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 led the combined races on Noth to victory against their former masters. They were then tasked with the establishment of civilization.
On their deaths, they would become gods themselves, the first and only beings on Noth to become deified.
Many stories of their exploits have continued well past their lives; many theorists reigned them to myth, before the re-appearance of Herald Ttsoghal at the beginning of the Third Gift Cycle.
Sandro the Studied, later known also as 'The Storyteller' was the physician and philosopher of the First Heralds. Many tales of Sandro depict him as a folk-lore hero, wandering from city to city dispensing philosophy and observing outlandish beings and situations, all forming the basis of his stories. Many Genesist theologists believe these tales were not events that occurred, but instead myths created by Sandro as 'humble incidences which speak great truth', to both preserve history and give basic moral and ethical instruction to future people's for the establishment of ethical and moral societies. Others question if Sandro even created these stories, or if over time these myths were all later attributed to him.
Many of his stories have a practical or ethical core; as a physician, he was most concerned with dispensing medical knowledge and hygiene practices. In the 133 verses of 'Meuraeave and the Formes of Amalgamate', its believed over 70 verses in the oration were dedicated to the study of the body, the surgery required to stitch Meuraeave back together and then resurrect her. While the existence of these verses is identified, many have been lost to time, in favor of the more popular outcomes of the story; where Sandro and Meuraeave successfully lure and trap the Amalgamate inside a No-Box of Ttsoghal's creation.
Most interestingly, Ttsoghal himself confirmed the legitimacy of the tale, and wished himself to perform an expedition in search of this No-Box himself before his disappearance.
Another of his popular stories was 'Odo and the Black Sky'; Where a man, Odo, mocks his village for living under roof and shade, stating nothing outside could ever hurt him while the gods watched him. Sandro witnesses this man struck by lightning after the village repeatedly warns Odo of the darkened sky, Odo boasting the gods would give him a sign if it wasn't safe. Sandro concluded the gods gave him many signs, but Odo in his false mastery of existence, refused to see them.
Sandro most famously was known for the story 'Sandro and the Watcher' where Sandro renounced the gods in favor of a woman's love and a heretical lifestyle. This tragic story of sacrifice and redemption continues to make Sandro a popular god in worship as a complex being; Sandro was a divine man, and a mortal god. Sandro was never afraid to be the demonstration in his own stories, and through the reflection of his own fallacy and failings, he encouraged others to be introspective and learn from their own mistakes.
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.
At some unknown point, Ttsoghal disappeared from the histories. In truth, he had sealed himself within his own creation; the No-box, buried deep below Torrens. During the last days of the Second Cycle, Herald Eremit the Deepdwelling, following a dream he had, was guided to the 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 save Enaeth, then on the brink of complete ecological collapse. Despite the flourishing of society, Eremit, described Ttsoghal as 'sad, aloof and confused', surmising his isolation from the world for almost two millennia. Ttsoghal disappeared after a few years, leaving a note for Eremit; he thanked 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.
Rhoduhn was the military commander, and later the guiding hand of the First Heralds as 'the Unifier'. Despite being the leader of both the military campaign against the Outsider Gods, and later the head of the First Heralds, very little is known of Rhoduhn in comparison to his allies.
He is most well known for his custodianship of the 'Common Thread'; the binding covenant between the First Heralds. It was a non-interference pact, that dictated the following:
- The First shall never lead their servants into war against each other
- The First shall abide by the laws they dictate for their people
- The First will unify in protection against external threats
- The First shall not encourage or commit heresy
Despite the relevance of the Common Thread in the creation of law today, almost no records exist of what actions Rhoduhn took as the enforcer of the pact. His lack of mention in stories relating to Sandro's renouncement of the gods, Meuraeave's corruption and resurrection, or even Vishineth's wars that risked all, leads many theologists believe he had either died, or, in some highly controversial theories, been killed by another member of the First, or even the Interloper. Despite his presence in oral history, the impact of the Common Thread is revered by policy makers, diplomats and many servants in government.
Ttiana, sometimes overshadowed by her husband and his immense projects, is nonetheless one of the more important of the First; for Ttiana was the first Modular, Shapers as they were then known.
After the Outsider God war's conclusion, Ttiana and Ttsoghal turned to making the rebellion's shelter, Ttrimar, a proper home for the first civilization. Over the years, this turned into the first and largest of their Cloud Scourer complexes, built directly below the Litany. While they fell in love during the creation of this project, it was left abandoned and unfinished; Ttsoghal became consumed by his No-Box project, and was led to Astele by their son, Ttianmar.
While Ttsoghal worked on his grand projects, Ttiana instead chose a more humble path. Leaving Ttrimar, she traveled from civilization to civilization, making places people could call a home. She stopped working with metals altogether, and with her shapers, developed techniques and tools from stone and wood for others to build their own cities.
While other Heralds led in their shaping of society, Ttiana gave others the mean to be self-directed; she learnt and showed others how to make clay, refine minerals and shape the rare White Filament, discovered by Gilgahn in a meteorite. With Ttiana's skill, she showed people how to make the first Thesehts, religious technological devices, harnessed with power from belief and faith.
It is unknown whether Ttsoghal or Ttiana were ever reunited; No story dictates them ever returning to Ttrimar, and when questioned by his friend Eremit on their life after his journey to Astele, Ttsoghal himself remained gravely silent, either through grief, or as long suspected by Emerit 'A quiet melancholy for a different time, and another life'.
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 with her encouragement, 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; she introduced the First to her followers, her gardeners, 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.
She then showed them the present; Gifted weather seeding technology by Meauraeve, she then took the First to a grassy plain, and flooded it. 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". She then led the First into the cties Temple, where a single sapling had risen in the centre of the space, cracking through the tiles of the floor in the process. The First then understood her warning; Society was fragile, but nature eternal.
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.
Gilgahn the Indomitable, or Gilgahn the Renewer, was the strongest of the First. Initially portrayed in stories as boisterous and proud, Gilgahn eventually became the most humble and kindly of all the First Heralds. Viewing conflict as a measure of ones own strength and prowess, Gilgahn willingly joined Vishineth in her continued conquest of all enemies to the First Heralds. Over time even Gilgahn grew wary of Vishineth's thirst for greater and greater fights, and after an argument, abandoned her to fight her wars alone.
Gilgahn himself would wander the world for a number of years, beginning the tale 'The 7 Services of Gilgahn'. Gilgahn became consumed by an internal debate on his self-identity; without conflict or battle, what good was his strength? So lost in these thoughts was Gilgahn that he unknowingly used his strength seven times in the service of others; he first rescued a family trapped in a cave in; second, he saved an elderly man's home from bandits; third, he tamed the first wild beasts of Noth, and taught an incredulous Whyonah and her followers how to do so; fourth, he tore up hardened ground for many days, allowing a farming community to toil the now furtile soil.
By his fifth service, Gilgahn began abandon the thought of strength as a tool for war, but was still uncertain of his place in the world. And so he took his weapon, the great scythe blade Gen1s1s, and turned it to reap the harvest, abandoning his warlike nature forever. He created the first soldier/farmer initiative, veterans of the Outsider God war and his former companions from Vishineth's conquests flocking to his growing township, discarding their swords to find reward in reaping the harvest instead.
His sixth service, and most well known, came in a ball of fire streaking across the sky. His people watched as it flew over the horizon and disappeared. A day later, they watched in fascination and growing concern as the ocean receded, exposing monsters from deep below the ocean. As the dawn rose on another day, so too did 'The Godtide'; a 20 meter high wave that approached the coast of Enaeth. Gilgahn ordered an evacuation, while he ran towards the wave. Using all of his strength, Gilgahn contended with the wave, and held it until it receded.
But the damage had been done; people drowned, homes were destroyed, and the farms lost under sand. As Gilgahn wandered the devestation, he despaired at how little his strength mattered; he wasn't strong enough to save everyone. In that moment, Gilgahn's internal debate ended; he didn't need to be strong enough to save everyone; that was not possible. He just needed to be strong enough so others could find their own strength again. So Gilgahn pulled survivors out of the wreckage, held others as they wept, and was the first to strike the earth with his plow-scythe, and begin the process of rebuilding. For in his seventh service, Gilgahn had found his strength, purpose and satisfaction in life; it was in one's ability to be strong for others.
The most controversial of the First, Meuraeave was the inventor and scientist of the First, the only to interact with the deceased technology of the Outsider Gods, learning how to manipulate it for the benefit of the Comm0n Thread.
At the time, it was not considered heretical to use the technology of the fallen enemies of the Trinium. Meuraeave and her followers were often requested in grand projects that needed access to technology only she could repair and work; weather seeding satellites; stoneburners; terraformers, all used in service to Noth and the Trinium.
Meuraeave however became increasingly consumed by seeking out more and more hidden projects of the Outsider Gods; what had they been building that needed slave populations? Their ultimate goal was ever elusive, even after their defeat. Plunging deep into the earth, 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. She began to test how far she could modify of herself, and slowly lost her mind as she discarded elements of herself throughout the deep places of Enaeth. Replacing her arms and legs, and then her organs, 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 adopted from Outsider God technology, 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.
Sent by the First, Sandro began following the path left by Meuraeave, and one by one, collected each of her discarded body parts deep below the earth. 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 and Sandro were 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 of the First Heralds. She was most notable for killing the greatest of the Outsider God Generals, 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.
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 no greater enemy to face, she would live a lonely, unfulfilled life. Respecting her plight, the Interloper slew Vishineth, and disappeared forever 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".
There is more to uncover here...
There is more to uncover here...