The Holy Twelve

## Impact of The Holy Twelve

No look at the history, or even current state of the world, can be complete without understanding the impact the Holy Twelve had on Koros 1,000 years ago. The Holy Twelve were beings of various races that banded together to lead the sentient races in their struggle for independence from the Dragons and Titans. After decades of struggle, independence was finally achieved. The Twelve were almost all eventually killed throughout the course of the lesser races' struggle, but their contributions and leadership were such that all were venerated almost to the level of deification.

Piecing together what little reliable information that remains of these Twelve beings, it can be surmised that the Twelve were dimensional Travelers like your humble author. It is possible they came to this world with the power and knowledge to use the new Aetheric Magic and uplifted the lesser races. There is some evidence that suggests the Twelve led the lesser races to Koros, but the Dragons interviewed for this tome have refused to clarify the events surrounding the Twelve and the introduction of Aetheric Magic to Koros.

### Introduction of The Menu

Perhaps the greatest contribution to the people of Koros by the Twelve was the introduction of the Personal System Menu to the people, or the menu for short. The Twelve taught that menu was a spiritual representation of every aspect of your existence on Koros up to that point. It summarized the accumulation of your Life Force, or "XP" as they called it, along with statistics representing your physical and metaphysical capabilities and statuses. The Twelve created the first Menu Pedestals in Koros so the people could access this miraculous menu. It is not an understatement to say that without the menu and capability to gain power, the "lesser races" would never have been capable of throwing off the yoke of the oppressive "higher races."

Through the menu, a being could channel some of their accumulated Life Force into the conceptual structures that came to known as Classes. This capability became the next greatest contribution the Twelve gave to the people of Koros.

There are apocryphal tales that suggest the Twelve were so powerful that they did not even need the Menu Pedestals to access their Menu and shape their existence. These tales are dismissed as fanciful embellishments of the power of the Twelve, but the persistence of these tales over the centuries require they be noted for posterity.

### Development of Classes

After the Twelve taught the people of Koros how to harness their mana into the structures that formed classes, the power of the sentient races in Koros rose exponentially. This allowed the people of Koros to accumulate and focus magical abilities and skills to an unprecedented level. The Twelve further taught the lesser races to focus the new classes along roles, which helped the lesser races combine their efforts into group action. Thus, the class roles were formed.

The Twelve named them Tank, Healer, Blaster, Striker, and Support. With people filling these roles, groups were able to be formed and bring the fight to the higher races where individual actions by even the Twelve was insufficient. Making up these roles were the original classes taught by the Twelve. The Warrior, Mage, Cleric, and Rogue classes were the first to be taught and the Twelve further helped develop the follow on foundational classes as offshoots of these originals; such as Druid, Monk, Paladin, Ranger, etc. These original classes set the foundation for the growth of an impressive civilization in the face of the power of the higher races.

The organization of magical skills and abilities into classes that are structures built of mana are novel to this world. No other world visited by the author exhibits this phenomena, and the potential for a structured rise to power by a being using it is unprecedented. While some worlds have a system in place that documents and codifies a beings accomplishments, statistics, and capabilities as the Menu does on Koros, no other documented world has developed a class system based off of mana structures.

### Fate of the Twelve

All but one of the Twelve perished throughout the course of their war for independence from the higher races. Even though the magic of holy classes that the Twelve introduced could heal and even raise people from the dead, the magic of the students of the Twelve was never successful in bringing back on of their status. Over the decades, one by one, the Twelve all fell until one was left.

It is said that the final member of the Twelve was so heart broken at the loss of their comrades that they urged the people to remember them as a group. Folklore tells that the last of the Twelve said their contributions to the people of Koros were the most important, even more important than their name. After setting in motion the formation of the first lesser race Kingdoms, the final member of the Twelve disappeared from history. Only their Menu, their Classes, and their Magic remains in Koros.