Gened /'gænɪd/ (c. 45-49 - 93 SR) was a superhero warrior who lived in the 1st century of the second revolution, one of the Five Kings and the patriarch of the philosophy of Mōroh.
He was the first documented superhero warrior to possess the ability to wield belequel. He used a belequel sword called Featherwing that was the deadliest weapon of its day.
Gened was born into a family of serfs who worked in tin mines, a common fate for many born on and around Laeooy Coast. Living a difficult life in Koalderood, Gened and his many brothers and sisters belonged to an unnamed noble, a high ranking military official who lived in a fortress called Hohned.
Hohned was a major military center of Toor, a nothern Tarnarian state that was established three centuries prior, in the second half of the 18th CFR. Toor had since become an economic powerhouse due to its discovery, development and commercialization of mining. This led to a dramatic rise in wealth inequality by way of creation of a whole class of mine owners, and a rift in a once homogeneous society of explorers.
When Gened was in his early thirties, belequel deposits were discovered in the mine he worked in. Belequel was an unwanted material most of the time, which could block miners and required a lot of work to be removed due to its excessive density and the resulting weight. Gened then discovered, to his and everyone else's surprise, that he could easily lift up belequel “as if it were dried out wood”.
Gened suggested that his ability be concealed for the time being. This was an unusual decision, since a typical path for a superhero warrior in Toor would be to go into service for the state. But inspired by a local community leader Keetoh, who tried building a resistance movement for many years, Gened decided to use his newly discovered powers to free his people.
Several days after the discovery of his abilities, he took several small belequel stones, that nonetheless would require dozens of men to even lift, and threw them at the guards of the mine their family worked in, killing the guards instantly. Gened then proclaimed the mine to be the property of his family, and his family freed. In a passionate speech right outside the mine, he pledged to use his powers to free the miners from Hohned's yoke.
He was surprised to learn that his family was starkly against it: they hoped that he could instead become a wealthy man and improve their lot, but now they feared that they would simply be killed by the state as rebels. In the next few days, Gened's elderly mother tried to have him murdered, but he was secretly warned by his younger sister Dareened. Gened then left his home.
When the miners learned about Gened's family trying to murder him, some of them conspired to retaliate and managed to kill one of his brothers and his mother.
Gened continued to use belequel stones to kill Hohned guards and officials, reclaiming mine after mine. Lord Yooer, one of the elders of Hohned, happened to be inspecting a mine at that time and was also killed by Gened. Hohned officials learned of the uprising shortly after that.
News of a superhero warrior among the miners spread fast and Keetoh managed to organize miners into a 6000-strong army. Knowing that Hohned was going to respond with force, Keetoh preemptively led his army to the fortress.
Gened brought a pile of belequel stones and began hurling them at the city gates, making large holes in thick wood. He also threw stones at the walls, with belequel piercing them without effort. When the gates were destroyed, Hohned's army began pouring out, but Gened continued hurling the stones, each of which would go through several soldiers at the same time. This incited panic and the army began to turn back. As they were fleeing, the rebels charged and entered the city, dealing heavy losses to Hohned's soldiers, who were taken by surprise.
The battle, however, ended up lasting for several days, with significant rebel losses. Gened was kept away from action, so that he could use stones to destroy towers and barricades from afar. The rebel army was led and coordinated by Keetoh and his sister Tareetoh. As more and more people joined Keetoh's army, including the serfs and slaves of Hohned, Hohned's forces left the city, retreating to the south across the dry plain of Kōnzoh, towards another large Toor city called Chusoh.
Gened suggested they spare anyone who agrees to join him under their flag, even if they are a noble, and kill anyone who does not. His suggestion, however, was largely ignored and most city nobles who have not escaped by that time had been killed. The rebels began pillaging the city and feasting, although Gened urged them to pause and begin organizing for the campaign on Chusoh. One story states that when Gened called upon several of the miners, returning with food and jewelry from the fallen city, they laughed at him and said: “What are you going to do, kill us with the stones?”
Keetoh was also against campaigning and used heavy rebel losses as reason against further action. Arguing that following Hohned's army would simply result in more deaths, and that they are not conquerors, but people defending their land. He called their land “Commonground”.
Shortly after the news of Hohned's fall had reached Jhet, serfs all over Toor began revolting: Keetoh's movement had finally begun.
Keetoh installed his close aide Gozodōroh as Jeenor. Gozodōroh announced a call to any able man or woman to join her army. As miners and serfs began flocking to Gozodōroh's camp, Gozodōroh began training the army.
Gened strongly disagreed with Keetoh's strategy and insisted that they mount a proactive assault on Chusoh if they were to remain free. He argued that waiting for the enemy to attack would simply give Chusoh more time to prepare.
Since Gened was not only a superhero warrior, but also viewed as a true hero who instead of using his powers for his own gain, used them to save his people, Keetoh was worried that Gened's opposition would undermine his vision for Commonground. As his distrust grew, he decided to temporarily eliminate Gened. He had him secretly arrested and imprisoned in an underground corridor of an abandoned mine.
However, Gened's childhood friend, Forl, found out and began sneaking into the mine to talk to him. Forl put together a close-knit group of Gened's supporters. Together, they managed to forge a mail armor for Gened that contained small amounts of belequel. They also began forging a belequel-strengthened sword. There was only a small slit between the abandoned mine door and the wall, and so Forl used that to pass one or two mail armor rings to Gened every day. Gened was then linking the rings into an armor.
While normally a slave or a serf uprising would not be considered too alarming, the unexpected destruction of Hohned dealt a serious blow to the stability of Toor: in the previous decade King Tormoh barely managed to hold the country together. His control of Laeooy Coast was one of the factors that helped him placate Gaskal and Deeras, powerful polities of their own that have multiple times considered seceding. This new development required an immediate response, especially given Keetoh's proclamations of the area as the new polity, Commonground. Additionaly, the King was already old and, given his son's death, the court was worried about finding a suitable successor.
King Tormoh installed Lord Oroat as Jeenor, head of the army, and provided him with a 40,000-strong force, while deploying 20,000 men between Hohned and Chusoh.
Instead of confronting rebels from the direction of Hohned, Lord Oroat had the army go around the area and attack Commonground from the west, quickly reclaiming less defended territories. These early victories were important for King Tormoh, who immediately informed Gaskal and Deeras that the situation is under control.
However, as the army began to knife further and further into rebel territory, guerilla warfare began to slow it down. Additionally, Lord Oroat had to leave garrisons to defend larger mines, such as Sutimoh, Rolee and Goskoh: the serfs would abandon them when confronted with Oroat's army, only to return later and either reclaim the mine or attack those left to guard it. So, Oroat's army was effectively fighting several ongoing battles at the same time.
By the beginning of 73, Lord Oroat was still tied up roughly between Goskoh and Koatooy. Realizing that the rebels are trying to wear him down, Oroat regrouped and marched to the Lion of Chusoh, which was one of the few mines loyal to Toor, and stationed there for the rest of the winter.
Meanwhile, Tōrmoh's court managed to get the support of Agzor, a young superhero warrior who lived in the cold plains to the east of the Quoon River. Agzor had an uncontrolled ability to dramatically heat up anything he touches, to the point that if he stood on the ground barefoot, steam would go up from the ground, water would begin to boil and trees would go up in flames. In order to save people and his surroundings from the destructive effect, Agzor had to wear boots on thick wooden platforms and wear gloves.
Agzor was tasked to travel to Koalderood and use his powers to incinerate Keetoh's camp.