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Description

    In the long history of human civilization on Callona, two churches stood above all others in power and popularity with the people; the Symballan faith in the Gods of the Iniad, and the Atheaen faith in the Gods of Olympus. But unlike other worlds in other realities, the Gods of Olympus were not so equally worshipped. As the fight for their freedom from Symballan oppression and slavery began to gain strength in the Time of Shaltoor, the peoples of the southern shores and islands of the Mauritian Sea found a Goddess who deeply cared for them and fought to free them from the yoke of Symballan cruelty. That was Athena, Goddess of Wisdom, War, and a dozen other aspects of human reality. One of the first to emerge from an eons long slumber (or nonexistence), Athena taught the struggling primitive tribesmen of the lower lands agriculture, metallurgy, horsemanship, and warfare. In turn, they rose up against their oppressors, and with a little push from Ares as well, razed the Symballan desert for ten years. The City State of Raidon emerged and the poliats of the region soon became the Kingdom of Atheae.



    The Golden Age of Atheae had begun. Heroes, demiGods, legends told today as little more than myth sprung into being. At last the Atheaen culture had spread far and wide, becoming the only human religion on the continent that mattered. Then brother warred upon brother and the Age of Steel, an unending period of warfare amongst the various warlords of the southeastern third of the continent, threatened to wipe out human civilization forever. In the end, one man, one Elven WarPriest of Athena, sacrificed his life to end the bloodshed and brought about an alliance and treaty that lasted centuries. The Raidon Protectorate was formed. At its heart, at the very center of human civilization, was the Kingdom of Atheae, and at its pinnacle, the worship of Athena.



    Time marched on and the Church of Athena remained the most powerful in human lands. Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Artemis, Hera, Aphrodite, Ares, Apollo, Hermes, Hephaestus, even Demeter, Hecate, the Fates and the Muses all had their places, but none matched Athena for faithful worshippers, dedicated servants, and heroic paragons of Her virtues. And so its stands to this day. Though the return of the Iniad and the wars between the Symballan and Atheaen people and Gods have been terrible, Athena's might and supremacy remains. And if you don't believe that, just ask any WarPriest of Athena,… they'll certainly tell you.



    In the south of the Kingdom of Carellon there are many plots and plans amongst the nobles of the region. In the Duchy of Falen, the home of the Barony of Gryphonmyr, one of the most lauded historical spots on the globe, noble families maneuver for position, curry for favor with the Duke, the newly ordained Mavericus Harrahvius. Son of the previous Duke and Duchess, Baron Harrahvius had been lord of Gryphonmyr until his parents both passed. One of his father's confidents, one of his favored soldiers, Sergeant Tyrion Lordes, had been granted a lordship when Duke Tarlik Harrahvius moved to the capitol. Two generations later, the Lordes family was an up and coming force in the lower ranks of the Carellonian nobility. But the family had many detractors, and many within their ranks who wished nothing to do with the politics of Carellonian royal court. A young Ignatius Lordes was one of those.



    His heart and imagination captured by the glories of the Church of Athena, the heroic deeds, and selfless sacrifices, he was more religious than any of the rest of the Lordes clan. It was little wonder when he headed off to temple and eventually to the Carellonian College of Mystics at Pawldur. But he had no intention of heading home after being ordained as a WarPriest of Athena. His mind, his soul, were called elsewhere, to the high mountains where evils still lurked, where a heroic priest was needed to rid the world of its terrors and its villainies. And so he traveled alone, a cleric, but a well trained warrior as well, spreading the word of Athena, but fighting to save those who would suffer at the hands of monsters, demons, and the forces of darkness from within his own pantheon. At length, he settled for a time in a remote mountain village, a place the locals called Devramyrna. There he found a new home, far from the politics of court and the machinations of petty nobles, a place where he could just be the WarPriest Athena wished him to be.



    The local lord was a goodly, but haunted man, torn by the terrors and losses of his past, and driven to never allow such tragedies to strike at the people he now considered his charges, the townsfolk of Devramyrna. Many were the times the lord went out alone into the wilds to put down bandit gangs, roving monsters, and terrors from beyond the veil of reality. Some of those times he had the good sense to call upon Brother Ignatious for aid. Others, he dragged he sorry, bloody, beaten ass into town half dead to be tended by the WarPriest any way, after which came a stern sermon on the evils of going into the wilds without a priest at one's side. When the decision was made to restart Chapter House in the region, Lord Shackelby still had the ringing of those sermons in his ears and quickly added Father Ignatius Lordes to his list of recruits.

Description

    In the long history of human civilization on Callona, two churches stood above all others in power and popularity with the people; the Symballan faith in the Gods of the Iniad, and the Atheaen faith in the Gods of Olympus. But unlike other worlds in other realities, the Gods of Olympus were not so equally worshipped. As the fight for their freedom from Symballan oppression and slavery began to gain strength in the Time of Shaltoor, the peoples of the southern shores and islands of the Mauritian Sea found a Goddess who deeply cared for them and fought to free them from the yoke of Symballan cruelty. That was Athena, Goddess of Wisdom, War, and a dozen other aspects of human reality. One of the first to emerge from an eons long slumber (or nonexistence), Athena taught the struggling primitive tribesmen of the lower lands agriculture, metallurgy, horsemanship, and warfare. In turn, they rose up against their oppressors, and with a little push from Ares as well, razed the Symballan desert for ten years. The City State of Raidon emerged and the poliats of the region soon became the Kingdom of Atheae.



    The Golden Age of Atheae had begun. Heroes, demiGods, legends told today as little more than myth sprung into being. At last the Atheaen culture had spread far and wide, becoming the only human religion on the continent that mattered. Then brother warred upon brother and the Age of Steel, an unending period of warfare amongst the various warlords of the southeastern third of the continent, threatened to wipe out human civilization forever. In the end, one man, one Elven WarPriest of Athena, sacrificed his life to end the bloodshed and brought about an alliance and treaty that lasted centuries. The Raidon Protectorate was formed. At its heart, at the very center of human civilization, was the Kingdom of Atheae, and at its pinnacle, the worship of Athena.



    Time marched on and the Church of Athena remained the most powerful in human lands. Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Artemis, Hera, Aphrodite, Ares, Apollo, Hermes, Hephaestus, even Demeter, Hecate, the Fates and the Muses all had their places, but none matched Athena for faithful worshippers, dedicated servants, and heroic paragons of Her virtues. And so its stands to this day. Though the return of the Iniad and the wars between the Symballan and Atheaen people and Gods have been terrible, Athena's might and supremacy remains. And if you don't believe that, just ask any WarPriest of Athena,… they'll certainly tell you.



    In the south of the Kingdom of Carellon there are many plots and plans amongst the nobles of the region. In the Duchy of Falen, the home of the Barony of Gryphonmyr, one of the most lauded historical spots on the globe, noble families maneuver for position, curry for favor with the Duke, the newly ordained Mavericus Harrahvius. Son of the previous Duke and Duchess, Baron Harrahvius had been lord of Gryphonmyr until his parents both passed. One of his father's confidents, one of his favored soldiers, Sergeant Tyrion Lordes, had been granted a lordship when Duke Tarlik Harrahvius moved to the capitol. Two generations later, the Lordes family was an up and coming force in the lower ranks of the Carellonian nobility. But the family had many detractors, and many within their ranks who wished nothing to do with the politics of Carellonian royal court. A young Ignatius Lordes was one of those.



    His heart and imagination captured by the glories of the Church of Athena, the heroic deeds, and selfless sacrifices, he was more religious than any of the rest of the Lordes clan. It was little wonder when he headed off to temple and eventually to the Carellonian College of Mystics at Pawldur. But he had no intention of heading home after being ordained as a WarPriest of Athena. His mind, his soul, were called elsewhere, to the high mountains where evils still lurked, where a heroic priest was needed to rid the world of its terrors and its villainies. And so he traveled alone, a cleric, but a well trained warrior as well, spreading the word of Athena, but fighting to save those who would suffer at the hands of monsters, demons, and the forces of darkness from within his own pantheon. At length, he settled for a time in a remote mountain village, a place the locals called Devramyrna. There he found a new home, far from the politics of court and the machinations of petty nobles, a place where he could just be the WarPriest Athena wished him to be.



    The local lord was a goodly, but haunted man, torn by the terrors and losses of his past, and driven to never allow such tragedies to strike at the people he now considered his charges, the townsfolk of Devramyrna. Many were the times the lord went out alone into the wilds to put down bandit gangs, roving monsters, and terrors from beyond the veil of reality. Some of those times he had the good sense to call upon Brother Ignatious for aid. Others, he dragged he sorry, bloody, beaten ass into town half dead to be tended by the WarPriest any way, after which came a stern sermon on the evils of going into the wilds without a priest at one's side. When the decision was made to restart Chapter House in the region, Lord Shackelby still had the ringing of those sermons in his ears and quickly added Father Ignatius Lordes to his list of recruits.