Ancient Chronicles

Rise of the First Heroes

What are the Heroes? Many claim that Heroes are mythic beings sent by the gods to aid the people in times of need, fighting for justice, vanquishing evil. However, I believe that it is the other way around. For any normal men and women standing up for their countries, beliefs and gods, they are the true Heroes. Picking up arms and fighting do not make anyone a Hero, as any mindless brute can hold on to a sword and battle. But Heroes are born from courage and persistence, with their inner spirit burning with such strong desire that it may overcome even the mightiest of swords.

My name is Auron, I live an eternal life in which my task is to observe and record the events of this world and I now present to you the Chronicles of the Heroes.

The great God Odin is our creator. He casted down the Giant, Ymir, and using his body created the world. Through the Heart of Ymir he gave us humans life. With the help of his sons, daughters and the other Gods; we learned to build houses, to hunt for our food and to live in this world with harmony, embarking on to the road of civilization and advancement, standing above all other creatures with wisdom and intelligence.

However, there were certain gods that did not appreciate this advancement of civilization. They found that there was no use for aid towards such lesser beings, as to them it is not the God's responsibility to guide the humans with their divine, godly knowledge as the world is in natural balance through selection of the fittest. They believe that life in this world is losing its balance, and think that the world needs to return to its roots in order to restore balance to the world. Their protests grew as we humans continued to advance, and they started to do what was necessary to bring this world to its destruction in order for the world to begin anew. The most noticeable one is the Dark God, Erebos. In order to destroy humanity, he created monsters and fiends that this world had not seen before. With this starts the War of Agony.

This war raged for over 200 years and came to a brutal end in a final conflict between Erebos's forces and humanity on the brink of destruction. Never witnessed the destructive power of a God, the outcome of this war was already in favour against us humans, as Erebos had an army of creatures bred to destroy compared to Humans who cannot match the strength of a God's creation.

The other gods did not interfere directly finding that Humans needed to deal with this themselves in order to put their knowledge to the utmost test. Some of the gods feared conflict and further tension with the other gods who are against the gods' help to further humanity in the past, especially Erebos. During this time, no god aided as much as Hestia, goddess of light. She was compassionate for the Humans much to the dismay of Erebos, and continued to aid the Humans with her knowledge and care in these dire times. But that did not seem to be enough for this war… that is until the day Prontera, the great capital of this world, came under attack.

The scene before the battle seemed hopeless for the residents of the great city, the citizens were greatly outnumbered and survival seemed to be a leisure that no one could have. That is until Father Marcus, the Great Priest and follower to the Goddess Hestia, and his wife, the much honored Knight who sworn oath under Hestia's name, Lady Sylvi, came forth together.

They knew the situation was grim but they held hands and they spoke to the defending forces. They saw the desperation and fear in every ones eyes. They then said these words: ‘‘Citizens of Prontera the time has come. This is the time when we will unite and fight for all that we hold dear. Jealousy and anger is the weapon of our foe but we have a weapon of our own. We have faith and the love for our brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers, friends and neighbors. Today shall not be the day that our world falls to the darkness of Erebos. Today is the day we stand and fight. Fight for our survival, but foremost this is a fight for the future. We shall prevail and bring the light of Hestia back to this desolate world. We shall show that Humanity is strong and that Erebos shall fall. Our flame will light the way to a life of peace!!! ’’ This marked the establishment of Order of the Light Allegiance and was the first time someone showed courage for what they believed in. This is the birth of the first Heroes.

The battle was fierce but courage and hope brought the downfall of Erebos’s army. But many sacrifices were made for this to happen. Before the battle ended Father Marcus fell fighting side by side with his beloved one, Lady Sylvi. But something, that not even Erebos could predict, happened at that moment after Lady Sylvi fell in battle. Father Marcus also took heavy injuries and was on his last stand. In that moment, Father Marcus gave his last prayer to the world. It is written: ‘‘I, who am a protector of the light, will give myself and bring new hope to this world, all in the name and glory of the great Goddess of Light, Hestia.’’ At that moment light radiated from his body and the angels in Hestia's servitude came down to earth. They gave new life to those that had fallen. But this was Marcus’s last gift to mankind, moving the Goddess Hestia to do all she can to help the humans in this war in return of Father Marcus's devotion. With the angels of Hestia, hope was born on the battlefield and Erebos's forces were forced out of the city. Once the battle ended, proper burials were made for those that had died. Father Marcus and Lady Sylvi were given the title of Heroes.

This battle gave new life to humans who were on the verge of destruction and as the battle raged on, many people followed the quickly growing Order of the Light Allegiance. New Heroes following Father Marcus and Lady Sylvi's footsteps came forth to tip the scale.

Erebos’ forces were starting to be pushed back. But the dark god did not let this pass and he continued to create monsters with great powers. Even though he created such beings, it was not enough to fight the rise of the Heroes. That is when he turned towards the fragile state of certain people and he started to sway them to join his cause to change the world to be governed by strength alone, creating his own league of Heroes called the Legion of the Dark Allegiance. This new tactic reset the balance once more but it was not enough to overcome the Order of the Light Allegiance. Seeing that his creations and the Legion of the Dark Allegiance weren’t enough, Erebos came down to this world to deal with the situation himself.

Erebos marched forward, leading his army personally in an attempt to destroy the Order of the Light Allegiance. He held nothing back, giving the three Cursed Swords of Mysteltainn, Ogretooth and Executioner to his strongest followers. Marching forward, he destroyed the ancient city that now lies under Geffen and even more on this path he took to destroy everything. Finally he came to be confronted by the last army of humanity. This army consisted of every valiant soul in the Order of the Light Allegiance who wants to fight Erebos from all the corners of the world.

The battle was fierce as Erebos's Legion of the Dark Allegiance clashed swords with the Order of the Light Allegiance and the battle did not end even after days of non-stop fighting. Neither side had the advantage, but Erebos had not yet entered battle. He stayed in the back watching waiting. After seeing no conclusion to the intense battle, Erebos dashed through the battlefield killing all in his way.

The Order of the Light Allegiance was caught off guard not expecting the dark god to suddenly mobilize into the battle after days of only being an observer. Erebos came down on its enemy’s head but then a great light came down from the sky and engulfed the Dark God. When the light cleared, Hestia, the goddess of light who could no longer let Erebos have his way, intercepted Erebos's attack. Both were now ready to face each other in a battle that would seal this conflict. They both stepped back and charged each other. They fought fiercely with great force that shook the surrounding grounds. None managed to touch the other until they were both tired from the fight. With the last of their strength they attacked each other with the intent of killing or to be killed in this strike, but someone neither expected to see stopped both attacks. Odin riding his great steed Slepnir separated the two Gods with the spear head of Gungnir, the never missing spear, between Erebos, and Hestia.

‘‘Enough, this war is over! This final attack showed me that neither side would prevail, since both of you will die from each other’s attack. Starting today no Gods shall ever interfere directly with this world. The Gods will no longer part with the divine knowledge to the humans, but neither will humans be purged for receiving the gift of knowledge from the Gods in the past. From now on, humans will walk their own path in this world.’’

Those were the words said by the great Odin and they were to be respected. Erebos did not insist, knowing full well that Odin, the Leader of the Gods, cannot be killed until the time spoken of in Legend. It is pointless to try to oppose Odin's ruling and fight the Leader of the Gods. Hestia also accepted the compromise from Odin, parting herself from the humans whom she deeply cared for in the name of peace for this world.

The two armies separated, the Gods returned to Asgard and this war finally came to an end.

For many moons, the realm of the humans Midgard has known peace, but the shadow of the ancient conflict is never far as long as disagreements and differences in ideologies exist in the world. It was not long before both sides raised the flags and called to arms once more.

The new leader for the Legion of the Dark Allegiance takes the name of Sir Melot, a powerful noble skilled in the art of magic who seeks to conquer land to form his own empire of the elites. He worships the Dark God, Erebos, following in his beliefs of the past that arbitrary laws are obsolete and only suppress the strong. Sir Melot, the Legion of the Dark Allegiance and his Dark Heroes do not hesitate to shed blood to accomplish their goals.

Alas, the Order of the Light Allegiance also rises once more to battle Sir Melot and the Legion of the Dark Allegiance, because the Light has a skilled Lord Knight by the name of Lady Thea, following Hestia, Goddess of Light. Lady Thea loves her kingdom and all the creatures and citizens that inhabit it, weak or strong. She will not discriminate anyone based on their abilities, and firmly believes in the world of order to govern the people in order to live in harmony. Lady Thea devotes herself to take up the task to withstand Sir Melot's growing influence in the world with her Light Heroes and the Order of the Light Allegiance.

Each side seeks the brave and the mighty to join them on their quests; those who answer the call will be known as Heroes. These are the Chronicles of the Heroes, choose your side wisely and maybe you shall truly become a Hero.