Teios

Teios was a Drakonian stremagio who later became a philosopher, preacher, and the Third Paragon of the Five Paragons, representing Love and dispersing the ideas of solidarity and welfare while he lived -- his epithet became the Mad Lover, also alluding to his madness in wake of his Efugeium event. 
Little of known of Teios before his preaching is documented by Edrossian sources, and most of what is known is told through the Summerland Codex, such as his birthplace of Kyrvaelos and his status as a member of the Strezici, the ancient council of stremagi who acted as counsel to the ruler of Drakonia. The most commonly accepted mythos (and that held by the Church of the Five) is that Teios has an Efugeium in 4258 BC that horrifies some of his peers and inspires others -- in his ravings, he paints a picture of the universe previously only heard by the mad farseers of tribes and villages throughout the eras; however, his vision is particularly horrifying and encompassing in its expansion on the Drakonian role in the coming end times, and the great sacrifice that must be made by the Drakonian people; to this end, Teios begins to preach goodwill and welfare, having totally changed his temperament as a result of his Efugeium, and is said to exude these principles in an unusually powerful and convincing way while taking a journey of Drakonia and beyond to share his views. 
For several years, Teios embarked on this journey, leaving a distinct impact on their denizens as he traveled and preached. However, the mortified faction of Strezici, having done some delving into the nature of clairvoyance following Teios's proclamations while he was away, believed Teios to be a false input of this cycle, and implored Emperor Taenyr Calatieus to banish him and his followers. Calatieus refused to follow this advice, and later convened with Teios privately to explain the political implications of his presence, as well as its ramifications if he should stay. Stricken with joyful madness, Teios purportedly gleamed at this news, and declared at once that he would gather his followers and journey east to the Zyntano Rainforest to establish a society there, free of 'unbased hatred', where all would be tolerated and encouraged to tap into the secrets of the world as he did. The Drakonteians, as they were then called, emigrated en masse per Teios's call, taking the majority of Drakonia's magically-inclined populace with him, later dubbed the Teios Exodus; Drakonia struggled to cope with the lack of its stremagi, finding itself without magic as a developmental crutch for the first time in its recorded history. Emperor Taenyr, for his role in the debacle, was later captured and killed by disgruntled Drakonians for allowing this exodus to transpire -- a void which would be filled by the Strezici, who exerted great control over the lives of their subjects, often to a tyrannical extent. This shift in Drakonian government led to the turning of the Fourth Era in 4254 BC, and the beginning of Drakonia's first dark age.
Teios was deeply stricken by this news of dissent and later died from hearing this news, proclaiming on his deathbed that his ultimate goal was to generate solidarity amongst the Drakonians so that they might stand a chance for what was to come per the Profezana Finis Caencelis, the apocalyptic prophecies first collected and codified by Aevel in the Second Era -- this also served to indirectly confirm that Teios knew Aevel's predictions were true in some way. Upon his death, he underwent an apotheosis event, though it was unable to be definitively proven for several decades thereafter due to the uncertainty of Teios's divine nature; unlike Alzar and Varen, he did not release a discernible essence that could be immediately connected to his divinity. However, his remarkable charm and commanding of respect -- alongside generating great adherence to his vision despite his madness -- was eventually linked to a 'in vitro' dispersal of his divine nature, the first of its kind for the Paragons. He was dubbed the Third Paragon by the Church in Ethryke, raising their Two Paragons to Three, and this declaration inevitably led to more zealot wars as adherents of the individual Paragons (or a pairing of any two) were at odds with any of those whose beliefs differed.
Category:The Five Paragons
Category:Drakonia
Category:Drakonteia
Category:Gods
Category:Magic
Category:Religion