The Paragons

When describing the world's great paragons, several terms are constantly thrown around, which each describe a particular relationship with the gods. These terms are Champion, Adjutant, and Avatar, and Archknight. While these terms are often confused, it is important to understand what each of them mean. These terms can be defined as follows:

The Champions

Throughout the First and Second Ages, the gods have maintained a policy of minimal intervention on Comalan in the hopes that mortals would learn to solve their own problems. However, when those problems include squabbling between the gods themselves, Champions are named to represent those gods' causes. Champions have been named for four major conflicts, two of which involve the rebellion of the Goddess of Death, and two of which center on her twin brother, the God of Time.

Nicholai Desmond - Known as the First Champion of Chaos, Nicholai was a man who lived in a Pyrisian colony in Coronos, which would ultimately become the Restan village, Ridge. The terror of his Pyrisian oppressors forged a worthy berserker for Chaos to use against Maula in her first Wave of Death.

Helen Winstrom - Known as the First Champion of Serenity, Helen was a huntress who lived in the western edge of Necros, Resta's southern county. She was a competent and patient warrior who symbolized safety in the arms of the Goddess of Tranquility.

Orion - Orion was the first Queen of Tanis and the Champion of Maula. Although she was meant to be an enemy to the other champions, she was swayed into helping to stop the Death Goddess by the strength and reasoning of Resta's first king, Artix Maloran.

Sara Marle - As a devoted acolyte of the Doctrine of Tranquility, Sara was the Second Champion of Serenity, and the first to learn of Maula's second attempt on the lives of Comalan. In the gods' second charge against Maula, her role in uniting the new champions was critical to their victory.

Clint Blackstone - Clint was the Champion of Crane, and the source of the Champions' successful strategy against Maula. He started as a simple farmer and hunter, but ultimately learned that one's intellect is defined by more than what you do with your life

Mia Gold - Mia, the Champion of Salica, was the last to accept her mantle, but would ultimately join the champions upon learning that she was doing Salica's work all along. As an assassin, she was responsible for wiping out the Clark dynasty and passing on Resta's throne to another family.

Seth Midas - Seth is a spellwarrior that Chaos reluctantly chose as his Second Champion for embodying fury, physical strength, and magical might. He became frightened for his destiny when he was cursed by Maula, but soon found the strength to use that curse for good and defeat Maula.

Dinorah Winstrom - A descendant of Helen Winstrom, Dinorah enjoyed a comfortable life as the mayor of the Restan city of Solan. Beneath the surface, however, Dinorah led a band of assassins known as the Scarlet Starlings. Mia Gold was a member of this organization and a loving adoptive daughter to Dinorah until her designs for advancing Maula's agenda were revealed.

The Mages of Destiny - Two distinct orders of Champion that were gathered to wield the power of six magical rings, each representing the elemental magic of the gods, excluding Geos--who was their enemy at the time--and Nidarys, who didn't yet exist. The first order of the Mages of Destiny was gathered by Seth Midas, while the second was gathered by Kyle Baldus, the Third Age's Restan King.

The Avatars

The Avatars, like the Champions, are handpicked paragons of the Gods, selected specifically to represent them. However, instead of representing their deities in conflict against each other, the Avatars exist to speak to other mortals with the Gods' voices. Being an Avatar bestows not only the ability to do this, but the knowledge of any magic that falls within their particular deities' purview.

Elidol Dawnstrike - Known as the Flesh Golem, Elidol is an undead creature who was crafted from the corpse of Gyanda Maloran (Although he was given a new body of his own). With an amalgamate soul composed of the Demon Knight Garanda and the soul of Hector Blackstone, the son of Broger, Elidol carries not only the strength and wit to be the First Avatar of Chaos, but all of the associated memories of several lives that came before him.

Ekera of Sister - Born on the now-Midanian island of Sister, Ekera was a proud sentinel of her island's unique wildlife until tragedy robbed her of her life and made her into a sai'mul. This should have rendered her precious magic impossible for the rest of her existence, but her fortune changed when she caught Serenity's attention by assisting the Avatar of Chaos. She is an enigmatic figure best known for blending her Serene faith with the ideals of other religious, making her popular with Comalan's inter-faith community.

Richard "Broger" Blackstone - Richard Blackstone was the younger brother of Clint Blackstone, a fact that he chooses to distance himself from with his trademark pseudonym, Broger. Broger is an inquisitive and eccentric alchemist who feverishly pursues the horizons of both magical and scientific knowledge. From his brother, Broger learned that it is not enough to simply learn, but that pursuing information with your own skill is the most important path to Crane, who he served as his First Avatar. Like Ekera, he is a sai'mul, but since he is less reliant on divine magic, he lives quite happily with this condition. His status as an avatar was lost when he betrayed his people and gods, seemingly out of fear for an even more powerful figure. Since this betrayal, he is known as the Second Avatar of Erdas.

Tir Apollo - Tir is known as the Second Avatar of Crane, a mantle she adopted reluctantly following the shocking betrayal of her former mentor, Broger. She has a great love for machinery, and has been trained by Intalan priests in the art of Foresight. With these two skills, she may be the most formidable of Avatars, but her heart and mind remain set on redeeming Broger.

Atunis Astersong - Born on the Restan island of Iris Isle, Atunis Astersong is a templar who serves faithfully as the Avatar of Salica. His path to becoming a templar was hard, and his responsibility as an Avatar was even harder on him. Despite the pressure he feels, he is one of the most beloved Avatars not only for his dedication to the gods, but for his good looks.

Kaleth Marle - Kaleth is the Avatar of Geos, who describes him as a boy who shouldn't exist. He is the son of Nidarys' Avatar, as well as Salica's Adjutant, but lives apart from his parents' lives in the clergy because a mysterious kidnapping broke up his family when he was an infant. Whatever happened during his captivity produced a nervous man who found himself sent back in time to the year he disappeared, as an adult. As such, it took his partner, Aennin Moonstep, to bring down the walls he had put up to defend himself.

Aennin Moonstep - Aennin is the Avatar of Maula and the only pure-blooded elf among the Avatars. In his turbulent life, he was exposed to the hypocrisy of the reverence for life that his people preached. He was once a boy who cared only for his family's clock shop, but tragic circumstances ultimately ripped that and everything else he cared about away from him. In the Third Age, he has become a cynical and hollow shell of the clock maker he once was, who has become more comfortable with death than anything else.

Voltairine Maloran - Voltairine Maloran is the Avatar of Kerun and the wife of the Third Archknight, Gyanda Maloran. Her origins and path are shrouded in mystery, with even the widest reaching rumors being unconfirmed. What is known about her is that she possesses a carefree demeanor and a strong sense of justice that favors the powerless.

Matilda Maloran - Matilda Maloran is the former leader of all templars and the mother of the Third Archknight. She had a reputation for her severe zealotry which was shattered when her allegiance to Erdas was revealed in the Third Age. Although she has worked hard to redeem herself, she no longer commands the templars and will forever be known as the First Avatar of Erdas.

Telandra Dawnstrike - Telandra Dawnstrike, the Avatar of Nidarys, is known as a desert bandit who is actually a priestess named Adamora Marle. She was subjected to the same curse as her cousin Gyanda, which inflicted her with the spirit of an evil witch known as Adaling. She was far better at suppressing her darkness, however, a feat for which she has her husband Kartal to thank. However, her path to becoming an Avatar would involve leaving her life behind and taking on her pseudonym full time.

The Archknight

The Archknight is known as traditionally as the Avatar of Morta, who was not a god, but the first mortal. Similar to the Avatars, Archknights are elected to speak with a powerful voice; in this case, the collective voice of all mortal kind.

Joseph Baldus - Joseph Baldus was the First Archknight and a former apprentice to Seth Midas. Following the Mages of Destiny's first attempt to defeat Geos, he died defending those who remained loyal to the rest of the Fadalians.

Matthew Ryan - Matthew Ryan is the Second Archknight and a denizen of another world entirely. With the blood of Seth Midas in his veins, and the tutelage of Kyle Baldus, Matthew defeated Geos alongside a second order of the Mages of Destiny before returning to the world in which he was born.

Gyanda Artix Maloran - Gyanda is the Third Archknight and a longtime citizen of Resta. A blood curse placed on his ancestors, Artix Maloran and Queen Orion, subjected him to the torment of the Demon Knight Garanda. This horrible fate amplified his latent darkness after he lost all hope for his dream of becoming a spellwarrior. He would instead learn to harness blood magic through the cruel teachings of Samson Amul. He found redemption in his first wife and three daughters, and would become the Archknight just in time to lend his considerable power to the resolution of a worldwide crisis after training with his father to finally achieve his lifelong goal of becoming a spellwarrior.

The Adjutants

The Adjutants are the least meaningful of the paragons, if only because they aren't named by Gods. Instead, they are chosen by Avatars who trust them to carry on in their stead should they die. The Fadalians have allowed this because the Avatars face a threat that is considered beyond the power of their deities and need their trust more than ever. While an Adjutant doesn't have any special power like the Avatars do, they are all chosen for being remarkable individuals in their own right.

Aden Piers - Aden is the recently-ascended Lord of Heron's Piers District. He was named an adjutant by Elidol after Demon Knight Garanda entrusted him with the future of Pyromancy.

Larim - Larim is the first new Stoneguard of the Third Age, selected by Ekera to be the Adjutant of Serenity not only for her devout and responsible nature, but for her strength.

Eione Astersong - Eione is the sister of Atunis Astersong, and the Adjutant of Crane. Although her checkered past has caused many to see her as untrustworthy, Tir chose her as an Avatar because she believed that Eione would find redemption in directing her intellect to the Avatars' causes.

Kartal Marle - Kartal was chosen as the Adjutant of Salica by his good friend Atunis because he is a devout templar and was once the Avatar of Geos in another timeline. He and Atunis alone are aware of this alternate timeline and Atunis believes Kartal to be an ideal choice because he understands the value of being an Avatar and deserves another chance.

James Hawke - James is the commander of the Windlords and was chosen as Geos' Adjutant because his prodigious resourcefulness impressed Kaleth, who doesn't know anyone else who isn't an Avatar.

Nazan - Nazan is a lifelong friend to Aennin and his family and, as someone else who is familiar with Aennin's experiences in Tanis, the only person he trusts to to take his place.

Zarabanda - Born in the harsh landscape of Ravager Isle, Zara was quick to leave his homeland and travel the world, making his living on his skill as a show marksman. He is free spirit and a longtime friend of Voltairine, who chose him as the Adjutant of Kerun because their personalities share a lot of qualities and their shared past has cultivated a powerful trust.

Samuel Desmond - Samuel Desmond, the Avatar of Nidarys, is a spellwarrior that Telandra met during the opening days of Comalan's war with the planet Mennon. They have been together ever since the sho'kai captured them, along with Volt, and dragged them to Mennon. He has become a trusted friend to the newest goddess' Avatar and was chosen to carry on her mantle because the Nidaryn religion lacked any precedent at the time.