Diomedes

Diomedes

Diomedes (Dio) is a fallen empyrean and son of the Morninglord Lathander, who descended from Heaven into the mortal plane and became a central figure in Westwynd’s early history. Once an avatar of divine order and rebirth, his fall into the frozen lands of Volanda marked the beginning of a violent transformation from celestial prince to mortal conqueror. Through a series of crusades and conflicts, Dio rose as both warlord and god-king, founding the city of Sparksborough and reshaping mortal religion through the rise of Dioism, a faith that alternates between worship of him as a living god and reverence for his father. His legacy is defined by conquest, miraculous violence, and a persistent ideological struggle over whether divinity belongs to the heavens or has been claimed by the mortal world through his existence.

Symbols

• Rising Sun of Lathander
• Side Profile of Dio’s helmed face
• Imperial Solar Crown

Dogma

The dominant faith of the early mortal world in Westwynd was Lathandarism, the worship of the Morninglord, Lathander, and his divine children. Lathandarism taught that the world was a cycle of renewal: dawn following darkness, life following death, and civilization emerging through divine guidance. Its core values emphasized rebirth, order through light, and the sanctity of divine hierarchy, with mortals expected to remain beneath celestial authority while benefitting from its guidance. Within this framework, divine beings were revered as shepherds of creation rather than its subjects, guiding mortal kind toward harmony without direct domination. Within Sparksborough, the emergence of Diomedes’ authority and the expansion of his crusading host led to the gradual formation of a rival theological interpretation that would later be identified as Dioism. Rather than rejecting Lathander outright, early Dioism reinterpreted divine legitimacy through proximity and action, elevating Diomedes as the “Living Dawn” and the most immediate expression of divine will within the mortal world. Temples in Sparksborough began to reflect this shift, retaining Lathanderic foundations while increasingly centering Diomedes as the focal point of ritual, law, and civic identity. The ruling doctrine of Sparksborough eventually came to assert that divine legitimacy was proven through action, conquest, and the ability to reshape reality itself. Statues of Lathander remained present, but were increasingly overshadowed by iconography of Diomedes as an active, embodied force of creation and rebirth. This theological shift created a lasting internal conflict within Diomedes. As his followers increasingly elevated him as a divine figure, he oscillated between accepting Dioism as a necessary unifying force for stabilizing fractured mortal nations and rejecting it outright in favor of Lathander, insisting he was only an instrument of the Morninglord’s will. This unresolved contradiction became one of the defining tensions of his rule in Sparksborough: whether divinity had legitimately been recentered in the mortal world through Diomedes, or whether it must remain anchored in Lathander as its true source. As a result, Dioism remained inherently unstable—caught between devotion to Diomedes as a god and the continual denial of that very status.

History

First Son of Lathander Diomedes was the first son born to the Morninglord, Lathander, and the only known child conceived between a god and a mortal woman, Tyche. Unlike most divine offspring, who were fashioned through the combined will of deities, Diomedes was born naturally, embodying the Morninglord's newly realized domain of fertility and the promise that every new life carried limitless potential. Though beloved by his father, Diomedes never found peace within Heaven. The celestial realm was free from death, suffering, and true conflict, a paradise perfectly suited to angels who had been created without want or ambition. Diomedes, burdened with the soul of both god and man, found such perfection unbearable. While angels delighted in endless serenity, he hungered for challenge, purpose, and struggle. From childhood, he devoted himself to the Dawnfire Amphitheater, becoming Heaven's greatest gladiator. Victory after victory transformed him into a living legend, his likeness immortalized in statues, murals, and songs throughout the celestial city. Yet beneath the glory grew dangerous flaws. Defeat filled him not with humility but obsession, and every rival became an enemy to overcome. The death of his mortal mother, Tyche, only deepened this obsession. When Lathander refused to intervene and save her from plague, citing the sacred law that the gods must never interfere in mortal affairs, Diomedes' faith in Heaven began to fracture. His growing pride culminated during his duel against the celebrated arch-deva Remiel. Rather than accepting honorable defeat, Diomedes surrendered himself to wrath, nearly killing Remiel in what had once been a sport without bloodshed. The violence forever changed the culture of gladiatorial combat in Heaven and strained his relationship with his father, who sought to temper his son's growing arrogance through discipline rather than punishment. As the years passed, Diomedes lost both his title and his purpose to his younger half-brother, Nasicus, whose unwavering devotion to duty stood in stark contrast to Diomedes' passionate spirit. Rejected from joining Heaven's armies and denied the opportunity to prove himself beyond the arena, Diomedes came to believe that Heaven had no place for one born with mortal blood.

The Breaking of Heaven Unable to reconcile Heaven's perfection with the suffering he had witnessed among mortals, Diomedes resolved to abandon Paradise forever. Under cover of night, he journeyed to the Gates of Heaven—the colossal entrance connecting the celestial realm to the World Tree and the mortal plane below. There he was confronted by Nasicus, Heaven's appointed gate watcher, whose divine duty was to prevent any soul from leaving without permission. Soon after, Helena arrived, pleading with her brother to return before his decision condemned him to mortality. Diomedes refused. The confrontation erupted into one of the most infamous battles in celestial history. Fighting both siblings simultaneously, Diomedes endured countless wounds while refusing to strike Helena with lethal intent. Instead, he focused every ounce of his strength against Nasicus, breaking two of his brother's arms before pinning him to the World Branch with his own javelin. In an act remembered as the first true sacrilege committed in Heaven, Diomedes tore away Nasicus' wings and cast him from the bridge into the depths of Hell. As Helena descended after their fallen brother, the alarms of Heaven sounded throughout the celestial city. With the hosts of Heaven converging upon him, Diomedes hurled himself into the sealed Gates. The divine wards splintered beneath his assault, shattering the barriers that had separated Heaven from the mortal world since creation. The event became forever known as The Breaking of Heaven. Beyond the gates there was no road—only the endless void between planes. Diomedes fell like a star. As he descended, the unimaginable speed stripped away every vestige of his celestial perfection. His golden armor was reduced to dust, his divine weapons burned to ash, and the immortal radiance within his body faded into mortality. When he finally struck the world of men, the impact carved a massive crater into the frozen earth. Broken, unable to move, and experiencing cold for the first time in his existence, Diomedes lay buried beneath falling snow as the Age of the God-Emperor unknowingly bega

Early Mortal Years

Following his fall from Heaven, Diomedes landed in the frozen northern region of Volanda, where he was discovered by the Jarl’s huntsmen and brought to the stronghold of Hjarlsbýr. Believed to be a jötunn (giant), he was bound in chains and presented before Jarl Ivarr Ulfsson and his cleric, Eirikr, who sought to determine whether he was a beast to be slain or a weapon to be controlled. Despite Diomedes’ claims of divine origin as the son of the Morninglord, he was condemned as an unknown giant and marked for execution. During his captivity and public trial, Diomedes witnessed the brutality and fractured faith of the Volandan clans, as well as the ritualized violence and transactional worship of their gods. His eventual execution attempt—carried out by the Jarl’s son, Kári—became the catalyst for his full divine reawakening. In the moment of his near-death, Diomedes unleashed his restrained celestial power, breaking his bonds, annihilating the settlement’s resistance, and devastating Hjarlsbýr in an act that later traditions would interpret as both judgment and revelation. In the aftermath, rather than immediately abandoning the region, Diomedes encountered Solveig Silvermane, a mortal woman who demonstrated compassion and prayer in the ruins of the conflict. Recognizing her as a vessel for mortal faith, he appointed her as an early steward of his doctrine, entrusting her with the beginnings of what would become recorded teachings of his will. This moment marked a transition from uncontrolled destruction to directed ideology. From the survivors and followers gathered during his early campaigns, Diomedes began organizing the first structured militant order in his name—the earliest form of the Inquisitors. Originally formed as an itinerant crusading host composed of levied warriors, repentant raiders, and sworn devotees, this force would later evolve into an organized ideological army tasked with enforcing order and expanding his influence. With this growing host, Diomedes turned southward and began his march toward Villea, the central human kingdom of the continent. This campaign marked the beginning of his transformation from a displaced celestial into a mortal conqueror, as well as the foundation of his enduring conflict between divine mandate, mortal governance, and the emerging faith that would come to define Sparksborough.

Hanging of the Child King Graywyn

Dio’s first great crusade began in Volanda, where he subjugated and absorbed numerous fractured northern nation-states that had long existed in uneasy alliance with the wider Villean Empire, including Humble Brooke, Haling Cove, and Troford. These early conquests were not merely military victories, but ideological collapses, as the surviving Volandan clans, freed giants, and newly converted mortal followers of Dio’s revelation in Hjarlsbýr swelled into a migrating host. This host formed the first structured expressions of Dio’s will: levies drawn from conquered villages, hardened Viking warbands, and the earliest proto-Inquisitors—disciples tasked with identifying “false divinity” and enforcing the Morninglord’s singular doctrine upon mortal belief. As the crusade pushed southward, Dio’s force became less an army of conquest and more a moving theological catastrophe. Shrines of the old northern gods were dismantled or repurposed, and local priesthoods were either executed, converted under Solveig Silvermane’s emerging scripture, or pressed into service as record-keepers of Dio’s expanding creed. The doctrine born from Hjarlsbýr—of a silent Heaven, a corrupted mortal world, and Dio as the living intermediary of divine correction—spread rapidly through fear, witness, and survival. Upon reaching the failing city-state of Villea, seat of the boy-king Angelo of House Graewyn, Dio enacted the defining act of his early mortal conquest. Graywyn, a twelve-year-old monarch ruling in the shadow of a weakening human empire, was captured during the city’s collapse. In front of the gathered population and the remnants of Villea’s fractured nobility, Dio publicly executed the child-king by hanging him at the city’s old bell tower—once dedicated to the fallen churches and forgotten gods of man. The body of Graywyn was left suspended for an extended period, deliberately displayed as both punishment and proclamation. The bell tower, a relic of the old divine order, was repurposed as a symbol of Dio’s emerging dogma: the visible death of mortal sovereignty and the rejection of all lesser gods. To Dio’s followers, the act represented the final severing of humanity from its false divine protectors, and the beginning of a new order in which authority flowed only from the Morninglord’s surviving son. In the aftermath, Villea was not simply conquered but redefined. Its institutions collapsed into Dio’s expanding crusader-state, its surviving inhabitants either sworn into his migrating host or integrated into the growing administrative structure of Solveig Silvermane’s recorded scripture. The Hanging of Graywyn became the first widely known martyrdom of mortal kingship under Dio’s doctrine, marking the transition from regional conquest to ideological empire.

Modern Inclusion in the Final War

Modern Inclusion in the Final War The Modern Inclusion in the Final War refers to the final consolidation of Dio’s crusading era, encompassing his late imperial campaigns, the War of the World Tree, the Durangal interventions, and the culminating conflicts that reshaped Sparksborough into an absolute theocratic power under Dioism. These wars are widely regarded as the final structural phase of Lathanderite expansion before the full ideological divergence of Sparksborough doctrine.

Overview Primary Conflict: Final War expansion campaigns Thematic Focus: Divine expansion, imperial consolidation, religious warfare Key Regions: World Tree territories, Solaris forests, Volanda, Durangal border states Main Forces: Order of Saint Lazarus, Inquisitorial Legions, Eden’s Host, Runaway auxiliaries Outcome: Collapse of elven resistance networks; destabilization of allied city-state system; expansion of Sparksborough dominance

War of the World Tree The War of the World Tree was a large-scale crusade against the Wood Elves and their allied protectorates surrounding the World Tree, including factions of the Correlite and Solaris kingdoms. Dio’s forces launched a sustained campaign through sacred forest territories, resulting in the fragmentation of elven unity and the escalation of internal conflict between Wood Fey and High Fey populations. Key Events Invasion of World Tree border sanctums Breakdown of Correlite–Solaris alliance structure Capture of the Six Giant Clan Lords Establishment of underground rune-forges beneath Sparksborough Development of the Sanctum Amulet, allowing temporary post-mortem revival within proximity Outcome The war permanently weakened elven resistance and halted coordinated opposition to Sparksborough expansion in the western forests.

Earlier Crusades (Recorded Campaign History) Seventeenth Crusade – Hooved Tribes of the Solaris Coast Recorded in the Book of Lazarus, this crusade targeted a unified tribal coalition of Satyrs, Centaurs, Wood Elves, and Dryads in the Dank Hollow coastal region. Under divine directive attributed to Lathander, Dio declared the expansion of the “sun’s dominion” across all illuminated lands. After failed negotiation, the Order of Saint Lazarus executed a full-scale military purge of the region. Only select individuals deemed “touched by the sun” were spared. Significance: Establishment of total-war doctrine in Dioism First large-scale application of conditional mercy theology Expansion of Inquisitorial military structure

Northern Crusade of Volanda (Second Campaign of Eden) Led by Mother Eden, this campaign targeted the storm giant clans and surrounding northern territories. Key Features Forced marches across frozen terrain Subjugation and integration of multiple giant clans Creation of the “Matrons of Dio” system (returned clan matriarchs) Long-term prisoner conversion and integration frameworks Outcome:

The campaign permanently integrated northern giant-kin into Sparksborough’s influence network and established long-term cultural and genetic expansion strategies.

War of the Spine (Aether Ore Campaign) A prolonged conflict in the southern mountain ranges against the dragon Vil’Vlex and corrupted aetheric entities. During the final engagement, Dio sustained near-fatal injuries while defending his troops, an event later documented by Selwyn Silvermane. Significance: Revelation of Dio’s empyrean/demigod nature Shift in Dio’s psychological and theological outlook Intensification of fear-based divine obedience

War of the Last Knight & Durangal Intervention During the later Final War period, Sparksborough intervened indirectly and directly in the conflict surrounding Durangal. Although formerly allied, Sparksborough and Durangal experienced a gradual ideological rupture that culminated in open hostility. Key Actions Disruption of enemy supply lines toward Durangal Support of internal insurgent factions aligned with Dioism Severing of formal diplomatic alliance structures Enforcement of Sparksborough-aligned governance doctrines Outcome:

The collapse of the Sparksborough–Durangal alliance and the emergence of open theocratic expansionism.

Family

Lathander (The Morninglord)

Lathander, the Morninglord, is the chief solar deity of Heaven and father of Diomedes and his divine siblings. He represents dawn, rebirth, divine order, and structured celestial hierarchy, and governs Heaven through strict laws concerning balance and non-intervention in mortal affairs. A defining aspect of Lathander’s rule is his enforcement of celestial restriction, including his refusal to allow Diomedes full integration into the angelic military order or unrestricted participation in Heaven’s affairs. While this was recorded as adherence to divine law, later theological interpretations—particularly within early Dioist traditions in Sparksborough—suggest this restriction functioned as an indirect mechanism for Diomedes’ descent into the mortal plane. Within these interpretations, Lathander’s actions are understood as part of a broader divine design in which Diomedes’ role as an avatar of redemption required a prior fall from Heaven. His exclusion from the angelic host ensured his separation from celestial authority and positioned him to influence mortal civilization directly, without violating Heaven’s prohibition on overt intervention. As a result, some traditions interpret Diomedes’ descent not as exile, but as an intentional outcome of Lathander’s will—transforming the Morninglord’s refusal into the catalyst by which divine influence entered the mortal world through embodied form rather than decree.

Early Life in Heaven

Helene was the second child of the Morninglord, Lathander, and served as the divine Avatar of Creativity and Potential. While Diomedes embodied rebirth through action, Helene represented creation before conflict—the ability to shape what could be rather than destroy what already existed. Among the celestial host she was revered as Heaven's greatest sculptor, crafting monuments, sacred architecture, weapons, and works of art that reflected Lathander's vision of perfection. To Helene, beauty and creation were acts of worship, making her one of the most beloved figures in the heavenly realms. Though gifted as an artist, Helene was also a capable celestial warrior who fought only when necessary to defend Heaven. She believed that war existed solely to preserve the possibility of future creation, and that every victory should ultimately give rise to something beautiful. Helene shared an exceptionally close bond with her elder brother, Diomedes. The two were nearly inseparable throughout their lives in Heaven, their gifts complementing one another as creation and rebirth. Helene often tempered Dio's impulsive resolve with compassion and reflection, while Dio admired her ability to create what he believed was worth fighting for. Following his victory in the celestial arena, Diomedes unexpectedly kissed Helene in celebration. Although brief and born from overwhelming emotion rather than intent, the moment awakened feelings neither sibling had previously understood. Regardless of those complicated feelings, Helene's love and loyalty to Dio remained absolute, ultimately leading her to abandon Heaven and follow him into exile after his fall to the mortal plane.

The Corruption of Manasseh: The Cleansing of Athliah

During her period of isolation and prolonged campaigns across Hell and its bordering mortal incursions, Helene experienced an increasing sense of loneliness. Despite her status as a commander and divine enforcer, she found no lasting companionship among her retinue, and her interactions remained defined by duty rather than intimacy. This isolation shifted when she encountered Raphael, a new recruit within her forces. Raphael displayed unusual kindness toward Helene in an environment otherwise defined by harsh discipline and divine brutality. Over time, their shared campaign against devils and infernal entities deepened into companionship, eventually evolving into a bond that culminated in Raphael’s proposal of marriage. At this time, the city of Troford—once a holy city aligned with celestial authority—had been seized by Manasseh, a demonic ruler who established dominion over its governance and spiritual institutions. Under his influence, the city was gradually corrupted through indulgence and excess. Paladins, clerics, and holy figures were slowly drawn away from their oaths through carefully structured temptations involving pleasure, narcotics, alcohol, violence, and ritualized decadence. These indulgences began as isolated cultic gatherings but expanded steadily until large portions of the city had abandoned their former faiths. By the time Manasseh determined that nearly half the city had fallen from its oaths, he enacted the final stage of his design. He proposed marriage to Helene through Raphael, positioning himself within her trust while maintaining the guise of companionship. Helene accepted, believing the bond to be genuine, unaware that it marked the culmination of his long corruption of Troford.

The Cleansed Wedding

The wedding of Helene and Raphael—later referred to in fragmented records as the Wedding of Cleansing—became the pivotal event in the fall of Troford. The city entered a period of mass celebration, unaware that Manasseh's cults had already been positioned for coordinated collapse. While Helene and Raphael withdrew into private chambers for their union, Troford descended rapidly into widespread chaos. Streets erupted into violence, factions turned upon one another, and mass indulgence overtook the population in uncontrolled waves of intoxication, lust, and ritual excess. During this time, Helene remained distracted within the illusion of marital union, with Manasseh actively sustaining her focus through infernal influence and manipulation. In doing so, he ensured that the city's full corruption would peak while its divine protector was absent from judgment. At the moment of consummation, Manasseh revealed his true nature as a demon. The revelation shattered Helene's perception of both Raphael and the city itself. Raphael, the identity she had trusted, was exposed as an extension of Manasseh's deception. Helene emerged into Troford to find the city consumed entirely by sin—violence, debauchery, and ritual excess overtaking both innocent and guilty alike. In her psychological rupture, Helene ceased distinguishing between sinner and deceiver. Any act of perceived corruption became indistinguishable from Manasseh's influence. As a result, she enacted a total cleansing of the city, striking down both guilty and innocent in equal measure under the belief that any individual could be Manasseh in disguise. Troford was purged through indiscriminate divine violence, leaving it permanently scarred in both history and theology.

The Birth of Belial

In the aftermath of Troford's destruction and her subsequent banishment from Heaven, Helene discovered she was pregnant with Manasseh's child. Her exile was formalized on the grounds of consorting with demonic power, the slaughter of her own protected city, and the bearing of infernal offspring. The child represented, to Helene, the embodiment of all she had come to despise: betrayal, corruption, and her own moral collapse. Despite this, she did not destroy the child. Instead, she named him Belial, after the fallen angels, marking him as both a reminder and a consequence of her actions. Helene raised Belial not as a son in the traditional sense, but as a controlled instrument of divine retribution. He was forbidden from speaking except when commanded and was raised under strict doctrine that defined his purpose as the eradication of demons and heretics, for in Helene's fractured worldview any sinner could be Manasseh in disguise. In return for obedience and purpose, Belial was granted the only form of affection Helene believed herself capable of giving: conditional love, earned through obedience, purification, and the extermination of demons and heretics. Although she rarely expressed maternal warmth, Belial's unwavering devotion was driven by a single desire—to earn his mother's approval. Belial's life came to an end during the campaign of the Helldivers, a band of heroes who descended into Hell after the sinking of Troford with the goal of saving the fallen city and redeeming Helene from her descent into fanaticism. Aboard the infernal warship known as the Abjudicator, the Helldivers confronted Belial in one of the campaign's decisive battles and ultimately slew him. His death shattered the last remaining fragment of Helene's humanity. Already consumed by guilt, betrayal, and religious fanaticism, the loss of her only son drove her into an unprecedented fury and grief. The death of Belial extinguished the final hope that Helene might one day be redeemed peacefully, cementing her transformation into an uncompromising avatar of divine vengeance. Among both celestial and infernal historians, the Fall of Belial is remembered not only as the death of a fallen angel's son, but as the moment Helene truly lost everything she had left to love.

Nasicus

Nasicus was the youngest son of the Morninglord, Lathander, and served as the divine Avatar of Oaths, Vigilance, and Non-Intervention. Appointed as the Gatewarden of Heaven, his sacred duty was to guard the boundaries between the planes and ensure that no celestial, fiend, or extraplanar being interfered in the affairs of the mortal world. Unlike Diomedes, who believed mankind required divine guidance, Nasicus upheld the ancient heavenly law that mortals must determine their own destiny without intervention.

Conflict with Diomedes

Nasicus, as the Gatewarden of Heaven and Avatar of Oaths and Non-Intervention, opposed Diomedes’ decision to abandon Heaven and descend into the mortal plane. He viewed his brother not only as a violation of divine law, but as a direct contradiction of the purpose for which mortals were meant to exist. This opposition was reinforced by a deep personal hatred of Diomedes’ pride and conviction, which Nasicus saw as reckless defiance of Heaven’s order. Unlike Helene, who followed out of love and loyalty, Nasicus embraced the conflict as both duty and opportunity, willingly meeting Dio on the Bridge of the Planes to settle their dispute through violence. The ensuing battle became one of the most significant celestial confrontations in recorded history. Nasicus fought in full accordance with his oath, but also with personal intent to end Diomedes’ rebellion permanently. Despite his resolve, he was ultimately overpowered. Diomedes tore Nasicus’ wings from his back, stripping him of his authority as Gatewarden, and cast him from the Bridge of the Planes into Hell. His fall marked the collapse of Heaven’s enforcement of non-intervention and removed the final barrier preventing Diomedes’ descent into the mortal world, reshaping the balance between the celestial, mortal, and infernal planes.

Fall into Hell

Nasicus survived his descent but landed deep within Hell, where he endured nearly a century of continuous warfare against devils, demons, and infernal entities. Severely wounded from his fall and stripped of his divine authority, he persisted through sheer will, refusing to abandon his oath even as his body and mind deteriorated. Over time, the unending conflict eroded his divinity, leaving him fractured, unstable, and diminished from his former celestial state.

Capture by Helene

Helene discovered Nasicus in Hell after his long period of wandering and combat. Broken in body and mind, he was brought into her Companion, the Second Sun above Troford, under the belief that confinement would preserve what remained of his divinity and allow him to recover. Helene’s decision was driven by fear of losing the last remaining member of her family, though it ultimately manifested as imprisonment under the guise of protection.

Liberation

Nasicus was later freed during the Helldivers’ campaign against Troford and the collapse of the Companion. His release ended centuries of confinement, though he emerged altered—restored in body but deeply scarred by both his time in Hell and Helene’s enforced captivity.

Vengeance Against Diomedes

Following his liberation, Nasicus abandoned the strictures of his oath of non-intervention, concluding that Diomedes’ actions had already destroyed its meaning. He became openly antagonistic toward his brother’s growing influence in the mortal world, actively working to undermine Diomedes’ expansion and authority. Nasicus intervened in mortal affairs by aiding rebel forces in Duran’gal, ensuring the dwarven state remained independent from Diomedes’ emerging empire following the civil war. In doing so, he directly violated the divine law he was once sworn to uphold and began forming his own ideological following. This movement evolved into a proto-religious order centered on resistance to divine tyranny and the defense of mortal autonomy. To his followers, Nasicus became both a fallen Gatewarden and a symbol of opposition to celestial interference, with his actions marking a permanent break from Heaven’s original mandate.

Children of Dio

The Children of Dio are the earliest recognized mortal champions, disciples, and war-born saints who emerged from the aftermath of Dio’s initial southern crusades following the Hanging of King Graywyn. Formed from a mixture of Volandan converts, freed giants, former prisoners of war, and ideological followers of Solveig Silvermane’s recorded doctrine, formed 145 years after Dio’s first day in Villea and the Hanging of the Child King Graywyn during the era now known as Sparksborough, when the most recent Great Saint, Selwyn Silvermane—direct grandmother of Marco Silvermane and mother of Cassius Silvermane, leader of House Cassius and secret head of the Nine-Lives Brotherhood—had become central to the evolving interpretation of Dio’s doctrine. They represent the first organized expression of Dio’s mortal faith beyond simple conquest. Each Child of Dio is defined not only by martial capability but by a mythic alignment to Dio’s doctrine of purification, dominion, and divine purpose on the mortal plane. All of the Children of Dio (with the exception of Ragnar Giantsblood, who retained memory of his biological mother from his upbringing in the North before his conversion) were raised within the church itself, having never known their direct mothers. Instead, they were collectively raised and educated by the D’oro Madres, the “Golden Mothers,” a devoted order of caretakers and indoctrinators who served as both spiritual guardians and early-life instructors within Dio’s expanding religious structure.

Ragnar Giantsblood

Ragnar Giantsblood is a living Goliath and widely regarded as one of the most revered warriors among the Children of Dio. Once a northern Viking killer steeped in the violent traditions of Volanda, Ragnar eventually encountered Dio’s emerging faith after years of blood-soaked encounters. Through this transformation, he abandoned his former allegiances and became a foundational figure in both the church and the militant religious order of the inquisitors Years into his public symbology as “the hand of Dio”, He was publicly executed by hanging in the city square for his rebellion against the Profiteers. However, he was later revived through the intervention of a redeemed Helene, an act interpreted by followers as divine restoration rather than mere resurrection. Ragnar is venerated both as a living avatar of redemption from his violent past and as a symbol of victory over death itself.

Maria, The Silent Sister

Maria, known as “The Silent Sister,” served as a fighter commander and executioner within the Children of Dio. She was originally set to be married and bear children to Marco Silvermane, but her life was altered when Isaac Blackburn, under a Disguise Self spell impersonating Marco Silvermane, entered into marriage with her instead. The union was initially stable and affectionate due to Isaac’s unwavering mercy despite her violent past as the Silent sister. Their relationship ultimately fractured during the Battle at the Growing Tower, when Isaac Blackburn chose rebellion and departure over building a family life with Maria. This decision severed their bond and left Maria fully committed to the militant and punitive structures of the Children of Dio, where she again became known for her silence, discipline, and role in executions.

Lazarus the Holy Shadow

Lazarus the Holy Shadow is a rogue and surviving member of the original Children of Dio. He is noted for his stealth operations, intelligence gathering, and survival during multiple purges of Dio’s early militant followers. Lazarus was also a prime figure in the formation of the secret army of Inquisitors, a clandestine force of approximately 2,000 knights who concealed their armor and banners while traveling under the guise of allied movements toward Duran'gal. In secrecy, he trained and organized these underground knights, shaping them into an elite network of operatives who enforced Dio’s doctrine beyond the reach of open war.

Samson the Barbarian Priest

Samson served as both a barbarian warrior and a priest within the early Children of Dio. His dual role combined ritual devotion with battlefield ferocity, embodying the early synthesis of religious zeal and martial violence that defined Dio’s initial following.

Azazel the Grinner

Azazel the Grinner was a ranger and fighter among the Children of Dio, known for his unsettling demeanor and battlefield precision. He participated in numerous early campaigns during the southern advance of Dio’s crusade.

Sister Eden

Sister Eden served as a cleric within the Children of Dio, aligned with zealous interpretations of Dio’s doctrine. She was active in the religious structuring of the early movement and participated as a primary leader in the Campaign against the Crimson Court and the vampires of the Deadwood. Her operations in this campaign inadvertently led to the formation of independent Inquisitor offshoots, which continued beyond central command authority and specialized in hunting, capturing, and executing vampires throughout the Deadwood. These splinter forces became known collectively as the Red Knight Clans.

Apollyon the Glutton

Apollyon the Glutton was a member of the Children of Dio known for his excessive brutality and consumption-driven reputation in battle. He fought in the early crusades but later died during the conflicts surrounding the Battle for the Growing Tower.

Battle for the Growing Tower

During the Battle for the Growing Tower, most of the Children of Dio—excluding Ragnar Giantsblood, Maria the Silent Sister, and Lazarus the Holy Shadow—were slain by the forces of Duke Von Gluer’s Crimson Court. The battle was fought in an attempt to prevent the rising of Morgana and to ignite the Holy Fire intended to permanently destroy Morgana’s body and cleanse the Deadwood of corruption. However, the campaign ended in failure, and Duke Von Glauer’s Crimson Court emerged victorious, successfully completing the ritual that raised Morgana. The engagement resulted in a catastrophic defeat for the Children of Dio and the collapse of their forces in the region, marking one of the most devastating and pivotal losses in the early history of Dio’s mortal followers. Despite this, and despite the devastating loss to the Order of Saint Selwyn and the loss of four of his Children from his closest circles, within Dio’s inner doctrine it is recorded that this outcome was a calculated loss. It is believed that Dio permitted the rise of Morgana as an intentional consequence, resulting in the creation of an archon-class entity and an unweaving undead army that would ultimately be bound to serve him in the Final War and the War of the Last Knight against Duran'Gal. Within these same inner circles, the event is also interpreted as a foundational step in Dio’s long-term design to form a Holy Trinity of living Archons, an attempt to restore his lost divinity through the reconstruction of the Throne of Archons itself.

D’oro Madre (The Golden Mothers)

The Golden Mothers were a group of women who lived within the bathhouses of Dio’s temple in Sparksborough, where they were tasked with raising the many Children of Dio. Most were taken during Dio’s numerous crusades, in which the God-Emperor would spare women and children from conquered settlements and offer them a covenant: to bear his children and raise them as divine beings, instilling in them both sacred purpose and the capacity to become zealous warriors for Dioism and the expanding mortal empire. Few surviving historians have recorded, within niche and well-protected secret archives, that the Golden Mothers numbered in the thousands throughout the span of Dio’s crusades. These same records also suggest that an unusual majority of these women died under mysterious circumstances. The documented causes of death range from complications during childbirth, to violent killings, to cases recorded as suicide, though the truth of these events remains disputed and obscured by time and doctrine. The surviving members of the Golden Mothers continued to reside within the bathhouses of Sparksborough and were regarded as among the most holy individuals in society. Sparksborough held no formal queen; instead, the Golden Mothers—regardless of age or origin—were collectively treated as divine figures, forming a living sacred class at the heart of the city’s religious and cultural structure.