The Fallen Heroes

**The Fallen Heroes** is one of the most prolific pantheons in the World of Io. The pantheon consists of eight warriors who ended the Age of the Gods by destroying the reigning deities DIV and VOID simultaneously. Afterwards, the Heroes are believed to have ascended into their own godhood. When life returned to Io, memories of the Heroes were spread throughout the populace, who created a mythology based on their deeds.

## History

In the last years of the Age of the Gods, the continent of Qethos was again thrust into conflict due to the machinations of the gods DIV and VOID. The two gods had warred with one another since their inception, and many lives and homes had been lost in the bloody Crusades. Amidst this resurgent strife, a group of adventurers came together in the city of Haven. In two separate parties, they set out from this town to try and better their ailing land. Their deeds escalated as they ventured throughout Qethos, until eventually, in the ruins of the City of Alabaster, the heroes were faced with a deadly threat, a Voidstar, brought back to life by a man named Ghaspar. Against the odds, the heroes triumphed in the battle, slaying the Voidstar and causing a lull in tensions.

Some time passed after the feeling of the Voidstar, and the heroes were once again called to arms, this time in service to Bathlazar, High Pope of the Holy City of Atlas. As their adventures went on, the soon-to-be heroes came to an epiphany; the root of all that plagued the land stemmed from the Gods, especially from their warring and their blatant exploitation of mortal people. So together, with the aid of Bathlazar, they conspired to overthrow these deities to make Io a world free from gods, a world where mortality itself could thrive. And at the Holy City of Atlas, they did just that. The gods DIV and VOID were vanquished simultaneously, their tyranny finally coming to a close.

However, the Heroes did not anticipate the aftermath. With the gods destroyed, the world was imbalanced, and the energies of the gods began to fade. To adapt to this new state of being, the denizens of Io, indeed all life, went into a deep slumber for almost a century. The Holy City of Atlas was raised up into the sky, where it vanished in a bright flash, leaving only a crater as evidence it ever existed. Meanwhile, the heroes themselves disappeared, pulled away by a mysterious force that abducted all but one of their number. Upon awakening, the people of Io started to piece together what happened through fragmented memories that were distributed almost randomly. These memories belonged to the Fallen Heroes, as they became known, and they spoke of their adventures, their thoughts and their feelings. Combining these scattered shards of memory, a detailed history of the Heroes was established and circulated through all the lands of Io. The Heroes achieved a reverence that rivaled the gods they slew, causing a new religion to be formed through worship of them and their ideals.

## Story

In the year 735, Io saw much turmoil, as threats both old and new wrecked havoc all across the planet. New heroes rose up to face their dire threats, with some of them bearing the memories of Fallen Heroes within them. After a great battle with an otherworldly force tore open the skies about Ishtar, some of these heroes found themselves teleported to a strange floating city. These wayward adventurers found that this was a alternate reality, and they were in one of the surviving cities of a destroyed Io, the city of Atlas. Within the chapel, they met with a blue-skinned man who introduced himself as Lagos.

Lagos then revealed to them the truth of what really happened to the Fallen Heroes. When the gods DIV and VOID were slain, a feat unmatched in any other reality of Io, a cosmic event of great significant occurred. This singularity, known as the Blackstar, teleported the Fallen Heroes to this Altered City of Atlas, infusing them with its energies. Having studied the Blackstar extensively, Lagos took custody of the comatose Heroes and began to experiment upon them. His purpose was to turn the Heroes into vessels of both Blackstar and Kaasma energies, which would turn them into living bioweapons that he would use to destroy Io. The tear in the sky was just what he was waiting for. As the Blackstar energy in the chapel dissipated, Lagos rapidly aged and turned to dust, but not before he unleashed the eight corrupted Heroes upon Io, cursing the planet and its people with his last breath. The adventurers were faced with one of the Heroes who stayed behind to dispatch them: Dokke Doldus, The Companion. Together, this unlikely band of warriors defeated Dokke, and with the aid of a bearer of his Memory, were able to revitalize him to the way he once was. Reunited with his old friend Sterling, who had fought alongside the Heroes all those years ago, he agreed to help these new guardians of Io. Though each had their own personal goals to attend to, a new calling came into being: find the rest of the corrupted Heroes across Io and free them from their torment.

## The Fallen Heroes

There are eight canonized members of the pantheon. These eight Heroes are known to the people of Io both by name and by title through the scattered memories they have inherited. Even across other realities, the individuals in this group is a universal constant, despite the many possible differences to Io's prime reality. Below are the members of the Pantheon:

# The Child**Ven**

## Godly Domains

Each of the Heroes has their own domain of influence, which corresponds to their strongest desires in when in life. The following is a rough summation of the respective spheres of each Hero.

* **Cronovan, The Maelstrom** - Patron Hero of courage.
* **Dokke Doldus, The Companion** - Patron Hero of companions, generosity and goodwill.
* **Miriel, The Protector** - Patron Hero of guardians.
* **Oswin, The Magus** - Patron Hero of knowledge, learning and magic.
* **Randall, The \*\*\*** - Patron Hero of \*\*\*.
* **Theo, The Child** - Patron Hero of growth.
* **Ven, The Bloodied Blade** - Patron Hero of vengeance and justice.
* **Weyzi Uk'tah, The Matriarch** - Patron Hero of family and kinship.

## Worship and Influence

The Fallen Heroes have taken on religious significance since their ascension. For example, couples pray to Dokke and Weyzi when attempting to conceive a child in order to experience the selfless love of parenthood. Those wronged by others may swear a holy oath of vengeance in the name of Ven, the Bloodied Blade. While official churches and religious sects have not been seen in a campaign setting, they are known to exist.

There are other ways in which the Heroes have inspired and influenced society in a non-religious manner. Oswin is the hero of many mages who seek to advance their studies and use magic for the benefit of mankind, acting as an example for them to follow. Goblin society, meanwhile, hold Weyzi in high esteem, often swearing by her. Weyzi's status as an elderly warrior resonates with the often short-lived goblins, and one aspect of their social structure, the Eight Grannies who act as matriarchs for all goblinkind, is a direct result of her influence.

## Associated Figures

While the Fallen Heroes are well documented and established, there were also lesser known individuals who were associated with their journey. These individuals did not have their memories passed down for a variety of reasons, be it absence from the climatic fight, outright betrayal or in one instance, resisting their supposed apotheosis.

Records of these individuals are few and far between, though some evidence of their involvement has survived to the present day. Bronn Luxprin, the last Champion of DIV, has a devoted following who defend his status as a hero and the killer of the Voidstar in Atlas. Meanwhile, the works of the bard Sterling Smiles were crucial in piecing together the complete story of the Heroes and their deeds.

Below are the main figures closely associated with the Pantheon:

# Half-Orc Warlock**Sterling Smiles**

## Trivia

* Each of the Fallen Heroes is a member of the original cast from Phase 1 of the World of Io series, which took place online. Different characters played by the same player share a connection with their respective Hero.

* The eight Fallen Heroes were retooled as superbosses as a result of the events of the mini-campaign "Chamber of the Eight". Fights against these Heroes also count as distinct events separate from the main campaigns of Io.

* Eight is a recurring numerical motif in Io, shared with the Fallen Heroes, the Eight Lagos and other phenomena.