Calaera
Saint Calaera is an immortal divine of Rystaia, and leader of the Convocation of the Nine.
History
Saint Calaera's first mention in the annals of history is during the War of Night. Historians cite her as one of the vast legion of ch'taren who arrived on the Prime Material through the hijacked summoning of the shuddeni. Although the early ch'taren warriors largely required no ranks, scholars suggest she acted as a trusted lieutenant to Saint Chalane Tyra. Much of her early fame stems from her remarkable prowess in both the magics of spirit and martial technique. With little more than a small warband and the fervor of righteousness, Calaera cut a bloody path through the shuddeni ranks.
With the help of the grateful government of Earendam following the Day of Two Dawns, the ch'taren havens were indicated as a place for ch'taren to congregate and to protect what few artifacts remained from the ch'taren home plane. It was during this period that Calaera and her warband helped to develop the rudiments of the modern spirit templar creed. A discerning eye and powerful voice cemented Saint Calaera as a heroine worthy of her reputation among the ch'taren Aiveh Lm'keh. Many of Saint Calaera's students found themselves among the guardians of these havens, with Saint Calaera and her warband protecting the Haven of Ice, Avayn.
The renowned hero, Saint Chalane, was martyred in defense of Ad'mastaesia, the Haven of Wind. With the destruction of that city by the final remnants of the shuddeni war machine, Saint Calaera found herself again in a position of command. her now-famous warband prepared itself for battle, and through dogged determination, hunted down all who were responsible for the atrocity. The shuddeni found no compassion at the hands of the warband, and were swiftly put to the sword. By her direction, the remaining havens erected Sy'ceera to ward off other such attacks. Stories of her valor spread throughout the native armies of the Prime, and with it, her influence and Rystaia's by extension blossomed throughout Avendar. Her legendary defeat of the shuddeni who destroyed the Haven of Wind had made her one of Rystaia's greatest heroines, and an inspiration to many young warriors.
When Saint Calaera's mortal body finally failed, the goddess Rystaia recognized her years of service to all good-hearted peoples and elevated her to an immortal divine. Many of her warband would later be elevated as well, comprising many of the Saints of Rystaia known as the Convocation of the Nine. Together, they seek to marshal the forces of light in times of need. It is rumored that at the close of the Eyeblight War, Calaera herself appeared to shield those who stood against the Lord of Domination, Arkhural.
Veneration
Rystaians of a more aggressive bent tend to be attraced to Saint Calaera, as she favors pragmatism and immediate effectiveness. This represents a sort of "new school" of philosophy, as her approach integrates concepts from the Prime with typical Rystaian beliefs. Saint Calaera advises giving no quarter to the wicked where they are encountered; she prefers to see those who perform evil deeds judged for their actions swiftly to prevent corruption from spreading. Those who venerate Saint Calaera often seek not only to eradicate the legions of their enemies, but also to strike down the ideologies that gave them rise. Those who serve under her banner frequently organize to better achieve their goals, but are more than willing to act independently if the situation requires. Tasked with the preservation of the ch'taren Havens, the warbands directed by the Convocation have no lack of battles to fight.
She is often venerated among ch'taren in particular, but humans and chaja are not uncommon. Palaeran is the most famous enclave of Saint Calaera veneration, being where survivors of the Haven of Wind's destruction ended up. In the native cities of Avendar, recognition of Saint Calaera is uncommon almost to the point of non-existence; they instead venerate their own war heroes.
Those who follow Calaera recognize, as she did, that the young must be trained to recognize threats to everyone's safety. As Calaera's warband instructed early spirit magicians in the ways of the spirit templar, so do her followers also instruct good-hearted travelers in the methods of war. This may manifest itself most overtly in guild progression, although it is more likely to be expressed through individual teaching. Although Saint Calaera herself was never a member of the Champions of Avendar, its structure lends itself to rearing and honing new heroes for yet-unimagined wars, and many Champions openly venerate her.
Convocation of the Nine
The Convocation of the Nine is a warband of nine immortal divines of Rystaia, led by Saint Calaera. They represent Rystaia's martial hand upon Avendar, and are sent to defend the faithful and destroy evil in times of great need. Many of the individual members of the Convocation are worshipped as demigods in their own right.
Eshrin Linphori
Early Life
Eshrin was born Eshuhara, fathered by Vaidale, head of the prestigious Sentinel house, Linphori. She was his firstborn, delivered during the highly-romanticized Dalae Era in the Daphoan province of Illata. Fated by her father to wed for political convenience, or be consecrated to the Rose King, Eshuhara instead chose to drown herself off the coast of the province of Litirya. By happenstance, she was discovered mid-act by Idanai of house Telanei, a priest of Alia the Empath. Eshuhara briefly lived with him and his partner, the Aeolian priest Lahanet of house Ishtae, until her course was decided.
Opting to follow in Idanai's footsteps, Eshuhara was brought before the goddess and gloriously transformed into who she truly wished to become: the hypermasculine rake, Eshrin. Over a span of years, Eshrin, Idanai, and their cohort (the "Petals of the White Lotus") spread the gospel of the Empath through convention-flaunting expressions of personality, violence, and sexuality. Eshrin coveted many lovers, but eventually became attached to Lasila of house Vahendra, sister of the celebrity swordsman, Envarinon. With the death of his father, Eshrin ascended to the position of Aen-Edavagel ("Lord Fearless"), with all of house Linphori's social cachet at his disposal.
Exile from Ilodaiya
After the imprisonment of Alia, an Aeolian envoy, deceived by Sabanthe the Black Lotus, butchered the Petals to the man, hanging Idanai's mutilated corpse from the balcony of the Imperial Court. Eshrin's tardiness spared him his own death, but forced him to flee Ilodaiya for fear of further reprisal. He attempted to marshal other followers of Alia to fight the tide of history, but without the divine power of the goddess, their faith flagged. Hiding in the Grand Temple of Orguei in Illata, Eshrin defeated his former guardian, Lahanet, when confronted, and claimed the site as the providence of house Linphori.
The temple incident drew the attention of Idanai's cousin, Lynaia. Her prompting inspired Eshrin to return to his once-home of Litirya under an assumed identity. Supported by her resources so as not to arouse suspicion, Eshrin attempted to integrate as best he could into the Aeolian establishment. Casting himself as "Rin the Divine Rose", he made a splash on the local dueling circuit as a dramatic heel. His alter ego's fame spread, inspiring numerous serial characters modeled after his performance. Lynaia, however, did not remain at his side; she had been chosen by the god Aeoleri to be the first Rose Consort.
Chosen by Serachel
Now anxious to end his semi-permanent exile, Eshrin rejoined his former lover, Lasila. After a torrid reconnection, she invited him to a celebration at his familial Illatan estate for his forty-sixth birthday. Lasila personally arranged a guest list-- including Lynaia-- and presented him with an erari, a ceremonial knife from Daphoan antiquity. She told him that the weapon was a gift from the god Serachel, and with it, he could take his life back. Before the festivities began, Eshrin led the Rose Consort into the foothills of the Ialidae mountains, where he murdered her and cast her severed head from a cliffside. The night-long celebration afterward cemented him as Serachel's chosen.
At the prompting of his new master, Eshrin left Lasila behind, traveling to the province of Siael. An appointed professor of arcane geometry at house Judessa's Academy at Phirala-Yutei, he developed an extraordinary command of planar mechanics. During his tenure, he focused his romantic attention on Aetana of house Ilaephos, whose research would be pivotal to the transport industry; with her parture, Eshrin despaired, doing the minimum required until his retirement. Called upon one last time, Eshrin vanished when brought before house Judessa's most dangerous treasure, the alatharyan artifact known as "Celhaim's Paradox". House Linphori's esteem greatly waned as it fell dormant.
Service to the Coven
The enigmatic Eshrin reappeared on the continental frontier in the year 845 CC, where he assumed the position of Scorpion of the Coven of the Shunned. Acting as the organization's enforcer, he and Lasila (now Siren of the same) largely managed its direction in deed if not in name. Pacted to An'akarta, Flame of Logor, Eshrin's duties included condemning mortal failures to consumption in its soul-devouring fire. His spiteful nature became his hallmark, ensuring his contact with adventurers was short and brutal. However, unbeknownst to him, Alia (now Alil) would escape from her prison around 858 CC, placing the two on a future collision course.
The branding of Feolne of house Ilaephos by Alil brought them to the attention of Eshrin, first as a foe to be destroyed. Hating his former creed and those who would follow it, he persecuted Feolne and their friends vigorously until his greed for sensation caused him to cannibalize a petal from Feolne's lotus brand. In so doing, Eshrin's former identity as the White Lotus re-emerged, and he began to instruct them in the ancient ways of the Empath. He was not, however, spared his obligations to the Coven, which had pivoted toward the goddess Lilune. Eshrin was tasked with scouring the ch'taren isle of Alensha with An'akartan fire.
The Burning of Endeqil
Unwilling to allow the Alileans to continue to languish, Eshrin chose to co-opt the Lilunite ritual with one of his own: to trace the sacred sign of Lavetiae in the skies above Avendar. Feolne vehemently opposed the massive Alenshan death toll and urged him to refrain. In response, he fervently insisted that his sign would occur at an uninhabited location with minimal fallout. This turned out to be a lie; unable to deny his obligation to the Coven, he sacrificed all life on the ethron island of Endeqil, despoiling it for decades. The act obliterated his body, and his remains were claimed by Alil's silver flame as their memory returned.
Later Life and Death
Eshrin was briefly resurrected in the service of Alil a few years after the carnage. He acted as mentor and friend to Raoloa of house Shio'hiara, helping to both mold them into a duelist and name them successor to house Linphori. He imparted his insight to Feolne, and also bestowed upon them the Grand Temple of Orguei. As well, he initiated the birth of Aehiori, a new Daphoan province on the island he ruined. Unfortunately for him, his crime against Endeqil violated the divine Compact; his destruction by the Overgods was all but assured. Sparing him total dissolution, Alil instead absorbed him entirely into her prismatic heart of glory.
Girikha
Girikha the Windwolf was a demigod of air and the hunt. She ascended upon receiving the Galesphere, which her followers had retrieved for her, and was slain on Mount Khorak in 1721 CC.
History in Avendar
Girikha ascended in 508 CC upon receiving the Galesphere, which her followers had retrieved for her. In the same year the Temple of Enirra in Earendam was razed, and the Enirrans resettled at the Fortress of the Eye. Girikha owed her release, and the prominence that followed it, to Enirra, though the two often worked at cross purposes in the centuries after.
Her faithful were drawn into the Fourth Saurian War, which had its roots in Maiana Rotheld's accusations against the Girikhans of the Ryarl. The war ended in 594 CC.
In 1721 CC, at the direction of Iandir, adventurers slew Girikha on Mount Khorak, and Jolinn recovered the Galesphere.
Worship
Girikha was counted among the gods of nature alongside Elar. Like Elar's, her faith passed mostly by word of mouth, in short parables and stylized tales of the past. Many of her followers were air scholars.
Relationships
Girikha stood against Rveyelhi, and often allied with Rystaia and Nariel to oppose Him. Sythrak respected her as a fellow god of nature, though His respect was tinged with envy for her portfolio.
Iandir long regarded Girikha as an upstart with little real power to oppose Them, and a far lesser threat to Their order than gods such as Bayyal. It was Iandir who in the end set mortals against her.
Marlax
Marlax was an aelin swordsman who became Dolgrael's first chosen, known as the White Falcon and the Falcon King. A hero of the War of Night, he rose to be worshipped as a god by mortal warriors, until Dolgrael cast him down.
History in Avendar
Marlax first won fame in the grand arena of Earendam, and Dolgrael's choice of him as His first chosen only added to it. Outside the arena he hired himself out to wealthy Republicans as a bodyguard and escort, and a small cult grew up around him as far away as Gogoth. When Dolgrael turned His attention to His forge, He empowered Marlax to serve as His agent on the Prime.
Around 139 BCC the Senate of the Republic of Earendam hired Marlax to investigate ominous reports from the Brintors, giving him only the Republic's greenest soldiers. Within weeks he met a legion of chaja spearmen and their shuddeni masters. He took the high ground with the noon sun at his back, and his archers cut down the shuddeni scholars before the chaja reached his lines. That victory made him the White Falcon. With guerrilla tactics and knowledge of the terrain he held back the shuddeni for over a year, even after they brought demons against him; one battle south of Mount Khorak cost him a third of his company.
In 136 BCC the archmage Kaagn delivered his "White Vulture" speech, accusing Marlax of inflating his successes and using the Republic's soldiers for banditry. The Senate recalled its troops and cut his fees, but his soldiers deserted to him rather than return. In 135 BCC Marlax abandoned the Brintor campaign and led them south. Var Bandor had fallen to Arhakhlan marauders, so his company fought through the shuddeni patrols on the Arien Plains and skirted the city's walls into the forest of Nendor. There he bound the survivors into a new legion trained in Dolgrael's style, the Lords of Conquest.
His renown outlasted the war by generations. The Earendam military and Kor Thrandir venerated him, and the Kor Thrandian officer Penten Tarul was among those he marked as chosen. Gogoth took up his philosophy of "Law through Strength" and made it the creed of its conquests. In time mortal warriors came to treat Marlax as their god.
When Dolgrael returned and saw what Marlax and the Lords of Conquest had become, He threw His former champion through a mountain. The worthy among the Lords became the Invincibles, and the House was disbanded.
Legacy
Marlax is an uncomfortable memory in Kor Thrandir. Dolgrael's faithful treat him as an outcast and a stain on the legacy of honour, yet the Keep's basic training still uses his methods, and its archers modelled their barrage tactics on his ambush of the shuddeni until Dolgrael's return. Soldiers will call the Falcon a hero outside the city walls or among close friends, but public praise of him is frowned upon.