Valeos

*The First Knight*

Despite his human origins, Valeos’ worship dates back long before written record, with references of his divinity even in the most ancient elven cities. He is the paramount God of War, but also a god of chivalry, civility, and just rule. While other gods may fight for power, Valeos fights for those who cannot, and in defense of his people – Whoever that may be at the time.

Valeos’ followers come from all walks of life, any who might grab a weapon in defense of their home, who might defend the weak, or stand for just laws. Wars fought in his name have spread across nations, he has inspired revolutions against tyrants and usurpers, and squashed unjust rebellions against rightful rulers. When one thinks of a paladin’s god Valeos is sure to come to mind, but even the lowliest peasant might find a home in his monasteries if they are willing to fight for what is right. Discipline, honor, courage, justice, courtesy, protection. Valeos is a god of all things a proper knightly code might contain, and thus his title – The First Knight. When the Genesis Wars began Valeos was the first to swear an oath against the Shattered God, the first to pick up his sword and fight beside the ancient dragons themselves. He is thus worshipped as a just and righteous god by nearly every civilization of the known world, and considered a Prime Deity regardless of affiliation because of it.

### Histories, Legends, and Myths

Valeos was a man, once. A half-elf, born of two parents who shared such a love they poured what wealth they had attained into siring an impossible child. Valeos grew into a fine man, taught the values of his parents and guided to protect those who could not protect themselves. Despite the position of authority and privilege he was born into, Valeos cared deeply for his people. This ideology would cost him dearly but would also lead him to heights of power unknown by any but the creator itself. Fighting alongside beings of power and age greater than his own for the entirety of the Genesis Wars, and struck down at the ending of his work, he was reborn by the love of those he had fought for. Worshipped as a god even after his death, and given a pure-hearted loyalty few have known even in the long ages since, Valeos stands tall above his fellow deities.

#### Alvoran Era

Little is truly known about Valeos as a child. He is popularly depicted as a half-elf by every culture that has not outright banned such imagery, and regularly presents himself as such on the material plane when an appearance is called for. Thus, it can be assumed he was born of a human and elven parent, and this is further cause to believe his parents loved each other dearly for the ritual to sire a half-breed child is prohibitively difficult. In the days before the Genesis Wars however, before the shattering of the creator and the rebellion of the dragons, the magic or even the genetics of such a feat may have been simpler.

It is believed Valeos was born of privilege, perhaps a noble house of the time. He led armies in defense of his home, brought rebellious vassals to heel, and wielded some immense power for a mortal of his time. Beyond that, little is know until the onset of the Genesis Wars.

#### Genesis Wars

  When the dragons spoke and the Shattered God struck their patriarch down, the Genesis Wars began. The ancient dragons, those of a size considered impossible by all known sciences, fought primordials of equal strength. As the dragons and primordials warred across the face of the world and the Shattered God struck down the mightiest of its enemies, the two sides called out for aid from their mortal creations. One such creature, Valeos, answered the call of the dragons. Born aloft by a drake he had befriended as a child, in a time when dragons were more than their feral counterparts of the modern age, Valeos was the pinnacle of military might on the battlefield. Leading legions of mortals and flights of dragons in their war against the titans, he became a prime target of the Shattered God’s vengeance. Hidden away behind Aejuna’s face, in full might of the sun, Valeos’ Iron Spires began their construction. The Goddess of the Major Moon hid Valeos’ activities while she attempted to broker peace between the two forces. Even as Valeos built his power and organized the rebellion of the dragons, a traitor spoke to him as freely as she spoke to his enemies. Kesathria, Goddess of Change, Apologist of Mortals, and Traitor of the Titans, spoke of the primordials’ weakness to Valeos as she spoke of Valeos’ hiding place to the primordials. With this act of deceit, the Genesis Wars began in earnest.

Valeos’ hiding place and home in the Iron Spires was invaded by the primordials, Aejuna struck a mighty blow by the Shattered God itself, and the dragons’ legions severely weakened. With this act of aggression, however, the Shattered God and its primordials sealed their own fate. Valeos had come to be persuaded by Aejuna’s attempts at peace, but no longer – He would gather his forces, focus their power on the weakness of the Primordials, and finally shatter the Shattered God. When Valeos struck the killing blow that earned the Shattered God its name, he was pierced by shards of divinity, fell to oceans below, and sank to the depths of the world. It was not until the Forgotten Era at least, when so little of history is known, that his godhood would be achieved and his spirit reawakened.

#### Forgotten Era

During the ages of the Forgotten Era, Valeos would rise to his current seat as a prime deity. Uncountable worshippers praised the First Knight, churches rising across the world, military orders calling upon his patronage, and royal houses sourcing legitimacy from his priests' blessings. Even Aejuna, his caretaker, would see him rise above her in strength, and would help him form the alliances he is known for today - Lothos, Ronnovar, Veara, and a smattering of foreign or fallen gods dedicated to Justice and Law.

In Venastor, the worship of Valeos stretches back the farthest - Ruins bearing his name are among the most ancient in the known world, and he is given a place of prominence and even kingship among the gods. Carvings show Valeos leading the gods and mortal armies against the Shattered God, against gods of Plague and Terror, and against cruel tyrants and wild beasts of great power. Valeos shares armor and weapons of advanced complexity with the mortals in these images, beyond anything even modern smiths are capable of - It is thus considered that such carvings are of a heavenly host, brought forth from the Iron Spires. Perhaps in times past, Valeos was more willing to interfere directly in the affairs of the Mortal Plane.

#### Era of the Magi

With the discovery of arcane magic, Valeos took on a new role as the defender of the oppressed. Literature of magehunters, though entirely fictitious, is at least partially based in the orders of Valeos' knights during the Era of the Magi, who worked tirelessly to defend against the unrivaled power of the mage-tyrants in this age. In the latter half of the era, the Mage-Tyrants would be torn down and replaced by just rulers, or find their children wiser than they, largely by Valeos' influence - Stories of such can be found even in modern gospels, with the War God's priests echoing these ancient proverbs in their sermons.

In Vireth, the oldest church of Valeos can be found in Senix, far in the depths of the floating city-state, and surrounded by architecture of a time and place long forgotten, but wholly within the Era of the Magi.

#### Omens and Signs

Anything that might show a god is watching, or showing favor/disfavor.

### Valeos' Faithful

Description of faithful and what they believe and who they are.

#### Initiates of Valeos

How someone becomes a member of this deity’s faithful.

#### Holy Days/Customs

List and description of holy day(s) and custom(s)

#### Vestments and Holy Symbols

What their priests wear, what symbols they favor.

### Specialist Character Options

#### Divine Domains

God of Courage, Justice, and Honor.   Provides the domains of Order, Protection, War.