Heironeous

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Greyhawk Deity
Heironeous
Title(s) The Archpaladin, the Invincible, the Valorous Knight
Home Plane Seven Mounting Heavens of Celestia
Power Level Intermediate
Alignment Lawful Good
Portfolio Chivalry, Justice, Honor, War, Daring, Valor
Domains Law, Good, Nobility, Planning, War
Alias(es) none
Superior none

In the World of Greyhawk campaign setting and the default pantheon of deities for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Heironeous is the Oeridian god of Chivalry, Justice, Honor, War, Daring, and Valor. His holy symbol is a silver lightning bolt, often clutched in a fist.

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[edit] Description

Heironeous appears as a tall human man in a full robe of chainmail so fine that it moves with him like cloth. He has auburn hair and skin the color of copper, and is impervious to all but the mightiest weapons due to a secret solution known as meersalm. His signature weapon is a great magical battleaxe, though he has recently taken to the longsword.

[edit] Relationships

The half-brother and sworn enemy of Hextor, Heironeous is the son of Stern Alia, the goddess of Oeridan Culture, Motherhood, and Law. Another brother, Stratis, is mentioned in literature for the Chainmail miniatures game in Dragon Magazine #285, but he is deceased.

Heironeous considers all other gods who stand against evil to be allies, while those deities who promote suffering and evil he regards as foes. His strong adherence to Law sometimes brings Heironeous into conflict with Trithereon. Heironeous is on very good terms with Murlynd, a paladin whom he sponsored to godhood.

[edit] Dogma

Heironeous sees the world as a deadly place, filled with perpetual challenges and trials for those who battle for justice and defend the weak and innocent. His followers should always act with honor and chivalry, and to uphold justice. Danger is to be faced head-on, with calm and resolve. Those who defeat evil are rewarded with Glory, while those who uphold the tenets of the Arch-paladin are rewarded with Virtue. The Arch-paladin's teachings have been codified in a chivalric code known as the Heironean Code.

[edit] The Heironean Code

The Heironean Code consists of three sets of duties:

  • Duty to the People. This duty stresses courage, justice, mercy, valor, protection of the weak, and faithfulness to church superiors of officer of righteous law.
  • Duty to the Arch-paladin. This duty stresses obedience to Heironeous himself, devotion to the church, generosity, championing good against evil, putting the needs of the church and the faith above those of mortals.
  • Duty to a Lady. This duty pertains to the concept of courtly love, devotion to one's beloved, and respect toward all women in general.

[edit] Scriptures

A number of holy texts are venerated by the faith of Heironeous. The best-known work is likely The Book of the Code, a four-chapter work outlining the Heironean Code and providing examples of how one is expected to follow it. Another well-known work is the Book of Penitence (also known as the Just Book), which describes the achievements of Ferrante, a legendary paladin who is now venerated as a saint by some Heironean sects.

[edit] Worshippers

The faith of Heironeous is a very militaristic one, launching crusades against evil and championing causes. As one would expect, many soldiers, city watchmen, mercenaries, and others who make their living by the sword find themselves honoring the Archpaladin.

[edit] Clergy

Priests of Heironeous often travel the world on orders from their superiors to seek out and destroy evil. Older priests often work as strategists, military instructors, or judges. Several of the faith's most powerful clerics, seeking to gain the benefits of meersalm, have had themselves embalmed alive with the substance, though some have not survived the ritual. Their favored weapons are the longsword and battleaxe.

[edit] Paladins

Large numbers of paladins in the Flanaess follow Heironeous, as he himself is one. Because of this, and his utter dedication to Law and Good, paladins of Heironeous can be among the most devout, albeit overbearing, people on the Material Plane. The ancient Oeridian hero Arnd of Tdon is credited with establishing the first order of paladins among the Oeridian tribes before the Great Migrations. The hero-deity Murlynd was also paladin of Heironeous, and his order of White Paladins is actually part of Heironeous's ecclesiastical hierarchy.

[edit] Temples

Temples, chapels, and shrines to Heironeous can be found throughout the Flanaess. His church is the favored state religion of Nyrond and the Shield Lands, and his faith is also strong in Bissel, Furyondy, Gran March, the Free City of Irongate, Keoland, Sterich, and the County of Urnst. Notable houses of worship include the Sanctum of Heironeous in Greyhawk City, as well as a chapel at Diamond Lake.

[edit] Holy days

The church of Heironeous celebrates only a few major holy days, which usually mark the anniversaries of great battles, significant triumphs over evil, and visitations by the Archpaladin.

  • The Day of Just Rebellion. This holy day, held late in Coldeven, commemorates the battles fought to free Almor from the oppressive rule of the Great Kingdom.
  • Fortnight's Feast. This two-week event lasts from late Wealsun to early Reaping, and celebrates the victories of the Heironean armies of the Kingdom of Aerdy over Nyrondal cavalry during the Battle of a Fortnight's Length.
  • Valormight. Held on one of the last days in Ready'reat, this holy day predates the founding of the Great Kingdom. Valormight commemorates a ten-month war in which Heironean forces are said to have been outnumbered six to one by Hextorians, yet still managed to confine the Hextorians to the lands east of the Flanmi River.

[edit] Myths and legends

[edit] Sibling rivalry

Heironeous and his half-brother Hextor were both born to Stern Alia, called the Shield Mother, goddess of Oeridian Culture, Motherhood, and Law. Alia had many lovers, and was often out visiting them even after the births of her sons. When Heironeous was born, his skin was anointed with a special salve called meersalm that made him virtually invulnerable. Hextor was not given this salve, and as a result he was always weaker in battle than his brother.

Even so, at first the brothers were not enemies, though their differing temperaments gradually became clear. When Savnok, a servant of the brothers, stole the armor of Stern Alia and used its power to set up a dictatorship in the mortal world, Hextor's instinct was to hide Savnok's body (after he had killed him with one of his mother's arrows), put the weapons and armor back, and pretend nothing had happened. Heironeous' instincts were to tell the truth to his mother and face the consequences, but his desire to protect his weaker brother caused him to uncomfortably acquiesce to the scheme.

As they grew older, their opposite natures made them rivals. Frustrated at his relative weakness, Hextor made a bargain with the Lords of Evil, gaining two new pairs of arms grafted on to his torso. From then on, he and Heironeous were equals in combat.

Initially, their rivalry was viewed as healthy for the Oeridian culture. The followers of the respective gods would struggle to outdo one another, to prove that their respective philosophies were superior. This would drive the culture as a whole to greater and greater heights. Since the Turmoil Between Crowns (437-446 CY), a civil war in the Great Kingdom of Aerdy, the faith of Heironeous has been marginalized there, powerful champions of Heironeous have defected to Nyrond and other neighboring states, and the two brothers have become patrons of different nations locked in hatred for one another.

[edit] The Chalice of Heironeous

What is probably the nadir of their rivalry is told in a secret myth known only to the highest echelons of the Order of the Chalice, a branch of the knights of Heironeous. Most believe the Chalice to be a powerful relic of Heironeous's faith somehow lost to Dispater. The masters of the order, the Lightning Councilors, know that the Chalice of Heironeous is actually the daughter of Heironeous, a young goddess-angel kidnapped by Hextor and given over to Dispater in order to shirk responsibility for his deed. The Order of the Chalice was founded a thousand years ago in order to find a way to rescue the Chalice and reunite her with her father.

[edit] Creative origins

Heironeous was created by E. Gary Gygax for his World of Greyhawk campaign setting. Heironeous, with his invulnerable skin, is somewhat inspired by Achilles of Greek myth. His brother Hextor, then, is somewhat of a pastiche of Hector, also from the Iliad, though reinterpreted as a force of evil to Heironeous's good.

[edit] References