Kellos

According to legend, Kellos is said to have walked the face of Mennara during the most desperate days of the Second Darkness, when Waiqar’s Deathborn Legion laid waste to Terrinoth and the Death Cults he had sponsored spread fear and disorder in the nation’s cities like an evil plague. Kellos took up his mace and swore to see an end to the vile undead, and with his holy fire he burned the flesh and bone of Waiqar's foul creations. He called to his side many other brave adventurers. When they fell in defense of the realm, Kellos saved them from death with his powers of healing, bidding them rise again from the flame. Kellos the Hero was soon lauded as Kellos the Bright and Kellos the Savior, for he was one of the brightest lights of humankind amid the darkness that had washed over the land.

At the final battle, when Waiqar’s armies were driven back to the Mistlands, Kellos disappeared. Perhaps he was slain in combat, at last making the final sacrifice for the people and lands he loved. Perhaps he emerged from the battle unscathed and resolved to settle down in some far-off hamlet, enjoying the peace that he had been denied for so many years. His followers, called Disciples of Kellos, believe he ascended to godhood that day, so that he might forever empower those who would fight death with the light and life of fire. His disciples returned to Vynelvale, now a Free City, and lit the Eternal Fire in his name.

As they built a cathedral to their founder in Vynelvale, Kellos’ followers taught that heat and life were inextricably intertwined, and that magic which utilized heat and fire could also be used to heal. While their acts of healing were often painful, they were also highly effective. Soon, many citizens of Vynelvale and the surrounding lands had been blessed with Kellos’ healing gifts, and tales of these wondrous miracles spread across Terrinoth. The most pious and powerful priests were even said to be able to bring the dead back to life through the miracle of resurrection. Pilgrims traveled to Vynelvale to witness these wonders or receive healing in turn, and many who did dedicated themselves to spreading Kellos' legacy far and wide. The Church of Kellos had been born.

Those who join this church are called Acolytes, and these low-ranking clergy serve to tend his flames and flocks in shrines across Terrinoth. Those Acolytes who have the ability to perform divine feats in Kellos’ name are initiated through the rite of the Fire's Embrace and become Priests or Knights of Kellos. They bring healing to towns and villages, or travel the roads to smite evil wherever it arises. The most powerful of Kellos' followers are his High Priests, and it is they who preside over the cathedral at Vynelvale. High Priests called Justicars lead contingents of the priesthood into battle in the most dire times.

Now, the brilliant red robes of the Priests of Kellos are a welcome sight across Terrinoth, promising wrath for the wicked and mercy for the meek. While many can be found tending the sick and injured in cities, it is not uncommon to see a priest joining bands of adventurers to pursue their crusade against Kellos' eternal enemy: the forces of undeath.

In battle, Kellos’s priests most often use the power of flame, the symbol of their deity, to smite evil. This can be as simple as conjuring mystical flame around their hand or weapon, or casting out gouts of living flame to consume their foes. Their flames can also heal, and some have claimed they can even resurrect the dead, though this must surely be myth. Encountering these priests is often a double-edged sword; they can offer aid to the sick and dying but may also serve as an indication that the undead or other dangers are nearby.

## The Grand Cathedral

According to the current Grand Hierophants of Kellos, soon after the Second Darkness there was once a vile necromancer near Vynelvale who sought to create an undead empire for himself. A band of heroes assembled to defeat this evil, but were struck down. The last survivor, then moments from a sorcerous death, called out for aid and swore eternal service to any who would come. His eyes clouded, and his body became wreathed in flame. Raising his hand, which shone with a light bright enough to make the sun seem but a flickering candle, the invigorated survivor smote the necromancer with one wave and banished his undead army forever. As his sight returned, he saw what had been done, and knew that a divine power had interceded.

He kept the promise, and began preaching of the intercession and the god’s power. Others who remembered tales of cleansing fire from the Second Darkness, and had lit an Eternal Fire here in remembrance, soon joined him. Together, they established a church to the being he believed had aided him: Kellos.

His followers named him the first Hierophant of Kellos and led the construction of what would become the Grand Cathedral of Kellos. Upon his death, he became canonized as the church’s first saint. Later hierophants added wings, halls, bastions, and other constructions, turning the cathedral into a structure to rival the greatest castles of the Daqan Lords. Behind its towering walls, hundreds of initiates silently tend gardens and fields, while the innumerable scribes spend the years copying holy texts and other rare documents.