Xalian Age (Patronage Supplement)

The Xalian Age followed the Chaotic Age and preceded the Juzhian Age.

The Xalian Age was a time of camaraderie among legendary heroes.

The Chaotic Age was a clash of Empires, but the Xalian Age was an Age of Heroes. Mythical legendary individuals accomplished extraordinary successes, and failures, in this age. During this time, nearly every race, base and noble fielded a legendary hero that inspires this race even today. The great iconic heroes of each race are:

• The deva Xalia took command of a brand new Alabastrian Empire, absorbed the remnants of the Eastern Kingdom, conquered the Sarrun Empire in a bloodless coup, and had an age named after her.
• The dwarf Khaidu left the Fire Mountains and challenged any and all comers to brawl with him. During his legendary travels, he swam to the Mongrel Island and beat the Anthropophage at the Great Hunt, he out-riddled a Titan, and he helped design the Wall for the Second Empire. The only person to ever best him in a brawl was the equally legendary sparti Echion.
• The eidolon Belizha took command of the Alabastrian Empire when Xalia was captured, personally oversaw the construction of a new fleet of ships for the Empires, and commanded the fleet in its victory over the Second Empire. After the war, she took her flagship and personally kept the Nereid Sea free of pirates and raids by merfolk for several decades. Sailors -- even pirates -- regale their crews of Belizha, the greatest captain who ever lived.
• The elf Amaura was the greatest of archers and equestrians. She spoke the language of horses and could shoot an apple from a tree at 100 paces while standing on her steed at full gallop. She outraced the Summer King's stallion on the least of his own mares. She out distanced the Summer Queen with a bow she shot using only her toes. She bested the Autumn Queen by shooting every leaf from a tree with only five arrows. (The Queen required seven.) She bested the Winter King in a drinking contest. And she even captured the two Wild Fey using the four prizes she won from each of the Fey Monarchs. Her adventures are memorized by elven children.
• The genasi Alamera was a sorceress who mastered the manipulation of the Mists. Outcast from her forge, she became a master thief. She was known to steal a wondrous item from each forge and then find a mortal in the free kingdoms to whom she would gift it. It is said that the first mantle of Ramhead was a gift from Amaura to the Unchained City.
• The ghilan Margor defied his Patrons and an empire, gave his people a purpose and engaged in remarkable acts of bravery and adventure.
• The goblin Ashok confronted the Anthropophagi as they left Artifice after torturing and killing Empress Bahra. Ashok demanded that they at least allow her body to recieve appropriate burial. Intrigued by the goblin's audacity, the Patrons agreed, but only if the goblin could accomplish nine legendary tasks, each requiring him to enter a different Patron Realm. The clever means with which Ashok accomplished each of the tasks is a favorite topic for bards and minstrels.
• The goliath Ardasha rode the last Dragon into battle, founded a dynasty, and inspired a continent. She was strong, smart, and honorable.
• The half-orc Yuko pretended to be an Oni when her Patron disappeared. She singlehandedly kept her Patron's army together and even fooled other Oni into believing she was one of them. When her Patron eventually returned from parts unknown, it tried to have her killed. Yuko stole away in the middle of the night, and it is said she took the Oni's secret of immortality with her. Even today, it is said, she will appear in the Free Kingdoms and the Green Lands to save mortals who are terrorized by the Oni.
• The halfling Dario defied the Vologasian Dynasty with daring raids that re-inspired the race to follow the teachings of ancient Lucinda. His tales of adventure and thieving are legendary. At one point, he is rumored to have had stolen all three of Lucinda's artifacts (the crown, throne and scepter), as well as the Evararm.
• The human Jonnan started not one, but three rebellions, and apparently in three different centuries, against the most powerful Empire the world has ever known. He did it with only a few hundred followers each time.
• The orc Anyu arose at a time when the Dead March arose from the strip of land between the Nereid Sea and the Ochre Mountains. Anyu was a member of a village on the northwestern corner of the nereid Sea when the undead attacked. It is said he had just finished a cord of firewood. While his fellow villagers fled in terror, he stood with his hatchet and a stack of wood, and singlehandedly stopped an entire horde of zombies, although his wife and five children were lost. He spend the next ten years patrolling the shores of the Sea, fighting undead, and disappeared in the midst of the March. It is said that mindless undead how appear to have a face frozen in fear is because they have seen Anyu in the March, still slaughtering the undead hordes.
• The shedu Grastra supposedly won her freedom from her Patron by engaging in personal combat with each of his champion hunters. She so terrified the Anthropophagi with the savagery of her victory, that he acceded to her request that she be unleashed on the Free Kingdoms. At first, she was a monster, slaying all in her wake, until she was supposedly confronted by Echion, Khaidu, Dario, and Ashok, convinced to become more civilized and then joined their band on a series of mythic adventures.
• The sparti Echion almost singlehandedly defended the Blackscale Swamp from incursions by the Free Kingdoms of the day. He established the swamp as a haven for all reptilian humanoids, and preserved his people. When the Free Kingdoms demands the right to build a road through the heart of the swamp, Echion said he would allow it only if he could be bested in single combat. He defeated each hero sent to him, including the legendary dwarf Khaidu. They fought for three days and nights, and afterwards, Khaidu said he would personally kill whomever violated the Swamp's boundaries. Khaidu and Echion (sometimes in the company of other adventurers like Dario) traveled together for ten years before parting ways.
• The ravin Ellothia swam the Savage Sound, befriended the sparti, and wrote fanciful childrens' fables of her life on Mongrel island that delight children even today. (However, she also wrote a series of more terrifying tales of the Wild Hunt and the savagery of the Anthropophagi that are still used to scare children and adults.)

The death of Xalia brought with it a new Emperor and a new age named after him: the Juzhian Age.

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