Aesrias

Aesrias
[[File:{{#setmainimage:Hero of Iroas.jpg}}|250px]] Hero of Iroas
Details
Race	Human
Birthplace	Akros, Theros
Lifetime	Mending Era
Parents	Father and mother, both Iroan heroes
Colors
Sources
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Aesrias, the Hero of Iroas is a famous Akroan hero on the plane of Theros.

History

Aesrias was born to be an Iroan hero. Both his parents were devout Iroans, blessed with great strength and bravery, and so was Aesrias. He'd conquered a giant, a cyclops, a hydra, and a flock of harpies, just using his fists, and in the latter case, a broken branch.

Aesrias brought the heads of the harpies to the city of Tynthal, north of One Eye Pass, as his quest to kill the harpies had been given to him by Pilun, lord governor of Tynthal. Aesrias handed over the heads, noticing that the lord wore a crown. This was strange because only king Anax of Akros was supposed to wear a crown. Instead of the reward he was expecting, Aesrias was met with suspicion and hostility. The guards pointed spears in his direction, and Pilun accused him of stealing gold from a merchant.

A man wearing a strange combination of rags and gold rings and bracelets let out a loud gasp and then pretended to cry. This supposed merchant in question then pointed to Aesrias, laying the blame for the gold theft on him. Aesrias, still weak from the fight with the harpies, did not resist as he was put in prison below a coliseum, which housed illegal arena fights. He had been sent there to die. Aesrias had never prayed to the new god, Xenagos, before, but this felt like the right time.

One of the other prisoners was a Nyxborn man, also a follower of Iroas. They spoke together, bonding over battles fought. The man had experienced Aesrias' mother's final battle, something Aesrias himself was unfamiliar with as his father had been mute on the subject. She fell at the third battle of the Pharagax Bridge, all the while shouting Iroas's name. The Nyxborn healed Aesrias' wounds and told him his fight the next day would be against sirens. Aestrias readied candle wax to put in his ears.

On the day of the arena fight, Aesrias was brought out before Pilun, who still wore his false crown, being fawned over by his subjects in the middle of the area, while a few disinterested drunk nobles lounged around the sparse seating of the small coliseum. When they brought out the nine chained sirens, the audience put small items in their ears as if by routine.

When they released the sirens from their cage, still chained, they weakly attacked Aesrias, but between the wax in his ears and his Nyxborn protection, they did not stand much of a chance. Aesrias choked them with their chains and broke their necks. When only four remained, he broke the loop holding their chains and held on. The four sirens flew off with Aesrias dangling in the chains behind them. They flew until they tired, and when they dropped to the ground, Aesrias thanked them and broke their necks.

His next quest would be to go to Akros to inform King Anax of Tynthal's secession from the throne, and the Nyxborn in his prison. It would be a dangerous trek, but he still had his fists, and, after all, he was still a hero.

Years later, stories of Aesrias portrayed his exploits, one of which revolved around him knocking out the heads of a savage hydra with his bare hands, so the heads would not multiply, a true story.

Story appearances

Title	Author	Publishing date	Set	Setting (plane)	Featuring
The Hero of Iroas	Matt Knicl	2014-03-05	Born of the Gods	Theros	Aesrias, Iroas, Pilun, Anax, Xenagos
Desperate Stand	Matt Knicl	2014-04-16	Journey into Nyx	Theros	Vinack, Aesrias, Solon, Kedarick VI, Kytheon Iora, Erebos, Athreos

In-game references

Represented in:

• Hero of Iroas