What is a Paragon?

My shorthand mnemonic for a Paragon is whoever would be on the roster of an Arcanis MOBA.

So:

Sskoreth -the essential Arcanis Sorcerer.

Melirios -effectively the Arch Lifewarden.

Leonydas.

Elandre -maybe. She has the power, but I’m not so sure about the “feel” of the title for her. She’s kind of in between “Chosen of Illir” and “merely a Pope.”

If the Hand of Cadic is still alive he might qualify.

The Sorcerer King. I have some doubts about his nomination, but those are somewhat poorly founded. Perhaps this is because he fits the idea too perfectly.

Hegrish Val’Mordane? Perhaps not. What was the name of that Val’Mordane bloke who died unremarkably but came back a Lich and skulked around being mockingly enigmatic for a while?

Master Smith Elabac though he might not be important enough to the fate of the setting for the title.

Xercel the Elder Kelekene Pyromancing Prick.

I wonder if it’s possible to be a Paragon for one age and lose that status for the next? Was Sseth back in his day?

What if it hasn’t happened yet?
What if Leonydas is still waiting for the Avatar of the Oath Breaker to show up?
The “ember bereft of fire” sounds like Leonydas to me, so I guess he’s still alive. The rest of Basuhe’s prophecy may not have occurred yet.
I certainly concur that the “ember bereft of fire” sounds like Leonydas, but I suspect he’s gone. [Aside: I try to look for alternatives, such as “ember bereft of fire” also fits the Kelekene since Keleos is “lost.”] The heroes who went into the Citadel of Silence after Leonydas did not find any indications of him. Instead, the Silence in control of it and the surroundings, represented by a shapeshifer who could tempt and offer rewards and had imprisoned a Valinor, the Reluctance of Hurrian (and whom I suspect was trying to pry long-lost secrets from the Valinor’s memories). If the Silence can capture a Valinor, how could Leonydas pass through intact and not be affected by the Silence nor the release of the Valinor and subsequent Storm? [See the amazing adventure “Whispers in the Dark” and the short story “The Storm” about the exploration of the Citadel.]

In Nishanpur, the Erdukeen prophetess (Sister of Nier) Bashue said that Leonydas had told her that he was unable to hear the Gods’ voices (or maybe it was just Nier’s voice) any more after he awoke from his imprisonment. I don’t know whether that was because of rituals involved with the imprisonment or a change to the Gods. (Or because his insanity was cured.)

If 1 Paragon is running around causing trouble (The Destroyer) why can’t other Paragons be for or against him.
Even the Valinor were divided when Manetas started his schemes, and some Valinor fought with him and others against him.
So like the Coryani Civil War we will see several Paragons come out of the woodwork taking sides.
That’s a good idea! Maybe once one domino falls, the rest may come after. Sort of like there’s a general non-interference policy, but once someone breaks the rule, the others may as well.

In the Live Chat yesterday, Henry talked a little bit about Paragons. Henry is pretty good at being slippery and he didn’t exactly give the farm away. But he mention a few things. One: he did rule out Elebac as a Paragon. And he didn’t really think Xercel qualified either either, though he mulled that question a little bit before offering an opinion.

He was silent on Melirios and Elandre. We are supposedly meeting with Melirios in the Origins modules (or at least he’s at the heart of the action in two of the Hard Points). And Henry said it was likely that our players would be interacting with Elandre soon.

My opinion has shifted somewhat based on what Henry has said. It seems you have to be a Paragon of something and I am inferring (correctly or not) that something seems to be a Deity. So I think k you won’t find a paragon “of the dwarves” or of the “val Virdan.”

Makes me wonder: who is Calemnon the paragon of?

I might be completely off the mark but Paragons remind me a little of The Ascendants from Steven Erikson’s Malazan Book of the Fallen series. While not quite Gods, they have enough of a divine spark that sets them above mortals and some of them are near immortal (Anomander Rake, High King Kallor, etc). For those that have not read the series, couldn’t recommend it enough.

Best,

Joe Cirillo

I might be completely off the mark but Paragons remind me a little of The Ascendants from Steven Erikson’s Malazan Book of the Fallen series. While not quite Gods, they have enough of a divine spark that sets them above mortals and some of them are near immortal (Anomander Rake, High King Kallor, etc). For those that have not read the series, couldn’t recommend it enough.

Best,

Joe Cirillo
That’s a good thought and reference. Haven’t finished all 10 of the books, but I’m working through them. Agree there is quite a bit of strong writing. Henry used Leonydas as a “benchmark” and noted that though mortal he touched or connected to divinity in a way that transformed him. Setting him above what a normal person could match.

Just to through another though into the mix.

In Roman / Greek mythology a hero was defined as someone that had the blood of the gods (not just perform heroic acts) – according to the uni course I did a few years back

Hercules was a hero because he was the offspring of Zeus; Aeneas was the son of Venus/Aphrodite, etc

What if a paragon is the direct offspring of a God or Valinor (Calmemmenon – son of of the Pride of Illir, etc)