HERALDS CAMPAIGN
The First Heralds
A religious relief depicting the First. Top left to right: Sandro, Ttsoghal, Rhoduhn, Ttiana, Whyonah. Bottom left to right; Phaytir, Gilgahn, Meuraeave, Vishineth
The First Heralds are the ten nine first beings ascended by the Trinium, who fought in the Outsider God war and
became the driving force in established civilization. They would then
become gods themselves, the first and only beings to become so.
Rhoduhn - VNTS
Ttsoghal - ADIN
Ttiana - SLMV
Sandro - RISR
Whyonah - NFSS
Meureave - ETZX
Gilgahn - NOIL
Vishineth - BLEM
Phaytir / Benerah - MIMN
General Information
Other Names:
Associated with:
Heralds:
Devotees:
The First
Ansuro the Thief
Siobar of the Botash
Also known as Sandro the Storyteller
andro, the teacher, forward thinker and instructed by the Trinium. Sandro the first 'Tariat' or philosophical thinker.
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Perhaps the most well documented of the First, Ttsoghal was the architect for the first cities, built the now extinct Cloud Scourer Complexes, helped establish societies in Astele, and most famously, crafted the enigmatic No-Boxes. He is worshiped by builders and craftsman all over Enaeth, who give benefaction to him before laying the last brick, or hammering the last nail.
Ttsoghal was described as a deeply thoughtful but easily distracted man, in an almost constant state of invention and design. Only his love for his wife and co-collaborator, Ttiana, matched the grandeur of his creations; the story of their relationship, lost to time and space, a popular tragedy performed by Orators.
Unlike the other First, Ttsoghal disliked working in isolation, and created many schools to share his learnings. He willingly took on many apprentices in his life, some even becoming Heralds in their studies underneath him. Most notable was his student-son Ttianmar, who joined his father on his journey to establish cities on Astele, electing to stay once Ttsoghal returned to Enaeth.
The discovery of his greatest creation would occur long after the end of the First Cycle. During the last days of the Second Cycle, Enaeth was on the verge of civilizational collapse, as the ruling government dissolved, and cultivational systems fell apart alongside them. Deep below Torrens, a great discovery was made when Herald Eremit the Deepdwelling discovered the First No-box; stuffed with advanced cultivational tools, seeds, herd animals... and Herald Ttsoghal himself. In a retelling of the meeting between man and god, Eremit was initially frightened of the 'birdlike' Ttsoghal, but was calmed by the Aarakocra's seemingly infinite wisdom.
With Ttsoghal's guidance, they helped re-establish agricultural practice, saving Torrens from famine and ushering in the Third Gift cycle. Despite the flourishing of society, Eremit, who became a friend of the god, described him as 'sad, aloof and confused', surmising his isolation from the world for almost two millennia. Ttsoghal disappeared after ten years, leaving a note for Eremit, thanking him for his fellowship, and stating he had gone to find his wife, Ttiana and start life anew.
Genesist's have interpreted his words as a metaphorical journey to the Rubicon, but some Anomoean theologists believe instead the First Heralds would 'reincarnate'; referencing actions undertaken by the First long after their natural lives should have ended. His note is preserved in a historical museum dedicated to Heraldry in Rhyne.
The leader of the First Heralds was Rhoduhn, later known as the Unifier. Despite being the leader of the war effort against the Outsider Gods, very little is known about his life before, and after the Outsider God War. What little information preserved indicates he developed the 'Common Thread' between the surviving eight Heralds, a non-interference pact to prevent the Heralds from leading these young civilizations to war, to cultivate society, and to unify in their protection against external threats. What Rhoduhn did after establishing the Common Thread is unknown; many theologists presume he was the unaffiliated enforcer of the pact. Rhoduhn is typically revered by diplomats, peacekeepers and policy makers.
Ttiana was the great collaborator, working with all others as the First Shaper with the discovery of White Filament, helping Gilgahn with his farming projects, her husband with his cities, and Meauraeve with her intergrations of technology. Her later works all became forcused on survival and community, and she focused on ways people could be a people, introducing art and culture, and that living itself was worthy enough.
The member of the first with the most surviving Ttiana was the
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No member of the First has a greater legacy than Whyonah. In the aftermath of the Outsider War, Noth was left a barren plain. The first Herald to be blessed with the gift of prescience, Whyonah knew that the other Herald's artefacts of civilization would all fail; but life would still persist. Live must still persist. So began the greatest of the First's projects; the biological restoration of Noth. Whyonah traveled the breadth of the world, scouring the empty expanse for seeds, saplings, and wildlife. With the gods guiding her footsteps, she found an Outsider God reliquary; a nature preserve.
It was here that the once teeming jungles of Noth survived, and began to spread. Initially, her project was poorly received by the First; flora and fauna were only needed for cultivars, and the wild landscape threatened their still small societies, taking away arable land and introducing dangerous animals that risked the people. In her wisdom, Whyonah did not argue with the First, she simply showed them three lessons.
She first showed them the past; foragers, her first followers, creating the names of plants, and identifying those safe to eat, and others to use as medicines. The First were fascinated by how these people lived within their means, finding uses for simple plants they could not imagine. Gifted weather seeding technology by Meauraeve, she then took the First to a grassy plain, and flooded it, showing them the present. The First watched in bewilderment, and then dawning horror as the flood wiped the landscape clear of any feature, leaving a wasteland of debris. She then showed them the same flooding rain over her forests, where the water was unable to condense into great masses, and the nearby cities were completely unharmed.
And finally, she showed them the future. She took the First to the location of one of their more recently established cities. The buildings remained, but the people were gone. When the First demanded to know what she had done to them, Whyonah replied;
"Cities are not a people. Not the houses, roads or temples. A man cannot eat a brick and be satiated. You ask what I have done with these people? Nothing that the world cannot already do to them; I am the habitat that collapses when the last tree is felled. I am the cold that devastates the harvest; I am the starvation which leads to futile abandonment; and I am erosion and rust, and with me, all great works collapse into the wind and sea, eventually".
And she led the First into an empty Temple, where a single sapling had risen in the centre of the space, cracking the tiles of the floor in the process. The First at last, understood her message, her warning, and the goal of her great work; Society may die, but life will always persist.
It is believed that in this demonstration Whyonah inspired some of the Herald's greatest works; Ttsgohal's invention of the No-Box, to help inoculate future societies from stagnation; Ttiana pivoted from projects with metal and stone, and showed her followers how to build from renewable materials without choking the land; Sandro began creating stories and songs of plantlife, so future generations could sing and recall the uses or dangers of different flora; and Gilgahn fought and then lived beside these new wild beasts, finding inspiration in how they hunted prey to use in his own martial instruction.
Despite the newfound respect they had for Whyonah's project, the First were all secretly fearful of her; like man's fear of the untamed and the unknown, the First knew in the darkened forests and shadowed jungles of the world, Whyonah reigned supreme. Truly, many modern theologist believe worship of the First will end once their works finally disappear from the world. As the Wise's trees, plants and flowers have persisted through conflict, chaos and collapse, Whyonah will remain a totem for all worship; aloof, unconcerned and immortal.
Perhaps the most historically unknown member of the First is Herald Phaytir. Described as the scoundrel of the First, Phaytir served as a scout during the Outsider God War, and the only member of the First to die in the campaign, killed by his lover Benerah when he refused to join her against the Trinium. Despite his lack of relevance to the flourishing of society, he is the most worshiped of all the First; scoundrels, thieves and all manner of cutthroats give benediction to the noble 'Shadow', to cover their tracks and cloak their misdeeds in the uncertainty of darkness and night.
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commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate
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Held back 'The godtide'
Focused on renewal, coming back from the brink and never losing hope.
The most controversial figure
Meuraeave was the inventor and creative mind of the First, repurposing the tools of the extinct Outsider Gods to the Herald's and Trinium's own benefit.
Meuraeave became increasingly secretive and isolated from the First as her discoveries took over her sensibilities. After an accidental cave-in badly damaged one of her arms, Meuraeave used what she knew of Outsider God technology to build a replacement, and hid as such from her peers. Secretly, she began to modify her body; she replaced her other arm, then her legs, and eventually the only organic part of her was her head. Her all consuming hubris manifested as a new consciousness, and in one final act, Meuraeave replaced her head with a construct she created, dying in the process. This new being, 'The Amalgamate' began to work on its own projects to restore the Outsider Gods and begin their work anew.
Sandro began following the path left by Meuraeave, and one by one, collected each of her discarded body parts. Using the science he had collected for his stories, Sandro put Meuraeave back together, and when he affixed her head, she came back to life. Meuraeave returned with Sandro to the First, and expressed her regret and remorse for her actions. With their forgiveness, the First then planned how to combat the Amalgamate. Combining the science of the Outsider Gods and the Trinium, the Amalgamate proved to be an impossible to defeat foe. Meuraeave was able to trick the beast, and lured it into a prison; one of Ttsoghal's No-boxes. The vault was sealed, and the paradox was buried forever.
Meuraeave's fate, otherwise known as the 'Formes of Amalgamation' is often considered a hypothetical thought experiment on the existence of a being; Is the constitution of a being as important as its identity? And if so, at what point does a transformed being cease to resemble its former identity?
In modern times, this thought experiment is sometimes known as the 'Ascension Hypothesis', and regards Herald's ascension through the Rubicon; If a being has their consciousness scattered and 'dies' to reach apotheosis, when they are reformed are they still considered the same person?
Vishineth, sometimes known as 'The Violent' was the champion warrior of the First Heralds. She was most notable for killing the greatest of the Outsider God General Benerah, and in doing so concluded the Outsider God War. Despite being the instigator of victory, Vishineth was deeply unsatisfied by peace. Sensing her disquiet, and unwillingness to collaborate with the other First, Rhoduhn wisely appointed Vishineth the task of killing any remaining Outsider Gods and any other threat to the Common Thread or the First and their people.
Vishineth was joined in her expedition by an army of companions, including Herald Gilgahn. Despite their rousing successes in killing the Outsider God remnants, Vishineth continuously sought out and created her own enemies to conquer. Her thirst for continued conflict bled her of followers as they died, or like Gilgahn, lost sight of their rationale to fight, and left Vishineth to her bloodthirsty ways.
Vishineth was eventually left alone to fight her idiomatic war. Scouring the land for battle, Vishineth first encountered the being only known as 'The Interloper'; a presumed Herald or alien being of equal might to her. Throughout the First Gift Cycle, Vishineth would seek out and fight the Interloper in cataclysmic battles, changing the landscape permanently in their throes.
On her infrequent returns to meet the First for supplies and recovery, she described the ecstasy at fighting what seemed an unending conflict. The First admonished her for the danger she threw all their works in by fighting this being, but this did not sway Vishineth. She began to mistrust the First, and viewed the Interloper not as her enemy, but as her divine labor. Paradoxically, Vishineth saw the Interloper as the only being that could understand her, and began to think of it as her only friend.
Alas, all great works have their end, eventually. Vishineth and the Interloper met for what would become their final conflict. Their battle had few survivors, as the great warriors scoured the landscape, turning the mountains, trees, the water and buildings to glass. As this glass scattered into great clouds of sand, Vishineth wounded and defeated the Interloper. Choosing not to slay her friend, Vishineth begged the Interloper to kill her; there was no glorious feeling in victory, and Vishineth knew with greater enemy to face, she would live a lonely, unfulfilled life. Respecting her plight, the Interloper slew Vishineth, and disappeared thereafter. When Vishineth's body was collected, the First wept, for she had died peacefully, with a smile that could never grace her face in life. The place of her final battle long hypothesized to be the Great Arathern Desert; a place as desolate and destructive as Vishineth herself.
Vishineth's story is considered a melancholy tragedy, and many Orators portray Vishineth as a sad woman, incapable of love, friendship or comradery, her life committed to a war with life and of herself. Notable Herald Philospher Scilo Duhn considered her fate however as a fulfilling approach to life in his oration, 'Vishineth's Plight'; "It is enough to have purpose in life with no goal. Envision Vishineth; If one achieves their life goal, no more have they their purpose".
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod
tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim
veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea
commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate
velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint
occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt
mollit anim id est laborum.