The Pyromancers

From the left: Pyromancers Sarnai Kayonyn, Katja Arud, and notable prodigy Laila Arud.

Heron's rich history of Chaos worship has produced an uncommon breed of warrior that strike fear into their enemies. These people are known as pyromancers, fighters who are granted power over fire by Chaos himself. With these abilities, the people of Heron and their ancestors honor Chaos by exerting power against their most dangerous threats. Historically, pyromancers exist in two breeds. Ancient pyromancers from the time when Heron was known as Pyris were often arrogant and bloodthirsty, owing to their imperialistic culture of the First Age.

These warriors often enjoyed status that was subordinate only to their clan chieftains. Because of this disproportionate amount of power, the strength of each clan was partially measured in the number of pyromancers who chose to follow them. Wars were fought both with and for their power and still, they would fight with ferocious zeal for their clan. But this explosion of power had the unfortunate, but not entirely unanticipated, downside of bringing countless lives to an end. Where the ground wasn't stained with blood, it was blackened by scorch marks and soot. Following the War of the Gods near the end of the First Age, Chaos agreed with the other deities that his power was too dangerous to share with mortals. Thus, for the entirety of the Second Age, there hadn't been a single new pyromancer, although many of their techniques have long since been appropriated by the arcanists of Resta.

Pyromancy returned at the beginning of the Third Age when the Avatar of Chaos trekked through Heron to dispense Chaos' power once more in the face of an enemy that threatened even the gods. He first bestowed the gift upon Sun Jun, a driver working for the  noble Crowmont family. Together, the Avatar and the first of the new generation of flame-wielding warriors blazed a trail through Heron to build a new army of flame-wielding northern warriors. This journey ended with the assassination of Lord Colin Piers and the ascension of the Avatar's second apprentice, Aden Piers.

Pyromancers of the Third Age are more disciplined than their First Age counterparts, often conforming to the culture and training style of modern Heronite soldiers. Despite this, modern practitioners of pure fire magic often have a slight air of informality in which they admire each other's use of it. This is because pyromancy is unlike most magical disciplines, which rely on prayers or incantations to produce specific effects. Instead, the fire one wields moves according to either the caster's imagination or instinct.

As a result of this freeform approach to magic, each pyromancer is encouraged to develop an individual style that they are personally comfortable with. Some can form living shapes with their fire, like former mountain bandit Jack Saikarn, who uses his skill to form a flying horse that can be ridden only by himself. Others can manipulate heat so finely as to produce high energy effects in the air, such as Laila Arud, a famous prodigy who can use her power to create electricity or powerful airborne explosions. These limitless possibilities make it necessary for the leaders who induct new pyromancers to be selective with their candidates, but hopeful members of the lower class look to Chaos' power as a great equalizer for all.

To this point, one notable development in the pyromancer leadership in the recent years was the ascension of Lord Karn's daughter, Umi Karn, who famously eloped with Sun Jun soon after he was bestowed with the gift, and who rose through the ranks quickly, soon surpassing her husband. Her natural charisma, as well as her penchant for traveling Heron and recruiting young women of all classes and situations, has earned her the steadfast loyalty of the many young pyromancers who she has taken under her wing. There are rumblings of disapproval among some of Heron's more traditional elements, but this has done nothing to deter her.