Argonaut. The hero of dawn, the first of the Age of Heroes. One of the greatest comedies some might say. A fool that was tricked by everyone. A weakling. Yet despite all that, he inspired future generations. To laugh in the face of peril. To face impossible odds even if you were weak. Even if he himself was just a weak mortal, his death echoed beyond his age. Thus, one could consider him the trailblazer. The one who rang the bell for a new age. The Age of Heroes.
Naturally, he was far from the last. There were plenty of other heroes rising up in the eons of time, long before the gods descended and bringing with them the Age of Gods. It wasn't immediate. Sometimes it took years, decades, even centuries, until a new hero rose up, responding to the chaos of the world. It was unknown how long it took for her to come into existence. Yet after a long time, as the mortals were battered again and again by the darkness of the plains... at last, she would come onto the stage.
Argonaut's "successor", the one who would truly be called another of the thirty one heroes, the true Second in that chaotic, yet hopeful age. If the First was considered a Fool, the Second was considered a Dreamer. Some might say the two would be the same, and they would not be completely wrong. Yet there was a difference. Argonaut desired to bring smiles to everyone's faces, a desire he succeeded in. Yet the Dreamer was someone who dreamt of the impossible. Of achieving something not even the gods considered realistic. A dream some might consider much larger and heavier than anything before.
This was the story of Doera, the Slave Turned Liberator. The One Who Dreamed Of Freedom. Somniatrix.
Her beginnings were... humble one might say. One of many slaves used during a time of strife. The town's name was long forgotten due to the passing of time. Yet even in the lowest caste of society, she was different. For one, she was blessed with the gift to read. Thus her position was better than most. Yet someone higher up in a cage was still in the cage and she knew it. Still, in her youth, Doera would spend her time organizing numbers and the like, not having a single dream on her own. But then, one day, she would find it.
A copy of Argonaut. The one who would become her predecessor. It was among the usual records she had to keep. Once reading about the fool turned hero, she too began to dream. She began to share it with her fellow slaves, in the depths of night, away from the jealous and evil eyes of their masters. A dream of losing those chains. To see the world. Once, a young child asked her: What is freedom? It took a while for her to formulate an answer. Was it to smile, just like Argonaut? But that answer didn't satisfy her. Then she recalled. Freedom was the opposite of how they lived. She recalled the one time she made a mistake. The way their master drew his sword, murderous intent clear, before holding back. In that moment, she was the most shackled. Thus, one night, she formulated her answer at last.
"The one who has nothing to fear anymore... the one who can guide others and take away their fear... I think that one would be the most free of them all."
"So you aren't afraid?" One of many children asked, their eyes wide and innocent.
"Of course I'm afraid. But maybe one day... I won't be anymore... "
"When is one day?"
A question she knew no answer to. She was smart. Smater than most, as she had access to books and education to make work in the town go more smoothly. Worthless however when it came to fighting back and every guard and noble knew that. No matter how much she tried to think of something, no matter how much she tried to find a way, despite her education, her options and imagination were limited by a simple fact. She was weak. Too weak. Perhaps because of that, the gods deemed to present her with a present. It was during a rare participation of field work. Tending the lands for food, guarded by the soldiers enslaving them, but also protecting them from the various monsters that plagued the lands. There, out of view, she would find it.
A golden cup. Her first treasure. Some might believe it had magical properties. However, there was no evidence in the records that it was anything special beyond being untainted. Pure. A promising light in the darkness. Many came to believe that it was merely a symbol for Doera. Something to push her. And push her it did. For what she lacked in strength, unlike Argonaut, she was intelligent. Slowly, she began 'stealing' weapons and the like from the records. She observed how soldiers trained and taught it to her fellow slaves. Slowly, a small army was created in the shadows. Yet her journey would have no wonderful start. Nay, fate itself acted against her. A simple moment of ignorance. One slave caught, a link in the chain, yet affecting the whole. Everyone knew that Doera would be punished for it, made an example for her sin of acting against her masters. Thus, a decision was made for her.
An uprising. It ended in bloodshed. The town would dissolve in the chaos, weak and open to all sorts of enemies in the end. At first, Doera wanted to fight alongside them and die. Yet the words of the slaves would echo in her soul.
"No matter what! No matter how much you give up! Never give up yourself! We don't matter! We are just part of the big system! If you save us, you won't fix the root!"
And thus, with tears in her eyes, she would escape into the wild, burning those words into her heart.
"...I swear on my name... I swear it... !I'll live! I'll struggle against the Heavens themselves if I have to! One day begins now... and one day it ends! One day I will achieve true liberty for everyone!"
Alone, she wandered. Alone, she would have died once energy finally left her. But fortune smiled down at her. From her failure, she would be saved. The records didn't have a name for them. All that was known was that he was referred to as 'Five' and suspected to be from the Far East. By some miracle, Doera would understand his words. With a savior, and more importantly, a companion, she was saved from death and solitude. With a new ally at her side, she would wander. She would witness the crimes committed by fellow men to other fellow men. Her rage was fueled. Her righteousness demanded to free them. In the end, gathering allies and power, the Liberator would at last win her first city.
Details were scarce. But two aspects stood out. Doera's unbelievable vitality, seemingly unyielding to any sort of injury. And her power in the shadows, being able to infiltrate the city's weakpoints with ease to the point that witchcraft could be suspected. With the strong martial artist Five, the city was conquered thanks to Doera's ruthlessness. The spirits of the nobles were broken, as they were defeated and stripped off their honor in front of their chained victims. In a way, Doera could not accept that those nobles were the most free, as they did not feel fear. In order to bring balance to that crime, she would instill fear into them before taking their lives.
Thus, the Land of the Free would be born. Like a wild fire, the Liberator would move on to the neighboring cities. Each freed, each broken up and transformed. Eventually, it would become a large empire, led by the cold, calculated wisdom of a former slave. At some point, Doera would face at the actual threat the world faced. The monsters, spawning from what would be the monsters. And against that threat... Doera's limits were shown.
She was someone that could defeat tyrants. Break them by exposing their weakpoints. By breaking their wills and sneaking in. Yet it was useless against monsters. They did not expose weak points she could take advantage off. No wills to break. No logistical structures to attack. Even she herself as a warrior could not do anything against monsters, her vitality and tricks nothing to the raw might of a minotaur for example.
Many sacrifices were made. Lands were burned just to buy time for a counter attack. In the end, one could only see a stalemate at best. There was no victory for those that were free. And with no victory... dissatisfaction grew. It did not help that Doera antagonised other countries. Those that could have helped, that had the strategies and resources to turn the tides. Yet her pride refused such alliances to be made.
"We do not compromise. We do not negotiate. Those who own chains are not people that can be reasoned with! Only those devoid of slaves can be trusted! So I say, let them burn! Let them squirm! I have wars to win!"
In the end, her only real ally left would be Five, the one that returned to the Far East. Not trusting anyone else but herself to make the journey, she would go there to get the help her lands needed. It was few, but the elite warriors would swear their support. With hope renewed, she would return... to a land that was killed.
The Land of the Free was filled with monsters. The strongholds, the cities, they were all in shambles. It took her months, maybe even years, to discover the truth as she watched on in horror. As her beloved free people lied on the ground as corpses. The few cities that withstood the tide confessed a terrible truth.
She was betrayed. Doera, feared as yet another tyrant, was betrayed by her own fellow liberated. Deciding to stop this meaningless struggle, they would join hands with those she alienated. They would reject her love and open the gates. The loyals fought against the traitors. The trusted against the schemers. Naturally, the monsters took advantage of that. In the end, it was like the world reverted to its past, the Land of the Free a shadow of its former self.
The story would end there, with Doera screaming at the heavens, begging for the gods for answers. Where did she go wrong? Why did they refuse her dream, her love? Her fate was unknown. Did she commit suicide, the weight of failure too much? Did she try again, only to be forgotten? Or did she step back and live out her final days in peace?
What was known is, that despite her failure, she was still a hero that inspired the future. Without her actions, many agree, the lands wouldn't have received that much needed breathing room against the monsters. Culture and technology grew thanks to her unification, thanks to talented people free to evolve their talents they would not have been able to as slaves. Most importantly however, Doera the Liberator taught many to dream of the same. Of true Liberty.
The Golden Cup would become a common symbol that would rise up across times until the gods would descend. It would become a symbol of many uprisings and rebellions, many failing in the end, yet many others succeeding, becoming their own countries and settlements. Some suspected that this story inspired Ouranos' in a way, for he declared slavery in Orario completely illegal.
Thus many agreed that she was the second hero to come after Argonaut. Someone that failed in the end, but still succeeded in other way. After all... without her actions, the Third Hero would never come into existence. It was only suspected, but one of the loyals under Doera would survive, and their descendant would become the one called 'the Hunter'. A misnomer, as he was more a researcher than a warrior. Still, he would become the foundation of the guild's date when it came to monsters. As if learning from Doera's mistake, he would go on and analyze monsters and their weaknesses, to figure out how to give mankind an edge. But that... was a different story.