Heroes of Cantha

Description
Throughout the long history of Cantha, there have been many heroes. Some of the greatest or most well-known amongst them attain a legendary status to the people of Cantha. After the deaths of these legendary heroes, their ashes were all consecrated in Tahnnakai Temple, and their spirits continue to roam its halls, providing guidance to all its visitors, until a time comes for them to finally pass on.

The Heroes
Each of these heroes has a place in Tahnakai Temple, and a Stone Pedestal details their achievements, shown in the sections below.

Jaizhanju

 * Jaizhanju was an exceptionally tall and very strong young Warrior who lived over three hundred years ago. Orphaned at birth and self-trained, Jaizhanju travelled Cantha and single-handedly defeated bands of monsters that threatened villages all over the countryside. When the emperor invited her to visit him in the Forbidden City so he could reward her, she arrived days late, having stopped to defend an orphanage from a skale invasion. Standing before the emperor's throne, she refused his proferred reward, and instead offered her sword and her life in exchange for the insult of her tardiness. The bemused emperor refused her offer, and Jaizhanju continued to defend the weak until her death five years later, by which time legends numbered her kills in the tens of thousands. The emperor himself petitioned the Oracle to give her a place in the Tahnnakai Temple, and so it was.

Kaolai

 * When the gods walked Tyria a thousand years ago, the Ritualist Kaolai, an old man even then, challenged Balthazar to a game of Nui in exchange for sparing a village that had offended the god through some long-forgotten breach of etiquette. Balthazar laughingly accepted and the game began. Seven days later it ended with Kaolai the winner; the villagers were spared. But in a fit of anger, Balthazar slew Kaolai. Afterward, in a rare gesture of sportsmanship, the god ordered Kaolai inducted into Tahnnakai Temple.

Karei

 * Karei was a powerful healer who lived seven hundred years ago. For most of his life, he tended a small village in northern Cantha, curing ills and setting broken bones, refusing pay and accepting only food and basic supplies from the community. One day a wealthy Canthan noble and his small entourage passed by Karei's village and were attacked by bandits in the nearby woods. The noble suffered a grievous wound, and after killing the bandits, his guards brought him to Karei, who healed him easily. When the wealthy man attempted to pay him in gold, the Monk refused. Next the noble offered Karei employment on his lavish estate; again the Monk refused. Finally, the noble offered to give the Monk great powers that would make him a god among men, but Karei would not be moved. Smiling, the noble stood and let his cloak fall away, and as he did, he was transformed into a beautiful woman. The goddess Dwayna herself stood before Karei and placed a hand upon his head. "Thrice I have tempted you and thrice you have resisted. I choose you." Called by his goddess, Karei could not refuse his new appointment as Master of the Kaziin Monastery, where he lived out his days training young Monks and healing any sick or broken who came his way. Upon his death, Dwayna herself inducted him into Tahnnakai.

Kitah

 * Three hundred years ago, when the Canthan port of Dinfang was invaded by the people then known only as the "naitahlen" or pirates, the Canthan army sent a small force stationed at nearby Fort Fu to put down what they saw as nothing more than a pack of rabid dogs. When young Kitah arrived with her troops, she discovered that an organized invasion was underway, led by the naitahlen admiral, Appollonia. Severely outnumbered and outgunned, the Mesmer created a cloud of illusion that made her squadron appear to be double in size, then redouble, then redouble again until her force appeared a great army. As she ordered the charge, the naitahlen scattered in terror, many running into the sea and drowning themselves. In the midst of the chaos, Kitah found Appollonia, a Warrior, and the two fought until both fell down dead on the battlefield. Dinfang was ultimately saved, and Kitah inducted into the Tahnnakai Temple.

Naku

 * Brash and impulsive in his youth, Naku was a known criminal in his home village in eastern Cantha. When the Tengu Wars began, Naku joined the Canthan army in an effort to protect his family and his shady business interests. Years of war gave him a new perspective on the nature of life and death, and eventually, Naku became a respected general, using his now considerable Necromancer powers against the Tengu who resisted Canthan rule. When Kahnmaatu, the village of his birth, was destroyed, Naku returned home and raised a vast army of minions from the corpses of his relatives and childhood playmates, then sacrificed his life to drive them directly into the enemy. This action shattered enemy lines and pushed the Tengu back far enough that the Canthan army was able to overcome them.

Teinai

 * One hundred years ago, a demon came to Cantha. He was called Mang, and he found himself flesh after a foolish young Necromancer named Juedo attempted a forbidden ritual and succeeded against all odds. For years Mang terrorized the countryside despite the best efforts of Cantha's premiere mages to outsmart him. One winter day, Teinai, then a bold young student, approached her headmaster with a plan. the next day Teinai herself lured Mang to the shore of a great lake, the surface of which was frozen solid. She walked out onto the ice, and Mang followed, eventually reaching the center while Teinai continued to the other shore. As he did, Teinai raised her hand, and fire rained down upon Mang, melting the ice beneath him. He plunged into the icy lake and Teinai shrieked a command; the lake froze solid around Mang's thrashing form, and he was trapped. Now lightning and boulders finished the job only Teinai had known how to begin, and Mang was returned to the Underworld. Teinai, after a long and successful life as an Elementalist, was ensconced in Tahnnakai Temple.

Togo

 * Formerly known as Master Togo, Master of Shing Jea Monastery, Togo was inducted into Tahnnakai Temple with the new title "Defender of Cantha". During his lifetime, Togo helped improve relations between the Canthans and the Tengu, and as master of Shing Jea Monastery, he trained many students whose heroic deeds have yet to be written. When the Betrayer Shiro Tagachi returned from the Mists, Togo worked tirelessly to ascertain Shiro's plan and prevent its success. Breaking down the barriers of culture, Togo was also responsible for helping to unite the Kurzick and Luxon nations in the battle against Shiro, which ultimately lead to the Betrayer's final defeat. Togo was slain by Shiro while defending Emperor Kisu's life.

Vizu

 * Two hundred years ago, a young but talented Assassin known as Vizu gave her life protecting the emperor. While attending to the Harvest Festival, Vizu chanced to lock eyes with the emperor's main bodyguard, and what she saw there chilled her to the bone. Acting on a premonition, she began to make her way through the tightly packed crowds and closer to the temple. Before she could reach it, however, an alarm was sounded and she heard the sounds of a fight from the tower where emperor Angsiyan was to have made his blessing to Dwayna. Using the tools of her profession, she shadow stepped to the tower, where she saw Shiro standing over the emperor's body, feeding off of his life force. She called to him and then, using the last reserves of her energy, shadow stepped behind him, digging her daggers into his shoulders. Vizu's brave move provided the Kurzick and Luxon champions the time they needed to get to the tower, and they finished off the Betrayer using his own blades, which he had dropped when Vizu attacked. Unfortunately, Vizu was killed when Shiro's death wail washed over the lands in what has since become known as the Jade Wind.

Zojun

 * ''Five hundred years ago, Canthan forests began, one-by-one, to shrivel and turn black, all life within them sucked dry. Zojun, a legendary Ranger even then, sought to discover the cause of the forests' destruction and eventually discovered that an evil wizard, Magadore, was sucking life from Cantha's forests and converting it to magical energy, which he planned to use to power a great magical war against the Canthan emperor. Zojun called upon his fellow Rangers, and together they swept through Cantha's remaining forests, charming every beast of any size that crossed their path. Legends tell of a great bestial army that thundered across the land and grew in size until every creature in Cantha had joined its ranks. When the Rangers and their allies arrived at the entrance to Magadore's lair, the sheer weight of their numbers collapsed the earth and Magadore was crushed beneath them. The life he had stolen rose up out of the ground and returned to the forests, which instantly flourished once again."