Rostamdar the Hero

Rostamdar was born of mortal blood but carried in him the spark of the divine. His youth was spent in obscurity among the border tribes, yet he rose swiftly through arms and intellect, displaying a gift for war that seemed fated by the heavens. His name was carved into legend when he faced, alone, both the Moon Knight and the Knight of Sun—champions of rival powers—defeating them in single combat upon the same day. This deed earned him the epithet Twice-Victor, for no other mortal had ever accomplished such a feat.

When the Barasin Empire swept forth like a tide of iron, it was Rostamdar who stemmed its advance. With only a fraction of their strength, he shattered armies through cunning maneuvers, ambushes sprung from dust-choked valleys, and feigned retreats that lured legions to their ruin. His campaigns became a manual of genius, studied long after his mortal life was done. It was said he could read the battlefield as others read the stars.

At the height of his power, Rostamdar wielded the gladius Eryx, a blade forged in mystery. Some claimed it was tempered in the forges of the gods, quenched in the blood of a celestial beast, its edge never dulling, its weight perfectly balanced. Others whispered that Eryx bore its own will, guiding Rostamdar’s hand as much as he guided it. With Eryx, he cut through shield-walls as though they were reeds, and even the most enchanted armor could not withstand its strike.

Legends say that when Rostamdar finally fell—not to an enemy, but to the passage of time—his body was laid in a tomb beneath the shifting sands. Yet his followers swore they saw his spirit depart, gladius in hand, to join the company of gods. Thereafter, offerings were made to him in camps before battle, for soldiers prayed to inherit his cunning and his courage. To generals, he became a patron of strategy; to swordsmen, the exemplar of mastery.

In mythology, Rostamdar is often depicted striding across the desert with Eryx gleaming like a shard of the sun, his cloak billowing like a banner of war. His cult proclaims that as long as tactics are devised and blades are drawn, the Twice-Victor walks beside those who dare the impossible.