Iodun Myrdinn, colloquially known as "Iodun the Unifier", was the most important figure in the history of Commona. Born to the noble house of Myrdinn in Verdane, his impressive intellect and impossible force of will were evident even as a young boy. As an adult, he became a prominent Theurge of Umera and a sage of great renown, mastering all Schools of Magic.
After a failed bid to become a High Priest of Umera, he subsequently spent years in deep meditation away from the church, where he began having religious visions that changed the fate of the world. Iodun believed that the hundreds of warring Mortalkind houses across the Head of the Greatwyrm could be united through conquest, bound by a freehold of laws that would usher in an age of peace. He claimed that he could see a Leyline leading west which contained the essence of the Realm of Fire, and he was compelled to follow this invisible line.
His vision took him on a journey across the Gulf of the Maw, chartering a ship through the Brimstone Breath into the Scorchwood Isle. Buried deep in the center of this strange and cursed forest was the Grove of the Burnwillows; there, Iodun unearthed the Epochal Artifact Cometfall. Using the tome's world-changing power, he was able to follow through on his vision, as the sheer threat of Cometfall forced even mighty kingdoms to kneel before taking up arms.
Not all of his victories were won with politicking or intimidation; he fought many battles, and used Cometfall to completely scar the land in the Eastern Sundering. Setbacks in the Battle Of Sylphglade and the Unholy Siege Of Fort Verdane made him realize he would not be able to overtake the entirety of Somnum without monumental bloodshed, but he still largely succeeded in his goal: after Common Unification, his nation stood as the greatest power on the continent.
The sage achieved this monumental task through collaboration, coercion, and force. Alongside a network of intellectuals and scholars, Iodun implemented a Common Calendar and to map the land's history and uncover the secrets of the Age of Giants. To facilitate this education, he implemented a Common language, allowing for free exchange of ideas across his new republic.
Following this vision, he designated a Common capital in Emblem, and set up a political system that ensured the republic would stay intact after his passing. Each member state had to nominate a Council of Commonlight to represent them at the Court of the Torch, and send a percentage of armed guards to the capital to become Torchwarden, disincentivizing any notion of rebellion. Iodun himself became both the first Torchwarden as well as Torchbearer of the Court, the forefather of a system that would propagate widely.
The theurge finally died of natural causes on his deathbed in the new Common capital. In nearly every settlement throughout Commona, statues of Iodun and his tome were erected in town squares or places of governance. Despite this adulation, his legacy remained controversial among those he subjugated and fought, especially for those in the Dotted Plains, the Scycaen Imperium, and the Elthysi Sovereign.