Aarno

Aarno (also known as Muchos, Urn, Aaron, or Diamondium) is the name given by the habitants to one of the eight adventurers who arrived in Helias during event known as 'The Rebirth'. He is famous for his efforts unifying the Swurn Isles as well as becoming crowned as the King of Swurn. As a member of the aforementioned adventurers, he possesses significant abilities relative to the habitants of Helias and is revered by the locals in the religion titled The Paragons.

## Biography

### The Rebirth

Upon arrival to Helias, Aarno immediately split off from the core group of the Pantheon to sail westward in search of new lands. After a year's long journey charting the waters and mapping all of the Wesral Ocean, he landed on the continent of Swurnia and was greeted by the local inhabitants of Barrowton. This was both Aaron's first encounter of Helias habitants as well as the first time. Swurnia habitants encountered one of the beings eventually to be known as The Paragons. Shortly after this, Swaffos also embarked this direction and settled on the islands of Swurnia later known as Swaffle Hills.

### Arrival on Swurnia

The residents were wary at first due to their tumultuous past however agreed to Aarno settling in a small hut in a nearby shack. Over the next few years, Aarno gained the trust of Barrowton residents by offering protection from the attacks of monsters as well as pillagers who roamed the lands of Swurnia. Aarno also proved very valuable to the residents of Barrowton due to his proficiency in various trades kills, allowing the village to prosper far more than they ever had in the past. During this time, he assisted in building Barrowton a wall which helped turn nightly monster attacks from a persistent threat to more of a cleanup effort. With this threat dealt with, Barrowton was able to build a port and started rudimentary levels of trade with nations outside of Swurnia such as the ancient city of Menathis.

In his years spent with residents of Barrowton, Aarno heard stories of the other settlements on the island. He heard of Barrowton's long-time rivals in Ridgeview and the lost settlement of Nightbrook, and wished to explore the lands for himself.

### Expedition Across Swurnia

Aarno's expedition across the lands of Swurnia lasted three years and in doing so he managed to hit every province of what eventually was to become the Swurn Isles.

#### Encounters in the West

To start his journey, Aarno went west of Barrowton and through the plains which later came to be known as the King's Plains and towards the Golden Coast. He discovered that these parts of the lands were very sparsely populated, however there were occasional small tribal settlements peppered across the lands. These groups were typically friendly, and Aarno was able to convince most of them to travel east to seek safety in the newly fortified Barrowton. One group on the southern end of the Golden Coast wished to remain and create their own settlement, and Aarno respected these wishes, providing the group with some supplies he had accumulated on his journey to allow them to begin to make a permanent home for themselves.

#### The Lost Village of Nightbrook

After exploring all that there was to explore in western Swurnia, Aarno took to the seas to explore the dark forests of Gloomwood and to search for the lost village of Nightbrook. After arriving on the coast of Gloomwood, Aarno was immediately swarmed by monsters. After a fierce battle, Aarno was able to repel the monster ambush and begin exploring the woods. The dark woods were particularly more dangerous than any area he had encountered elsewhere, with the thick forest cover allowing for even daytime to be unsafe.

After weeks of exploring the dark forest, Aarno was able to locate the village of Nightbrook. The village was overwhelmed with the zombified remains of it's once sizeable population. Additionally, he found that the earth itself was split in two right in the centre of the village, it is likely that the monsters who now inhabit Gloomwood initially arrived via this crack.

Aarno was unable to find any trace of life anywhere in the village or throughout the forests of Gloomwood, so decided to move on and continue his journey.

#### Swaffle Hills & Truce With Ridgeview

For the last bits of his journey, Aarno visited Swaffle Hills where he visited a fellow adventurer, Swaffos, on his homestead in the hills. It is here that Aarno concluded that a unified Swurnia was necessary. Having another powerful adventuer on the isles as an enemy was dangerous to the settlements that he had come to befriend and his future on the isles, however having Swaffos as an ally could allow a future unified realm to prosper. The two came to an arrangement to coexist on the isles with Swaffos promising to swear fealty to Aarno in exchange for dominion over the lands of Swaffle Hills where he wished to live a peaceful life, and both agreed to channel their efforts into the betterment of the lands.

In order to make a unified Swurnia a reality, however, Aarno knew he must convince the residents of Ridgeview to abandon old rivalries with Barrowton and agree to a unified realm. Aarno set out for Ridgeview and found a settlement much different from the stories told to him by Barrowton residents. Instead of hostility, he was met with generosity, and the residents opened their homes to him. Aarno spent the better part of a year with the residents of Ridgeview, learning their culture and assisting with fortification, much like he had with Barrowton. He knew in order to convince them to unify, he would need to know their way of life completely.

After completing his journey around Swurnia, he returned to Barrowton to arrange a meeting with the lords of the two settlements where a truce could be discussed. After a series of tense negotiations, a tentative truce was eventually agreed on the terms of each settlement controlling a certain region of the isles, with Barrowton ending up the lands that eventually came to make up the Barrowlands province and Ridgeview laying claim to the mountainous region that became the Ridge Heights province.

### Creation of Swurn Isles

After negotiating the truce, Aarno settled back into his home and used the wealth he gained on his adventures to begin construction on a grand castle on the hill he occupied, named Castle Muchos. This castle was built with the sole intention of being the future seat of Aarno as ruler of a unified Swurnia. While construction was ongoing, Aarno spent most of his time not assisting construction improving relations between Barrowton and Ridgeview. In the following years while the castle was under construction, he would solidify the truce between the two towns and open up trade between them by constructing a road. The additional prosperity this trade afforded the settlements allowed ties between the two towns to start to form. Eventually, the old rivalries were all but forgotten and the towns were considered allies of each other.

At this point, Aarno gathered the lords of Barrowton and Ridgeview, as well as Swaffos from Swaffle Hills, and the tribe leader of the group he met in the Golden Coast to visit the partially-constructed Castle Muchos to discuss unification. In this meeting, the various members agreed to unify. Each of these members became the lords of their respective province, with Aarno from Castle Muchos directly controlling the provinces of King's Plains and Gloomwood, due to lack of viable settlements in these regions.

Shortly after this, Aarno was officially crowned as King of Swurn and the Swurn Isles were officially formed.

### Early Rule

As his first command as King, Aarno declared that in order to be an effectively unified realm, a road must be constructed connecting all the lands of the Swurn Isles. Immediately, construction began on The Stretch, a long road connecting the lands of the Golden Coast all the way to Barrowlands. This allowed access to better goods for the Golden Coast, which helped spur development.

This era also included the continued construction of Castle Muchos, allowing it to take shape as a true wonder. As it grew in size and splendor, it started to become famous among lands even outside of Swurn Isles. As a result, Barrowton started to become a hub for tourism from people wishing to gain a glimpse of the wonder.

In (YEAR), Aarno was approached by a man who claimed to be a descendant of former residents of Nightbrook. He told a story of how his grandparents and a small number of other families fled Nightbrook shortly before it's fall generations before. They had settled in a small group of homesteads in the forests of Swaffle Hills however wished to reclaim their ancestral homeland. Aarno, swayed by this story, mounted an expedition to Gloomwood to take back Nightwood and help these descendants resettle so it can become yet again a contributing city within the realm. He defeated the monsters of the night inhabiting the settlement and kept a garrison force there to assist with reconstruction of the settlement as well as to construct defenses to prevent another slaughter. Additionally, work was done to repair the old road through Gloomwood and further extend the road network in southern Swurn Isles to facilitate economic development in a reclaimed Nightbrook as well as a growing Ridgewood.

## Paragon Status

Throughout the lands of Helias, the adventurers became revered as gods in the religion known as 'The Paragons'. Aarno is one of eight paragons that make up The Pantheon.

### Paragon Traits

Aarno is most commonly known as the 'Paragon of Ambition', due to his efforts to create a vast empire in the Swurn Isles and his proficiency in building megalithic structures such as Castle Muchos. This ambition is a double sided coin, with some followers believing that his efforts in extending his power means he can protect more people, but with others being wary that he could be more concerned with 'expanding his glory' than with the absolute protection of his subjects.

Aarno is also known to a lesser extent for his traits of diplomacy, as shown by his ability to unite historical enemies in Ridgeview and Barrowton in the creation of his kingdom, and his role building Swurn Isles to be a trade hub for all of Helias. Lastly, he is known as a stalwart defender, and has directly contributed in fortifying all the settlements within his realm as well as building the most defensible fortress in the world in Castle Muchos, along with his tendency to ensure not an inch of darkness touches the lands he is entrusted to protect.

### Status Within Pantheon

When members of the pantheon split up into various groups upon their arrival, Aarno headed immediately westward with Swaffos, while the majority of the Pantheon went eastward. As a result of this, while many members of the Pantheon found themselves somewhat isolating from the native inhabitants of Helias in their own commune, Aarno and Swaffos found themselves more directly integrating with the lives of the inhabitants, with Aarno finding himself in a leadership role among the residents of Swurnia. Due to Swaffos' more modest ambitions to live more closely among the people, Aarno's role as the King of Swurn leads to him being regarded as the leader of the Western segment of the Pantheon.