Lost within
the Wailing Mountains, the Fortress of Flares lay abandoned, its training halls
empty, its courtyard covered in leaves and dust. Upon a dais in its sealed
temple rests a topaz cauldron filled with ancient ash, remnants of a pyre for
the warrior-poet Xin. For three generations, Xin taught his acolytes the Bonds
of the Guardian Flame, a series of mantras to train the mind and body for the
harsh realities beyond the fortress walls. However, in teaching a warrior's way
he earned a warrior's rivals, and in his autumn Xin was bested and slain. His
followers spread to the wind. Yet as years turned to centuries and followers to
descendants, his teachings endured by subtle whisper and deed. Touched by the
teacher's lasting legacy, the Burning Celestial, inquisitive aspect of fire,
cast himself to the Fortress of Flares and reignited the pyre ash. From these
glowing embers emerged an image of Xin, wreathed in flame, his thoughtful
countenance prepared to train and to teach, and to spread the fires of
knowledge to all who seek guidance.
Wednesday, January 31, 2018
Guide Dota 2 Indonesia: Bristleback - Rigwarl
Never
one to turn his back on a fight, Rigwarl was known for battling the biggest,
meanest scrappers he could get his hands on. Christened Bristleback by the
drunken crowds, he waded into backroom brawls in every road tavern between Slom
and Elze, until his exploits finally caught the eye of a barkeep in need of an
enforcer. For a bit of brew, Bristleback was hired to collect tabs, keep the
peace, and break the occasional leg or two (or five, in the case of one
unfortunate web-hund).
Tuesday, January 30, 2018
Guide Dota 2 Indonesia: Troll Warlord - Jah'rakal
It's an easy
thing to offend a troll. A prickly and contentious race, trolls thrive on
argument and strife, missing no excuse to raise their voices in dispute. Males
grow to maturity in subterranean chambers beneath their matriarch's domicile,
feeding and amusing themselves while contributing nothing. Often they stay for
years beyond the age of maturity, while the matriarch provides them with
sustenance. When young trolls are finally pushed from their sub-chamber, they
gather with others of their kind, forming roving gangs of malcontents who
complain loudly about all manner of vexation.
Monday, January 29, 2018
Guide Dota 2 Indonesia: Timbersaw - Rizzrack
Rizzrack could still hear the screams in his mind. He
worked, frantically turning wrenches, twisting screws, building and carving and
forging. Sleep eluded him; he only built. Months had passed since he had shut
himself in his uncle's workshop, and his deliverance was nearly complete. He
rubbed his back as his eyes drifted shut, and saw a blanket of flowers floating
on the placid waves of Augury Bay before exploding into a cloud of pollen that
silenced lives as it seized the lungs. He woke with a choking start. For hours
the rhythmic sound of a whetstone filled the shop as he sharpened a set of
massive blades, his mind filled with images of strangling vines garroting
neighbors, enwrapping homes. The flooding of Augury Bay had been nothing
compared to the violent horrors the waters left to take root beyond the city
walls. But the saw-suit would make him strong and safe he thought, allowing
himself this sliver of hope before the full might of his fear crashed into his
fading mind. Branches and bark and blood. When the city fell, Rizzrack fled
trees that walked, and fought, and killed. Trees had shattered the gates and
swarmed into the city. Trees had crushed and thrashed and stomped the last that
Augury Bay could muster in defense, and stalked the few fleeing refugees. In
addled silence Rizzrack unspooled the thick chain from the suit's arm, his
hands quaking as he inspected each link and ran a trembling finger along the
claw attached at its end. The saw-suit was ready.
Guide Dota 2 Indonesia: Ogre Magi - Aggron Stonebreak
The ordinary ogre is the creature for whom the phrase 'As
dumb as a bag of rock hammers' was coined. In his natural state, an ogre is
supremely incapable of doing or deciding anything. Clothed in dirt, he
sometimes finds himself accidentally draped in animal skins after eating
lanekill. Not an especially social creature, he is most often found
affectionately consorting with the boulders or tree-stumps he has mistaken for
kin (a factor that may explain the ogre's low rate of reproduction). However,
once every generation or so, the ogre race is blessed with the birth of a
two-headed Ogre Magi, who is immediately given the traditional name of Aggron
Stonebreak, the name of the first and perhaps only wise ogre in their line's
history. With two heads, Ogre Magi finds it possible to function at a level
most other creatures manage with one. And while the Ogre Magi will win no
debates (even with itself), it is graced with a divine quality known as Dumb
Luck--a propensity for serendipitous strokes of fortune which have allowed the
ogre race to flourish in spite of enemies, harsh weather, and an inability to
feed itself. It's as if the Goddess of Luck, filled with pity for the sadly
inept species, has taken Ogre Magi under her wing. And who could blame her?
Poor things.
Sunday, January 28, 2018
Guide Dota 2 Indonesia: Centaur Warrunner - Bradwarden
It's said that a
centaur's road is paved with the corpses of the fallen. For the one called
Warrunner, it has been a long road indeed. To outsiders, the four-legged clans
of Druud are often mistaken for simple, brutish creatures. Their language has
no written form; their culture lacks pictographic traditions, structured music,
formalized religion. For centaurs, combat is the perfect articulation of
thought, the highest expression of self. If killing is an art among centaurs,
then Bradwarden the Warrunner is their greatest artist. He rose to dominance on
the proving grounds of Omexe, an ancient arena where centaur clans have for
millennia gathered to perform their gladiatorial rites. As his fame spread,
spectators came from far and wide to see the great centaur in action. Always
the first to step into the arena, and the last to leave, he composes a
masterpiece in each guttering spray, each thrust of blood-slickened
blade-length. It is the poetry of blood on steel, flung in complex patterns
across the pale sands of the killing floor.
Guide Dota 2 Indonesia: Silencer - Nortrom
Part of the seventh and final generation of a carefully
designed pedigree, Nortrom was bred by the ancient order of the Aeol Drias to
be the greatest magic user the world had ever seen. He was the prophesied one,
the culmination of two-hundred years of careful pairings, a war-mage who would
bring glory to the order, and destruction to their sworn enemies, The Knights
of the Fold.
Guide Dota 2 Indonesia: Lone Druid - Sylla
Long before
the first words of the first histories there rose the druidic Bear Clan. Wise
and just they were, and focused in their ways to seek an understanding of the
natural order. The arch forces of nature saw this, and so sought the most
learned among them. Wise old Sylla, clan justiciar and seer, stepped forward
for his kin, and to him was given the Seed with these words: 'When all of the
world has dimmed, when civilization has left these lands, when the world is
slain and wracked by the endless deserts at the end of ages, plant the Seed.'
As he grasped his trust, Sylla felt his years recede and his vitality returned.
Vast knowledge burst into his mind. He found himself able to project his very
will into reality and, with some concentration, alter his own physical form as
well. Yet subtle whispers and cruel ears brought word of the Seed and its power
to other peoples, and a terrible war crashed upon the Bear Clan. As his
ancestral home burned, Sylla took his burden and fled to the wild places. Ages
passed, and time and myth forgot the Bear Clan, forgot Sylla and the Seed,
forgot wondrous civilizations that rose and fell in Bear Clan's wake. For
millenia Sylla has waited, waited for word from his deities, waited for peace
to come to the ever warring realms, waited in exile and in secret for the end
of all things and for the conclusion of his sacred commitment, preparing
himself always to face and destroy whatever would dare threaten his purpose.
Saturday, January 27, 2018
Guide Dota 2 Indonesia: Chen - Holy Knight
Born in the godless Hazhadal Barrens, Chen came of age
among the outlaw tribes who eked out an existence in the shimmering heat of the
desert. Using an ancient form of animal enthrallment, Chen's people husbanded
the hardy desert locuthi, a stunted species of burrowing dragon that melted
desert sands into tubes of glass where twice-a-year rains collected. Always on
the edge of starvation and thirst, fighting amongst their neighbors and each
other, Chen's clan made the mistake, one fateful day, of ambushing the wrong
caravan.
Thursday, January 25, 2018
Guide Dota 2 Indonesia: Gyrocopter - Aurel
After serving
through a lifetime of wars, upheaval, riots, and revolutions, the brass figured
Aurel had seen enough. But in addition to a few trinkets and his considerable
pension, the erstwhile engineer left with something far more interesting: a
long-forgotten, incomplete schematic for a Gyrocopter, the world's first
manned, non-magical flying device. Retiring to the tropical obscurity of the
Ash Archipelago with little else but time and money, he set to work building
the device. As the years wore on and the remains of failed prototypes began to
pile up, he began to wonder if mechanical flight was even possible. A decade
and a day after his retirement, on a sunny afternoon with a southerly breeze,
Aurel sat in his latest attempt bristling with indignation and expectant
failure. With a grunt of effort he pulled the ignition cord and covered his
head, waiting for the inevitable explosion. However to his great surprise he
began to lift and, following a few panicked adjustments, stabilize. Within an
hour, he was ducking and weaving with the breeze, level with the gulls, and
Aurel found himself filled with the breathless wonder of flight. As dusk
settled in he set a course back to his workshop, but no sooner had he turned
his craft when a cannonball tore through his tailfin. Disentangling himself
from the wreckage, he swam toward the nearest piece of land in sight, and
cursed to see the ship responsible for the cannonball collecting the debris.
Days later, when Aurel returned to his workshop, he set to work on yet another
gyrocopter, this one capable of carrying a much heavier, more dangerous
payload.
Wednesday, January 24, 2018
Guide Dota 2 Indonesia: Treant Protector - Rooftrellen
Far
to the west, in the mountains beyond the Vale of Augury, lie the remains of an
ancient power, a fount of eldritch energy nestled deep in the high woods. It is
said that the things that grow here, grow strangely. To the forces of nature
this is a sacred place, made to stay hidden and unknown. Many are the traps and
dangers of this land. There are all-consuming grasses, crossbred fauna and
poisonous flowers, but none are so fierce as the mighty Treant Protectors.
These ageless, titanic beings, charged with keeping the peace in this dangerous
land, ensure that none within encroach without reason, and none without poach
their secrets. For time untold they tended to their holy ground, uninterrupted,
only dimly aware of the changing world beyond. Yet inevitably the wider world
grew aware of this untamed land, and with each passing winter the outsiders
grew bolder. Soon they arrived with tools to cut and with flames to burn, and
often the Treants would ponder: who are these fragile, industrious creatures?
What now had become of the wild, green world? There came and went an age of
questions and of doubts, a thousand summers of long traditions set to scrutiny,
while more and more the outsiders died and fed their earth. When all that
bloomed had finally finished their say, curiosity had overcome caution. It was
decided: a lone Protector would be sent into the wider world, and instructed to
wander until the glaciers arose once more, to observe the changing land and its
creatures, and to discover what unknown dangers could threaten their sacred
ground.
Tuesday, January 23, 2018
Guide Dota 2 Indonesia: Jakiro - Twin-headed Dragon
Even among magical beasts, a twin-headed dragon is a
freak. Equal parts ice and fire, cunning and rage, the creature known as Jakiro
glides over charred and ice-bound battlefields, laying waste to any who would
bear arms against it. Pyrexae dragon clutches always contain two fledglings.
Famous for their viciousness even from the first moments of life, newly hatched
dragons of this species will try to kill their sibling while still in the nest.
Only the strongest survive. In this way is the strength of the Pyrexae line
ensured. By some accident of nature, the freak Jakiro hatched from a single
egg, combining in a single individual the full range of abilities found within
the diverse Pyrexae species. Trapped within the armature of its monstrous body,
the powers of ice and fire combine, and now no enemy is safe.
Monday, January 22, 2018
Guide Dota 2 Indonesia: Ursa - Ulfsaar
Ulfsaar the
Warrior is the fiercest member of an ursine tribe, protective of his land and
his people. During the long winters, while the mothers sleep and nurse their
cubs, the males patrol the lands above as tireless, vigilant defenders of their
ancient ways. Hearing dim but growing rumors of a spreading evil, Ulfsaar
headed out beyond the boundaries of his wild wooded homeland, intending to
track down and destroy the threat at its source, before it could endanger his
people. He is a proud creature with a bright strong spirit, utterly
trustworthy, a staunch ally and defender.
Sunday, January 21, 2018
Guide Dota 2 Indonesia: Brewmaster - Mangix
Deep in the Wailing Mountains, in a valley beneath the
Ruined City, the ancient Order of the Oyo has for centuries practiced its rites
of holy reverie, communing with the spirit realm in grand festivals of drink.
Born to a mother's flesh by a Celestial father, the youth known as Mangix was
the first to grow up with the talents of both lineages. He trained with the
greatest aesthetes of the Order, eventually earning, through diligent
drunkenness, the right to challenge for the title of Brewmaster, that appellation
most honored among the contemplative malt-brewing sect.
Friday, January 19, 2018
Guide Dota 2 Indonesia: Enchantress - Aiushtha
Aiushtha
appears to be an innocent, carefree creature of the woods, and while this is
certainly true, it is hardly the sum of her story. She well understands the
suffering of the natural world. She has wandered far, and fared through forests
bright and drear, in every clime and every season, gathering friends, sharing
news, bringing laughter and healing wherever she goes. For in worlds wracked by
war, forests are leveled for the building of ships and siege engines; and even
in places of peace, the woods are stripped for the building of homes, and as
fuel for countless hearths. Aiushtha hears the pleas of the small creatures,
the furtive folk who need green shade and a leafy canopy to thrive. She lends
her ears to those who have no other listeners. She carries their stories from
the wood to the world, believing that her own good cheer is a kind of
Enchantment, that can itself fulfill the promise of a verdant future.
Wednesday, January 17, 2018
Guide Dota 2 Indonesia: Bounty Hunter - Gondar
When the
hunted tell tales of Gondar the Bounty Hunter, none are sure of which are true.
In whispered tones they say he was abandoned as a kit, learning his skill in
tracking as a matter of simple survival. Others hear he was an orphan of war, taken
in by the great Soruq the Hunter to learn the master's skill with a blade as
they plumbed the dark forests for big game. Still others believe he was a lowly
street urchin raised among a guild of cutpurses and thieves, trained in the
arts of stealth and misdirection. Around campfires in the wild countryside his
quarry speaks the rumors of Gondar's work, growing ever more fearful: they say
it was he who tracked down the tyrant King Goff years after the mad regent went
into hiding, delivering his head and scepter as proof. That it was he who
infiltrated the rebel camps at Highseat, finally bringing the legendary thief
White Cape to be judged for his crimes. And that it was he who ended the career
of Soruq the Hunter, condemned as a criminal for killing the Prince's prized
hellkite. The tales of Gondar's incredible skill stretch on, with each daring
feat more unbelievable than the last, each target more elusive. For the right
price, the hunted know, anyone can be found. For the right price, even the
mightiest may find fear in the shadows.
Friday, January 12, 2018
Guide Dota 2 Indonesia: Alchemist - Razzril Darkbrew
The
sacred science of Chymistry was a Darkbrew family tradition, but no Darkbrew
had ever shown the kind of creativity, ambition, and recklessness of young
Razzil. However, when adulthood came calling he pushed aside the family trade
to try his hand at manufacturing gold through Alchemy. In an act of audacity
befitting his reputation, Razzil announced he would transmute an entire
mountain into gold. Following two decades of research and spending and
preparation, he failed spectacularly, quickly finding himself imprisoned for
the widespread destruction his experiment wrought. Yet Razzil was never one to
take a setback lightly, and sought escape to continue his research. When his
new cellmate turned out to be a fierce ogre, he found just the opportunity he needed.
After convincing the ogre not to eat him, Razzil set about carefully concocting
a tincture for it to drink, made from the moulds and mosses growing in the
prison stone work. In a week's time, it seemed ready. When the ogre drank the
potion, it flew into an unstoppable berserker rage, destroying the cell bars
and exploding through walls and guards alike. They soon found themselves lost
somewhere in the forest surrounding the city with a trail of wreckage in their
wake and no signs of pursuit. In the tonic's afterglow, the ogre seemed serene,
happy, and even eager. Resolving to work together, the pair set off to collect
the materials needed to attempt Razzil's Alchemic transmutation once more.
Tuesday, January 9, 2018
Guide Dota 2 Indonesia: Nature's Prophet
When
Verodicia, Goddess of the Woods, had finished filling in the green places,
having planted the coiled-up spirit in the seed, having lured the twining
waters from deep within the rock, having sworn the sun its full attention to
the growing things, she realized that her own time had reached its end, and
like one of the leaves whose fate she had imprinted in the seed, she would fall
without seeing the fruiting of her dream. It pained her to leave the world
bereft, for the sprouts had not yet broken through the soil--and they would be
tender and vulnerable to every sort of harm. She found in her seed pouch one
last seed that she had missed in the sowing. She spoke a single word into the
seed and swallowed it as she fell. Her vast body decomposed throughout the long
winter, becoming the humus that would feed the seedlings in the spring. And on
the morning of the vernal equinox, before the rest of the forest had begun to
wake, that last seed ripened and burst in an instant. From it stepped Nature's
Prophet, in full leaf, strong and wise, possessing Verodicia's power to foresee
where he would be needed most in defense of the green places--and any who might
be fortunate enough to call him an ally.
Sunday, January 7, 2018
Guide Dota 2 Indonesia: Luna - Moon Rider
How had she
been reduced to this? She was once the Scourge of the Plains, a merciless
leader of men and beasts, and able to sow terror wherever she dared. Now she
was far from her homeland, driven half mad from starvation and months of
wandering, her army long dead or worse. As she stood at the edge of an ancient
forest, a pair of glowing eyes spied on from an elder branch. Something
beautiful and deadly sought a meal in the wilting dusk. Without a sound, it
turned and left. Fury overtook her. Clutching a rust-eaten dagger, she charged
after the beast determined to reclaim even a shred of her past glory, but her
quarry would not be caught. Three times she cornered the creature among the
rocks and trees, and three times she pounced only to witness its fading shadow
darting further into the woods. Yet the full moon shone brightly, and the
creature's trail was easy to follow. Arriving in a clearing atop a high hill,
the beast's massive feline form sat in the open, attentive and waiting. When
the woman brandished her dagger, the creature reared and roared and charged.
Death, it seemed, had come for her at long last in this strange place. She
stood, calm and ready. A flash of movement, and the beast snatched the dagger
from her hand before vanishing into the forest. Stillness. Hooded figures
approached. In reverent tones they revealed that Selemene, Goddess of the Moon,
had chosen her, had guided her, had tested her. Unwittingly she had endured the
sacred rites of the Dark Moon, warriors of the Nightsilver Woods.
Wednesday, January 3, 2018
Guide Dota 2 Indonesia: Huskar - Sacred Warrior
Emerging from
the throes of the sacred Nothl Realm, Huskar opened his eyes to see the
prodigal shadow priest Dazzle working a deep incantation over him. Against the
ancient rites of the Dezun Order, Huskar's spirit had been saved from eternity,
but like all who encounter the Nothl he found himself irrevocably changed. No
longer at the mercy of a mortal body, his very lifeblood became a source of
incredible power; every drop spilled was returned tenfold with a fierce,
burning energy. However this newfound gift infuriated Huskar, for in his rescue
from the Nothl, Dazzle had denied him a place among the gods. He had been
denied his own holy sacrifice. In time the elders of the order sought to expand
their influence and Huskar, they agreed, would be a formidable tool in their
campaign. Yet becoming a mere weapon for the order that denied him his
birthright only upset him further. As the first embers of war appeared on the
horizon, he fled his ancestral home to find new allies, all the while seeking a
cause worthy of unleashing the power his total sacrifice could bring.
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