Talyen is one of the most pivotal figures in the history of the Prime Plane. Born of divine heritage—his mother, Avatar Lumina of The Sun Realm, and his father, Avatar Rok of The Earth Realm—his existence one of impossible contradictions. While his life represented an unprecedented potential to bring the two elemental realms together, his continued existence was also threat to their relative stability. A child raised in secrecy, tempered by hardship, and elevated by purpose, Talyen’s journey from a forsaken orphan to the savior of the material plane is one of legend.
He is most renowned for leading The Sunsations through their climactic confrontation with Malekith and Valekith during the Battle of the Black Sun, uniting the fractured elemental realms and ushering in a new age of hope. Forged in the fires of fate, Talyen is a symbol of lost lineage redeemed—and the living embodiment of a prophecy denied for centuries.
Personality & Appearance
Talyen is resolute, burdened by sorrow but driven by hope. He bears the legacy of two realms, yet chooses to walk his own path. He values loyalty and truth over authority, and his years of survival have given him a deep connection to the natural world. Despite his rough exterior, he is fervently devoted to the protection of those he cares about, particularly his lifelong friends in the Sunsations.
- Olive skin kissed by the sun, body marked with battle scars
- Black hair tied back with a red bandana embroidered with a rising sun
- Sun-touched golden eyes
- A dragonsbone bow, carved from the rib of a wyvern
- A necklace of fangs and claws plucked from beasts he has hunted
- While he used to wear rugged Serrakhanian hunters garbs, he has recently donned Solir ceremonial robes in white and gold, adorned with armor etched with the symbol of Itela
Origins & History
Talyen was born in secret to Avatar Lumina and Avatar Rok, the rulers and divine paragons of the Sun and Earth Realms. Fearing political upheaval and growing resentment, the couple hid their son from both Itela and the Earth Kingdom. His early years were spent under the care of Alistair Emrys (now known as Altair Emris), Lumina’s trusted advisor and renowned historian. But peace did not last. During a fateful expedition to The Sands of Serrakhan, Emris was mortally wounded by The Great Serpent. In a cruel twist of fate, he was "saved" by Malekith—who offered the Serpent vengeance in exchange for its blackened heart—the Ebony Amulet. Bound by the corrupted power of the Ebony Amulet (an Infinity Shard), Emris betrayed Lumina, revealing Talyen’s existence.
To protect her son, Lumina surrendered herself to Malekith (see: The Light of Lumina). In doing so, she was bound to him, her essence corrupted and repurposed to sunder the Sun Realm. As Lumina's power was used to scorch the sun realm, Malekith "upheld" his side of the bargain—leaving Talyen to wander the ruined remains of his people's civilization, alone. His memories erased by Malekith’s curse, Talyen awoke amidst the Burned Woods and wandered for years—through The Barren Badlands and across the deserts of Serrakhan. He survived by hunting, scavenging, and enduring, clutching only a single keepsake: a wooden pendant carved with the sun’s symbol.
Eventually, he arrived in Shariz and joined the newly formed Emris Adventuring Guild after overhearing a call to arms from Headmaster Emris himself. Unaware of their shared past, the two formed a close bond, with Emris acting as a surrogate father while silently carrying the weight of his own guilt for betraying his people.
Rise Through the Emris Guild
Despite this unspoken history, Talyen’s talents flourished. Among the first generation of adventurers to survive the Trials of the Sun, he quickly became a guiding presence in the Emris Guild. He would even go on to mentor many of the original Sunsations: Professor Henry Endsworth, Kairus the Brass, Josu, May Bellsprout, Losk the Wanderer, Guy the Grateful and Mal the Marbled Man. Together, they uncovered the Snake Cult, destroyed the resurrected Great Serpent (see: Serpents Showdown), and dismantled the Order of the Flaming Sun—exposing their conspiracy to frame the Guild and give rise to Primarch Arkhan, whom hid within their chivalric crypt.
Talyen would also led the Sunsations through the Barren Badlands, the Burned Woods, and into The Shadowfell via The Umbral Gateway at the ruins of Itela. There, he began recovering fragments of his losk memories as he ventured yet again through the ruined vestiges of his people's civilization. Later on, within the Shadowfell, Talyen was imprisoned by the Matron of Memories in the Museum of Lost Memories, displayed as a "masterpiece" of suffering. His life was spared after the Sunsations made plea with the crazed goddess to exchange the captured Shadowlord Decimus in a barter that also granted the party the Ebony Amulet—further serving to worsen Talyen's mental condition as he began to hear Malekith’s whispers from within it.
The Fall and the Flame
After returning to the Serrakhan Sultanate, Talyen’s mind began to unravel further under the amulet’s influence, yet he would seethe only in silence. Despite this unspoken suffering, Talyen would still stand alongside the Sunsations against Prometheus, even after his companions Kairus and Losk were turned into Primarchs of the Sun. In the final battle atop the crumbling Promythean, he seemingly perished in a radiant explosion—only to survive due to his innate Solir resistance.
Wounded in body and soul, he embarked on a pilgrimage across the elemental realms:
In Unknown, he communed with Archon Ember and gazed into the Unknown.
In Grimhold, he stood before Bjorn and peered into the Earthstone.
In the Atlan Abyss, he sought the wisdom of Mythia as he looked into the Seastone.
And atop Aerenal's alpine lake, he found Zirael (aka Goldbrand) and witnessed the Etherstone.
Each journey awakened more of his memories and allowed him to piece together fundamental truths about the prime plane. Reforged in revelation, he would then return to Shariz.
The Star of Dawn
During a guild assembly, he confronted Emr1s—the Warforged vessel housing the preserved mind of Altair Emris. In a burst of radiant fury, Talyen decapitated the construct, exposing Emris’ past sins and his manipulation of the adventurers whom heeded his call. This event, known as The Star of Dawn, led to Talyen's rise as head of the (newly renamed) Sunsations Adventuring Guild, and would also divine public opinion. Shanara the Salamander, sensing his instability, pleaded with Talyen to release the Ebony Amulet before she took it to the Sun Temple with Zyla Nu Ten and Brick to destroy it—succeeding with Archon Ember's aid (see: Solace of the Sun).
Talyen then orchestrated the infiltration of the Sharizian Sensations gala to ultimately depose Sultan Hakim Atis. Upon revealing the truth about the Sultanate’s cursed Sphinx lineage, Hakim surrendered before being decapitated by Talyen, who would then dismantle the Holy Order of the Sun and found the Senate of the Sun (see: Sultans Showdown and Shadow of the Sun's Eclipse).
Battle of the Black Sun
Years later, aided by the Serrakhanian Survey Corps, Talyen discovered the location of The Tomb of the Twin-Spirit—Malekith’s tomb world chained above an inverted volcano in The Isle of Ember. He issued a call for aid to all four elemental realms and the Y’azi Peninsula.
During the final confrontation, Talyen was nearly slain by Malekith/Valekith, who revealed that Lumina still lived—her soul entrapped and fueling his ill-gotten power. With his will nearly broken, Talyen made a final plea, clutching his sun pendant—the only possession which he held from his childhood. This act reawakened Lumina’s spirit and resurged resistance of the elemental essences of Avatar Typhon and Avatar Terra—now within Valekith. Taking advantage of this split-second opportunity, Guy the Grateful shattered the hollow reflection to the Shadow fell (behind Valekith) as the Rift Crystal in his hand imploded.
Valekith, in a last act of vengeance, branded Talyen with the Mark of the Blackhand, before being consumed into a singularity.
Legacy
Talyen now leads the Senate of the Sun (and the Sultanate, by proxy), his legend solidified after the Battle of the Black Sun. He is seen as a unifier, a symbol of hope and resilience. Yet the mark of the Blackhand looms—a quiet omen whose meaning is still unknown.
Some believe he will rise to rebuild the harmony between the realms. Others fear what power may come of one who has seen the truth of the gods, avatars, and the void which awaits all things.
But all agree on one thing...
Talyen is no longer just a survivor. He is the light that dawns after the long night.
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