#heiron

[twotales]

SGA Background Character Register

Pegasus Natives | Genii

-

Decided to start a Pegasus Native register

I'm debating on adding a sheet that describes these characters' attributes so they can be easily added to any fic

-

Notes:

- Only Genii with names - Canonically female characters are marked because there are less of them - Alive: Meaning we never saw them die or been informed of their death

Feel free to use this as you see fit just please keep my user name on the image

-

Sga Background Character Register | Atlantis Expedition S1

[vforvalensa]

Wahoo @secret-samol 2024 piece one of two. I got a prompt from Samz for Fero and Mother Glory hanging out post Spring in Hieron and could not resist drawing Fero getting owned.

[dailyadventureprompts]

Dungeon: The Seeping Tombs

The learned and pious council of the king's advisors concluded that if sickness was a sign of moral failing, that medicine was a form of ennoblement allowing the sinner to bypass suffering without repentance. By royal decree the healers were thrown in along with their patients, the gates sealed behind them.

Constructed during an age of ignorance, these now innocuous ruins were used as a prison for those who had committed no crime besides falling ill. Pestilence ravaged the land, and after years of failing or outright refusing to control its spread the old king and his pious inner circle began to resent the masses who suffered under under their misrule.

The building that became the tombs was already under construction, intended as the foundations for a great temple dedicated to the king's imperious patron deity. When the work crews grew sick their bodies were passed into the lowest reaches to prevent the spread of miasma, joined soon after by dead from the local villages, and eventually those afflicted but still living.

It was not long after the gates were sealed that something otherworldly come to dwell within the tomb, suborning the natural process of decay causing those interred within to rot into a sickening and malevolent sludge.

Adventure Hook: A new magical malady besets those descended form the king and his pious council, and though some have inherited their forebearers' zeal and callousness many others are quite innocent. When traditional cures fail, The party are hired to seek an answer, and whether through research or the consultation of oracles find themselves pointed towards the seeping tombs. Irony of ironies, this exact sickness was being looked into by talented physician condemned by the king's order, consigned along with her research to a squalid death among those she tried to save.

Whatever the source of the present malady, it has a sense of cruel justice that the party should be wary of.

Challenges & Complications:

Summoned by the prolonged fear, suffering, and affliction of those trapped within the tombs, Juiblex, demon sovereign of ooze, has consecrated the tombs as an altar to despair and wretchedness. The tunnels are overrun with its spawn, along with undead who's spirits cannot rest for all the cruelty that was done to them in life.

The longer and deeper the party explore, the more sick they're likely to get.

Early chambers of this dungeon are a great excuse to use the classic "what looks like a skeletal warrior approaching slowly down a corridor is actually a gelatinous cube & its last meal" encounter, which is a treat in and of itself.

The upper reaches of the tomb are controlled by a nest of ghoulish knights and footmen, who were originally tasked with driving droves of the sick into the dungeon, only to find themselves sealed inside along with the afflicted. As fearful and proud as their departed liege, they play at piety and honour willing to lend aid to the party for a chance to escape the tombs and run rampant on the surface.

The middle reaches of the tomb see the party exploring twisting, sticky corridors, their progress fenced in by portcullises and other defences that need to be opened remotely. These hurdles do not stop the level's guardian, a massive and inexorable ooze that will chase the party with relentless slowness once alerted. Expect an oddly paced chase scene as the party works on opening a path forward while trying not to get trapped in a room by the sludgy green tide.

The cure to the magical malady lays with it's source: the ghost of the masterful physician who's long simmering resentment has manifested as a curse. Having been denied the chance to save her patients, she must be convinced why she should allow her research to be used to save the realm's ungrateful rulers while the victims of their callousness go unmourned. Her counter-offer is as brutal as it is poetic: Let the sickness at the heart of the kingdom devour those who benefit from it, and let the future come as it may.

Art 1

Art 2

[haleandwellmet]

✨️a star fell into the field outside of my apartment and now it won't stop yelling - an acrylic gouache painting by me✨️

reminder that if you like my art you can get sketches from me in exchange for donation receipts to gazan gofundmes via google form here or kofi here

[vilintux]

It's 1.30 AM and I cannot fall asleep so here are some BB Heirons headcanons:

) Stefan used to cry easily, but learned how to control it.

) Jesper loves hugs but is scared to ask for them.

) Stig is crazy over head pats (Hal likes to tease him bc of that).

) Ofc Ingvar is a cudlle bug.

) The heroins like to wear matching costumes on Halloween, but they don't always do that.

) when Thorn was a kid, he liked to collect pretty rocks and seashells.

) little Edvin got hit by a rock in the eye and got a black/blue eye, so now he is afraid... of... flying rocks???

) Jesper wishes on Dandelions.

) Lydia has a friend who died saving her (IM SORRY-).

) Hal is very VERY ticklish.

) Ulf and Wulf loved playing hide and seek with each other, just because they would always find the other twin and claim that they are better (Twin magic).

Edit: some people liked this post at night. DO YOU PEOPLE DON'T SLEEP?

[deconreconstruction]

Update: Act 3 Act 1: Pgs. 2345-2347

[banneduserthechaogardener]

I started Heiron finally. The f@tt crew sounds so funny and goofy with their 2014 ass sound quality lol

So far my fav bit is detect evil just popping "oh Hella's evil" each time

[morninkim]

Five years ago, Wren MacGowan was an ordinary farm kid from a small town who ran away to join an adventuring academy.

Now, after pretending to be nobleborn for a few months, a potential war, a military invasion of the school, an ongoing clone conspiracy, a god-like being known as "Salvation", dropping out of school, half a decade in isolation from their friends, and a lesbian situationship with a traumatized Rogue, Wren must prepare to face a new, but old, threat that has been left alone too long: themself.

[sweet-chimera]

Your bravery only serves as amusement, intrigue. And being amusing will only keep you alive for so long.

[podcastingpineapple]

You know what I find kinda funny? The spelling of Hieron. Because that is a finnish word and it means "I am massaging".

It does help a little that they say it differently ("Hi Ron"!).

But every time i type it I am like... is it "hei ron" (finnish for "Hi Ron") or "hieron"

[marymoon123]

Pessoal desculpa meu inglês ;_; eu sou Brasileira🇧🇷 tá péssimo mas enfim o heiron ele estava triste seu avô falecido então meu irmão ele deu flores na cabeça dele é para não sentir triste espero que vocês gostem ah tbm eu gosto muito de gay 😏🏳‍🌈

[grandmagbignaturals]

My good friend @slowmo-cowboy is listening to the trial arc in AiH for the first time and wanted fero to have a little lawyer suit and now I also want fero to have a little lawyer suit has anyone drawn this i need it in my life so badly

[the-smallest-star]

@gin-n-chthonic​

Yes! So many ways to wear it up and down. You could curl it or let it hang. I like pulling mine back into a bun while I work. Plus it's just so gender. Y'know?

“... so... gender?”

[dailyadventureprompts]

Deity: Heironeous, The Vindicator

Let our hands never falter, sparing evil the sword Let our hearts never waiver, letting weakness take root Let our march never end, lest the task be left undone

Champions, zealots, fools. All these words describe the followers of Heironeous; patron god of those blinded by duty and self righteousness. From the guards who rough up vagrants for the sake of social order, to the patriotic songs sung by soldiers on the way to invade a land they've never seen, to the teacher who’s convinced they can instruct through pain, because sparing the rod really does spoil the child.

It is a terrifying thing after all to be in the wrong, to have no easy answers, to be filled with doubt, and so the Archpaladin and his clergy intercede to provide the fearful populace with direction, with easy answers, and with scapegoats when necessary.

Adventure Hooks:

The party are asked by some troubled parents to look in on the local chapterhouse of the Invincible Vanguard, who took over for the town's royal garrison some years ago. A number of youths, bored of life in their sleepy little town decided to sign up with the Vanguard a few months past and have not been seen since. The Heironeian are cagey to say the least, but through their investigation the party might stumble across the same awful secret the kids did during their initiation, as well as their ultimate fate.

A beast rampages through the countryside, sowing fear, destruction, and rumour wherever it goes. Defeating it is no easy task, but one of the local lords is willing to pay a high price should the party bring him its head as proof. Imagine their surprise when a few days later a group of Heironeian paladins are paraded through the street carrying THEIR trophy aloft, claiming all the credit and with that same lord backing their claims. It seems the party has been part of a cruel PR stunt, however will they make this right?

A series of inexplicable mishaps and borderline disasters that plague a frontier village have come to a head with one of the Vindicator's itinerant preachers convinces the locals that devilry is the source of their woes, pointing the blacksmith's tiefling apprentice. It's up to the party to prevent the kid from getting strung up, and make the villagers see reason before there's an out and out witchhunt on their hands.

Setup: From the outside, with the perspective of history, it’s easy enough to see that there’s something wrong with faith of Heironeous, how their temples and icons venerate violence, whether it be martial glory or the suffering of martyrs that needed to be avenged. How their liturgy teaches the faithful that sympathy to outsiders, questions to authority, even the smallest of doubts are weaknesses to be overcome.

But the Heironeans are the ones fighting off the monsters encroaching on your village when the baron won’t pay for garrisons or adventurers, and it’s their priests who come to hand out food to the hungry and say there’s work the town over building their new fortress, and it’s their inquisitors who stand in the market square telling the crowd that all the awful things that happened these past few years is the fault of sinful, faithless rulers, and if only they could be led by righteous men (and it is always men) and expel the social parasites then truly this realm could be one beloved by the gods. 

That’s the grift, the Heironeans seize on a crisis or a fear and offer to put your life on a better track, nevermind that it’s a permanent war footing where you and your family and neighbours are conscripted to roles based on how you’d be most useful, and disagreement amounts to insubordination.

Heironeans say they’re justified of course because evil is always out there, the one true evil, Hextor, the grotesque, six armed lord of bloodshed and suffering who wishes to make slaves or corpses of all the world and the heavens besides. He is jealous of Heironeous you see, his twin brother, who is propheciesed to be the only one who can defeat him. Hextor never rests, always spawning more evil in the world, and anyone could be his follower without even knowing it... all they’d need to do is work to subvert the will of the archpaladin and they’d be abetting the scourge.  You don’t want to be an agent of evil do you? Then tithe to the church, enlist in the vanguard, obey your betters, marry early and within your kind and have more children to carry on the fight when you are too week, raise them up right, kneel when you are told, submit. Do all these things and the Vindicator will know you are good, and worth fighting for, and will forgive your mortal failings. 

There is a deeper lore, behind even what the faithful or even most of their leaders know:  that Heironeous and Hextor are the same being. Sometimes it is the monster wearing the golden hero like a mask, sometimes it is the bright and radiant warrior casting a most wicked shadow, sometimes it is simply that the god of war and slaughter has two faces, fair and foul, both righteous, both tyrannical, both hungering for blood.

The cult of Hextor is a secret order within the faith, membership offered only to those chosen by their god or those that see the worship of the archpaladin for what it really is: Violence for the sake of power, power for the sake of violence. They are secretive, deflecting rumours of their existence onto puppets and figureheads that they manipulate, going so far as to create false-cults to the Scourge to draw the faithful’s attention and ire. Any fault in the church can be blamed on Hextorian infiltration, any opponent that challenges them is but an agent of the Scourge.

  Titles:  The invincible, the vindicator, the archpaladin / the scourge, the herald of hells

Signs:  Oddly serene visions of violence and pain, wounds or blood on the image or relics of martyrs or weapons of champions, prophetic nightmares about the victory of Hextor.

Symbols:  A white hand or clapsed around a silver lightning bolt/ a black gauntlet clutched around six red arrows

Inspiration: Cruelty cloaked in the guise of righteousness is not an original concept but after writing  about how d&d has weird habit of using a frankly childlike view of morality in order to justify its violence  the same way that IRL hategroups do, I wanted to play around with the concept. 

Likewise, I felt my campaigns needed a solid “badguy with the aesthetic of goodguy” villain and I was tired of using overzealous followers of the dawnfather or bahamut to fill out the roster.  Specifically, rather than bad people in service to an ostensibly good god (who are objectively real in the setting and thus would try to oust the bad apples), I wanted to create an evil god that used the trappings of goodness to dupe average people into doing bad, the same way that has happened over and over again historically in our own world.

 I ended up choosing Heironeous for this villain makeover because like a lot of other default d&d deities I find the base form of him painfully one note, he’s the paladin god of paladins and he has hero IN HIS NAME. That said, he has a twin brother Hextor, god of war and tyrants that serves as his dark mirror and there’s thematic meat in that... Merging the two into one god gives us this delicious setup where the theology of Heironeous creates the problem and sells the solution, benefiting no matter who wins in the supposed cosmic power struggle.

Art

[deconreconstruction]

Update: Act 3 Act 1: Pgs. 2333-2337

[fiovske]

Hello, you got me to listen to Sangfielle and i just finished it. It was an amazing season the world is stunning, the music, the intros austin does, the monsters, the small and large scale polts and the way they chose to represent the interviews at the gates of sapodia really blew me away. I didn't have any experiences with ttrpg that are not dnd, so it is so good to see how much better games are out there. I want to listen to the seasons of hieron next but i don't know where marielda fits in that worlds in canon timeline. I tried to look it up but i did not want to be spoiled, so if you don't mind telling me when should i listen to marielda if i want to listen to it in the canon timeline? Thank you for geting me to listen to this podcast!! (and pickman my beloved, i live near a train track so any time i see or hear trains my head and heart are filled with thoughts of her)

hi!! I love that you enjoyed sangfielle! it was kind of my proper intro to friends at the table like one that I started while it was airing and managed to keep up with it (most of the time) so it holds a very special place in my heart!! yes yess the gates of sapodilla were. nervewracking and the intro for sapodilla is honestly one of THEE best intros I've ever heard that editing was fantastic I'm halfway on my way to go relisten to it again!!

as for where to start Seasons of Heiron, I will admit mine is very unconventional. I started w Marielda, enjoyed it as a standalone season bc the hooks and worldbuilding was extremely gripping! then after I finished it and clearly wanted more of that universe, i went back to Autumn in Heiron and listened to it for the first time. i haven't finished it fully (yet) but I was gripped by the Marielda bug and had to go relisten to it all over again and this time I could grasp the tidbits and references and jawdrop moments with a much more refined appreciation!

all this to say, I would suggest starting w Autumn! then doing Marielda and then Winter and then Spring, Autumn might be a bit choppy bc the audio isn't as refined and they're still figuring out what kind of podcast they want to make, but it is extremely endearing and I have found myself grinning at odd moments at references they don't even know is gonna be funny yet in the future. If you love the friends at the table and are a fan of the players, I am sure you will enjoy Autumn!