Saint of Flames
The Saint of Flames (885-912~IA~) was a human born Illyria. His true name is unwritten, but the Einir knew him as Blaithel, the Kmekh of the Nauglimir called him Kehim’ashk, and in Thalarion he was given the moniker Morcuru, a name that he embraced and took great pride in.
Morcuru grew up on a small farm on the outskirts of Illyria City. He had a contentious relationship with his parents, and at the age of 15, pushed his drunken father into the hearth of their home, killing him. He fled his childhood home, but the incident awoke latent sorcerous powers in him - most notably a mastery of fire.
After a brief time working for petty criminals in Illyria City, Morcuru’s talents were noticed by the authorities, and he came to be in the employ of the Duke Godric II of Illyria as a “troubleshooter”. He quickly grew close to the Duke, and over the years became one of the most trusted of the Duke’s agents.
In 910~IA~, amidst the political turmoil of the Narini invasion of Corin, Duke Godric was assassinated. Together with Mandorellan of Eindonallan, Jayden of Illyria, and his long-time companion and guardian Kor, Morcuru set off on a campaign to drive the Empire out of Illyria and Greade, eventually winning their independence in 912~IA~. The victory was bittersweet, however, as Morcuru is said to have died only weeks before, and did not live to see the final withdrawal of imperial troops from Illyria.
Most of what is known about Morcuru comes from Jayden of Illyria and her daughter Noriel. Jayden and Noriel’s later campaign to beatify Morcuru for his work for the people of Illyria would eventually lead to the [Sun Schism](/pages/Sun Schism) and origin of the [Illyrian Church](/pages/Illyrian Church).
Rumors
It is said that Morcuru and his companions fought not just against the Empire, but also waged a secret war in parallel. Some claims seem unlikely (e.g., that Duke Godric was Morcuru’s real father), whereas others are downright absurd (e.g., that Morcuru was a carefully-chosen scion of an enclave of shapeshifters, meant to stop a mind flayer plot to free the imprisoned Ialdabaoth…)