All year long we are releasing alternate icons for 13th Age. Read the first ones in the series: the Usurper, Deposed Heir, and Fleshcrafter. This month’s entry, the Herald, is the equal and opposite of the of the Diabloist.
The Herald wields the power of Heaven and the gods. Not only that, the Herald leads an army of paladins, fighting to keep an army of unspeakable horrors from entering our realm. Agents of the Herald move throughout the Empire, watching to see if some untold nastiness slips into our realm unnoticed.
Quote
“By the gods’ will, we live to fight another day. May we be so fortunate again tomorrow.”
Frequent Location
Fort Divinity, the last piece of inhabitable land before entering the Blighten Lands and the Rift beyond.
Common Knowledge
The Herald is one of pure heart. Those that bear her symbol and work in her name are believed to be one of pure heart, even if they are only mortals.
The Icon and Adventurers
The Herald frequently works with adventurers because those that would cause destruction and pain everywhere. The Herald gladly works with those she disagrees with when directed to do so by the gods, trusting the deities know more than she.
Allies
The Herald and the Deposed Heir are allies but have a complicated relationship since he frequently asks where was Heaven and the gods when his family was slain. The Great Gold Dragon and the Herald have their difference but put them aside and work together since they share common goals. The Usurper wants the support of the Herald since it will help secure his claim on the throne. As such he works with the Herald, even if the Herald does not trust him.
Enemies
The Fleshcrafter rejects the gods, believing that trust should be placed in mortals and in their eldritch studies, pitting himself against the Herald. The Great Druid feels that the Herald’s people take what they want from the land in their pursuit of their aims and that this disrespect has gone on too long.
History
There was only one survivor of an attack by unspeakable horrors that slithered out of the sea that devoured much of a small coastal town, the one later knows as the Herald. Since that day, the Herald has worked tirelessly to that that never happens again. While she doesn’t always succeed in rescuing everyone, she always saves some and drives the horrors away.
The Reason to Fear
Those that deal with things so terrible that they will shatter a person’s sanity should fear the Herald for all the justice she will bring down upon them.
The Deposed Heir is not the only one that has a complicated relationship with the Herald; the Wandering Spirit is one that would join the Herald’s side, if the forces of Heaven did not find his very existence repugnant. Read all about the equal and opposite of the Lich Queen soon.
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Jon Brazer Enterprises 