The Champion of Zitus

This compendium is written upon linen pages and bound in golden plates. It details the rise of the Church of Zitus and its Champion, Zesoldi.

''When champions are chosen, they oft seen as the embodiment of a deity and all that they stand for. Yet, when the voice of divinity named Zesoldi as its champion, it was met with disbelief and dissent. There were those who believed themselves to be strong, courageous and unrelenting in their faith, but yet they were overlooked. Then there was Zesoldi, he who questioned the faith, those who proclaimed themselves as the voice of Zitus, questioned the teachings of the Golden Hammer and those who led the church. Even those who spoke the words of their god were apprehensive. But they could not deny the clarity in the calls for naming his champion. A test perhaps, as many predicted. For Zesoldi as champion had previously been unthinkable. One of the many tenets of Zitus was order and discipline, and yet Zesoldi questioned every order he had ever been given. He questioned every tenet and command spoken through the voices of Zitus.''

''Where the words of the champion had failed to impress, the actions caused waves of piety to fall upon him. When the faithful had refused to follow him into battle, Zesoldi conscripted commoners into battle. And through battle they found the spoils of war and faith, as commander and teacher, they learnt the ways of Zitus as Zesoldi had seen it. The lands conquered and fields sowed had been those that despoiled the land, those who acted through injustice and against the laws of the land. Paladins and Clerics of Zitus were oft found strung up at crossroads and left to rot by the wayside, with a sign noting their sins against the tenets of Zitus. A champion whom even the followers of his faith would fear for his righteousness and seeking of justice, never discriminating between good and evil, but by the acts committed by man and monster.''

''Many account the rise of Zesoldi's influence and power to the desecration of an ancient temple of foreign god. One of war, slaughter and hatred, born from the evil that drove them into combat. Even those within the faith believed to overstepped as tore down the village of Morgorus, building by building. But records state that upon his hearing and debriefing with the church had claimed that he 'showed their god one last moment of joy in Elysia by honouring his tenets'.''

''Zesoldi had been the first champion in the history of the church to have been excommunicated from the faith, when he refused to pay offerings from the spoils of war to the faith. In lieu of this, the funds found from the enemies of Elysia were taken to the villages in the form of food, animals, tools and seed. To every village visited by Zesoldi visited with aid for the people, a shrine rose as did the faith and following of Zitus.''

''In the great war against the Demon Lords, it took the powers of Zitus, Kaarin and Kol to imprison the Princes of the Abyss, though books of history will refute the involvement of the god of monsters. Whilst gods do not walk amongst men, they do choose they champions to wield the power of their gods. Through the Hammer of Zitus, granted to his champion, the imprisoning smite of Zesoldi would cast each Demon Lord into its eternal prison. Just as man refutes the acts of Kol, so too do they refute the acts of Zesoldi. History will not be written by the speakers of truth, but those who will mould the tales of their faith. The clergy will not speak of actions of their champion, but the might of the god who favoured him.''

''Faithful to the golden hammer or not, whether the champion of Zitus is seen as right or wrong, faithful or sinner. The continent of Elysia were indebted to the Paladin of Zitus. For it was the champion that charged into the heart of the Demon armies, smiting the abyssal monsters in their hundreds. Bold and courageous, unrelenting and tenacious, the Champion never stopped in his divine war against the Demon Lords.''

''And yet, Zesoldi was not immortal, not impervious to death. Each time he would lead the vanguard into the heart of battle, refusing to allow others to be sacrificed as he waited in the rear. He did not fear death or the end, some claimed he yearned it. Time and time again, the champion would fall and rise, and each time a piece of him was left behind. When the war came to a close and Elysia was safe, few recognised the champion that was once war Zesoldi. Those who followed him without question would speak of his sacrifice. Whilst he did not die, his spirit did. His unwavering judgement of right and wrong would falter, madness would begin to subdue and claim him. In the years following the war, Zesoldi would not be seen or heard for many years, believed to be either dead, living in solitude or on a great pilgrimage in the name of Zitus.''

''The last rumoured act and sighting of Zesoldi was in the end days of the War for Tosima. It is recorded in official documents of history that Markus Tosima was overthrown in a coup by the Tosima government. But verbal accounts from those in service to the Markus Tosima claim that the war ended years before many would predict when the tyrannical King was murdered by a frail man with white glowing eyes and a golden hammer.''

If the rumours are believed to be true, and the frail man was Zesoldi, then the fallen paladin of Zitus ended a war before countless thousands of people would die at the hands of tyrant.