus keeping Hero's reflexes finely honed.
Having reached the positions of Guildmaster, Minister and Baron, along with being one of the toughest fighters, has made Archmage Hero somewhat arrogant. The fact that he has achieved these things with only two ultimates, only exacerbates the problem. He often fights and wins against those with double or greater his skill levels. He yearns for a time when the majority of his opponents perform to the true potential of their skills, rather than the handful which do at this moment. However, this arrogance occasionally causes him to dramatically underestimate the threat against him, and thus be slain. Retribution comes swiftly though, for Hero never makes the same mistake twice.
Hero also finds it hard to trust any woman that wants anything other a professional relationship with him. Having had numerous women betray him, or use him for their own ends, he finds it extremely hard to believe they will not try to do the same. He is resigned to being a permanent bachelor, and dedicates himself to his various jobs.
His current aim is to provide a stable environs in his city and guild, a place where the young can learn in safety, or retreat to in time of danger. He deliberately avoids pacifying areas beyond his demesnes however - he knows that in order to grow, the young must learn self-reliance in places of danger. Over-protection leads to weak citizens unable to defend themselves while underprotection fosters unhappiness and desertion. He strives to keep his Guild and City balanced on that fine line.
Written by Hero (last edited 14th April 1996)
