Aara

Aara is a god of battle above all other pursuits; it is said that if there is ever a time with no more conflicts to be fought, he would rust away into nothingness. Known as the Lord in Iron, his faithful believe he is present in every iron weapon of war that is forged.

Aara's presence was unknown in the earliest days of Jamboloydia. His clergy claim he was formed from battle itself, a suit of iron armor standing alone on the battlefield once the dust had settled; his genesis is generally considered to have resulted from conflicts that erupted between orcs and humans following the former race's surge to the surface in ancient times. Aara is considered the divine embodiment of martial prowess, of glory on the battlefield, and it is believed that should conflicts like those that birthed the deity ever cease, he will perish as a result of their absence.

The church of Aara proclaims faith in strength and power, over spirituality or intellect. High priests are great warriors who attain their position through battle. Priests usually wear heavy spiked armor. The services conducted by the church consist primarily of actual and improvised percussion, to include clanging weapons against shields.

Aara is worshiped by soldiers, mercenaries, fighters and barbarians all across most of the world. One of Aara's most hardcore sects is located in one of this religion's most sacred places, Zarahn City. Zarahn City is located in the kingdom of Astrak on the continent of Vehramia. According to legend one of Aara's most devout priests, a Minotaur named Zarahn, was turned to stone during a battle with a Medusa and Aara himself intervened, restoring the body of Zarahn leaving behind a stone form of the priest. Zarahn then built a temple around this stone form or statue of himself as it in effect was. In the following years a city sprouted up around this temple.

**Alternate Lore**

Thousands of years ago a small farming community was peacefully living in harmony and happiness. Suddenly the peace was disrupted by several attacks from hordes of monstrous barbarians. They trashed their houses, killed people, robbed them and raped the women. The farmers tried to fight back, but pitchforks and anger were not enough to stop the combat trained barbarians. The barbarians were clever enough to leave behind both people and buildings. This meant that the farmers would rebuild their society once again, readying it for the next plundering. They came again and again, and when the farmers were on the brink of complete despair, it happened.

One night after a horrible attack, a meteorite crashed just outside the city. It struck the ground hard, leaving a huge crater behind. The farmers thought it was another attack, but instead they found a big meteorite in the middle of the crater. They had never seen anything like it before and they saw it as a sign from the gods. From this meteorite four men carved out a statue with a huge weapon. The statue was more than two meters tall, broad as an ox and carrying a huge weapon of immense weight. The four men were called Aaron, Aleddo, Ragar and Andor. They decided to name the statue after the first letter in each of their names. Aara was born! They dragged Aara to their village placing it just inside the palisade walls. The idea was simply an advanced scarecrow. Scarecrows keep birds away from their crops, so maybe Aara would keep away the attacking barbarians.

The day after a lightning storm appeared out of the blue. Unlike anything ever seen by the farmers before, and they were all forced inside their primitive houses by the roaring thunderstorm. Scared, the farmers looked out through their windows, praying that the lightning would not destroy their village. Suddenly six huge lightning strikes struck the Aara statue within a few seconds, sending him flying into the palisade wall. The power from the lightning strikes was so powerful that it left the entire village shaking. Seconds later, the storm passed, and the sun burned away the clouds leaving only blue skies and birds chipping. They went out to investigate the damage, but none could be found. The only thing they found was Aara. Slowly he stood up, shaking the rain off the raindrops. Aara smiled at the farmers. He told them that he was sent here to protect them.

Few days later horns from the barbarians echoed throughout the village. All terrified, the farmers rushed into their houses and locked the doors. Aara remained outside and readied his sword. The barbarians bashed through the gate and prepared to plunder the poor farmers yet again, but this time Aara stood in their way. He walked right up to the barbarian leader and swung his sword so hard that the orc was split into two. The other barbarians attacked him ruthlessly, but Aara simply chopped them down, one by one, with ease. After the battle, the farms came out and cheered. They thanked Aara for his amazing powers and begged him to stay to protect them. Aara stuck around for a bit, and eventually the barbarians would come again. News of the failure from the last attack had reached the barbarian chieftain, and in response he charged towards the farmers village with his entire army. They faced the same fate as the first group.

After the last attack, Aara thanked the farmers for their help and left the village with nothing but his sword. He travelled through villages and cities and he helped them fight back evil forces if needed. His good deeds and his honorable approach to life, didn’t go unnoticed. Rumors of Aara spread fast and he became a hero to many and feared by evil.

After achieving celebrity status, Aara didn’t change a single thing. He still travelled around helping those in need. People from cities prepared for his visits and he was welcomed with feasts, bardic performances and city festivals. During these celebrations, Aara was many times challenged to duels by the city guards, fighters or whoever dared to face him in a one on one. These duels became very popular amongst his fans, and it quickly became very honorable to have faced Aara himself. The best fighters in Jamboloydia faced him and some of them even faced him in groups, but he never lost. He was simply built to protect and fight, and none ever got even close to his skills.

One day, nobody ever saw Aara again. He just disappeared out of the blue. Legends speak of Aara ascending to the kingdom of the gods, for his good deeds and prowess in combat. After he disappeared, he became even more famous. People started to pray to him to obtain better fighting skills. They prayed to him to become more honorable and some simply prayed to him for protection. Today Aara is a very famous religion for most anyone going into battle. They strongly believe that following Aara’s teachings, will grant them great honor, fame and victory in battle.