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Key Figures of the Hero Wars

Posted on January 5, 2023

We know that a lot of the Hero Wars gets driven by a several key figures:

Red Emperor. He’s a mortal holding the office of a god. A war leader, a magician, and the head of an empire. He’s inescapable in the setting, and baked into the present and the past (or as King of Sartar puts it “Being”).

Argrath. A mortal who is on the path to godhood. A magician, a war leader, and someone who is forging a new empire. He’s also inescapable in the setting, but of growing relevance in the future (or as King of Sartar puts it, “Becoming”).

Then we have three figures who are terrifying beings that are truly part mortal and part god. They smash things up and change the setting. We have:

Jar-eel the Razoress, a figure like Babalon, the Scarlet Woman, or Inanna, the living embodiment of both the positive and negative features of civilization and the Lunar Way. She’s already present and doing things in the Lunar Empire right now and shows up in Dragon Pass in 1628.

Harrek the Berserk, a figure like a savage Heracles, Gilgamesh, Achilles, Conan, etc. He’s the living embodiment of wanton savagery and barbarism, but also of fearless heroism. He’s already present and doing things at the edge of Dragon Pass right now.

Androgeus, the Twins manifested in one body, but in Disorder rather than Harmony. A disruptive figure – strife bringer, avenger of the oppressed, drawn to conflict and perpetuator of it. They are not present yet, but coming.

These characters form the Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, Merlin, and Mordred figures in the setting. Just like in Pendragon, players rarely want the responsibility of those roles.

[Yes there are also other characters like the Feathered Horse Queen, Gunda, Beat-Pot, Jaldon, etc., but they are like Percival, Tristan, Lady of the Lake, Galahad figures, or are tightly linked to another key figure.]

As a writer, these characters are as baked into the setting as is the Red Moon, Orlanth, or the Lunar Empire. You can decide to dump any or all of them, after all YGWV, but they are present in everything Chaosium publishes, even if a book doesn’t mention them.

Your player-characters can have stories that weave around these characters, directly interact with them, ignore them, supplement them, or even replace them (if you want to have one of your player-characters become the next Red Emperor, go for it, although that’s unlikely ever to be a path in published products). Present these characters as moral exemplars, villains, whatever – I personally view all of them as heroes, in the classical sense. They straddle the world of men and gods, which usually means they do great AND terrible things.

This is a hard thing for many people to wrap their head around. The Red Emperor, Argrath, Harrek, Jar-eel, etc., they are villains and saviours depending on whose story is being told. But in every tale they inspire awe (even if it dreadful).

Jeff Richard

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Androgeus, Argrath, Harrek, Hero Wars, Jar-eel, Red Emperor

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