Heironeous

**Title**(s) The Archpaladin

**Home plane** Seven Mounting Heavens of Celestia

**Power level** Intermediate

**Alignment** Lawful Good

**Portfolio** Chivalry, Valor

**Domains** War

**Superior** none

**Symbol** Lightning bolt clutch in a fist

Heironeous worshippers

**Description**

Heironeous appears as a tall human man in a full robe of chainmail so fine that it moves with him like cloth. He has auburn hair and skin the color of copper, and is impervious to all but the mightiest weapons due to a secret solution known as meersalm. His signature weapon is a great magical longsword.

Heironeous's realm, known as the Fields of Glory, is located in Venya, the third of the Seven Heavens.

**Dogma**

Heironeous sees the world as a deadly place, filled with perpetual challenges and trials for those who battle for justice and defend the weak and innocent. His followers should always act with honor and chivalry, and to uphold justice. Danger is to be faced head-on, with calm and resolve. Those who defeat evil are rewarded with Glory, while those who uphold the tenets of the Arch-paladin are rewarded with Virtue. The Arch-paladin's teachings have been codified in a chivalric code known as the Heironean Code.

**The Heironean Code**

The Heironean Code consists of three sets of duties:

*Duty to the People.* This duty stresses courage, justice, mercy, valor, protection of the weak, and faithfulness to church superiors of officer of righteous law.

*Duty to the Arch-paladin.* This duty stresses obedience to Heironeous himself, devotion to the church, generosity, championing good against evil, putting the needs of the church and the faith above those of mortals.

*Duty to a Lady.* This duty pertains to the concept of courtly love, devotion to one's beloved, and respect toward all women in general.

**Scriptures**

A number of holy texts are venerated by the faith of Heironeous. The best-known work is likely The Book of the Code, a four-chapter work outlining the Heironean Code and providing examples of how one is expected to follow it. Another well-known work is the Book of Penitence (also known as the Just Book), which describes the achievements of Ferrante, a legendary paladin who is now venerated as a saint by some Heironean sects.

**Worshippers**

The faith of Heironeous is a very militaristic one, launching crusades against evil and championing causes. As one would expect, many soldiers, city watchmen, mercenaries, and others who make their living by the sword find themselves honoring the Archpaladin.

**Clergy**

Priests of Heironeous often travel the world on orders from their superiors to seek out and destroy evil. Older priests often work as strategists, military instructors, or judges. Several of the faith's most powerful clerics, seeking to gain the benefits of meersalm, have had themselves embalmed alive with the substance, though some have not survived the ritual. Their favored weapons are the longsword and battleaxe.

Novices of Heironeous are known as the Blessed. Full priests are called the Glorious or, collectively, the Valorous Host. Senior priests are called Paragons, while those who command armies are known as Paragon-Generals. These titles are separate from duty-titles such as postulant, novitiate, professed priest, cloistered cleric, affirmed priest, and templar. They are also separate from ranks within the temple hierarchy such as hierodeacon and abbot. In everyday use, senior priests are called Father or Mother, while lesser priests are known as Brother or Sister. There is also an elite order of priests known as the gloryblades.

Priestly vestments include chain mail and blue robes with silver trim.

**Temples**

Temples, chapels, and shrines to Heironeous can be found throughout the Reth'Car. His church is the favored state religion of Baltharn, and his faith is also strong in Yuan and Altheria. Notable houses of worship include the Sanctum of Heironeous in Yuan. There are several temples to Heironeous in Altheria, but the most prominent one is called the Spire of Glory, whose high priest is Glorylord Gaeraeth Heldenster. The Shield Reclaimed is a great cathedral in Baltharn. Its high priest is Abbot Roderick Docamald.

Heironeous' temples are decorated with blue and silver trappings, and often scenes of Heironeous triumphant in stained glass.

**Rituals**

Heironean services and holy texts are all in the Old Oeridian language. Services to Heironeous include triumphant battle hymns, offerings to copper statues of the god, and the sharing of hearty, strengthening foods such as meat, full-bodied red wine (in moderation), and spiced, stewed, kara-fruit.

*The Tests of Valor-* Before advancing in rank, priests of Heironeous must clearly demonstrate their bravery, honor, and sense of justice. The exact nature of these tests varies, but they are revealed through prayer and divinely-inspired visions. They can range from tests of fortitude that can be completed within the temple to crusades against the forces of evil.

**Myths and Legends**

*Sibling Rivalry*

Heironeous and his half-brother Hextor were both born to Stern Alia, called the Shield Mother. Alia had many lovers, and was often out visiting them even after the births of her sons. When Heironeous was born, his skin was anointed with a special salve called *meersalm* that made him virtually invulnerable. Hextor was not given this salve, and as a result he was always weaker in battle than his brother.

Even so, at first the brothers were not enemies, though their differing temperaments gradually became clear. When Savnok, a servant of the brothers, stole the armor of Stern Alia and used its power to set up a dictatorship, Hextor's instinct was to hide Savnok's body (after he had killed him with one of his mother's arrows), put the weapons and armor back, and pretend nothing had happened. Heironeous' instincts were to tell the truth to his mother and face the consequences, but his desire to protect his weaker brother caused him to uncomfortably acquiesce to the scheme.

As they grew older, their opposite natures made them rivals. Frustrated at his relative weakness, Hextor made a bargain with the Lords of Evil, gaining two new pairs of arms grafted on to his torso. From then on, he and Heironeous were equals in combat.

Initially, their rivalry was viewed as healthy. The followers of the respective gods would struggle to outdo one another, to prove that their respective philosophies were superior. This would drive the culture as a whole to greater and greater heights. Since the Turmoil Between Crowns (437-446 CY), a civil war in the Great Kingdom of Aerdy, the faith of Heironeous has been marginalized there, powerful champions of Heironeous have defected to Nyrond and other neighboring states, and the two brothers have become patrons of different nations locked in hatred for one another.

*The Chalice of Heironeous*

What is probably the nadir of their rivalry is told in a secret myth known only to the highest echelons of the Order of the Chalice, a branch of the knights of Heironeous. Most believe the Chalice to be a powerful relic of Heironeous's faith somehow lost to Dispater. The masters of the order, the Lightning Councilors, know that the Chalice of Heironeous is actually the daughter of Heironeous, a young goddess-angel kidnapped by Hextor and given over to Dispater in order to shirk responsibility for his deed. The Order of the Chalice was founded a thousand years ago in order to find a way to rescue the Chalice and reunite her with her father.