Luke

Luke is a recurring character in Luric folklore who is considered by many to be a Hero of Legend. Whether he exists or not is debatable, but the fact that he takes place in many myths, not just those from Luric, is considered by some to be proof of his existence. He is known for founding the city of Illiena.

Myths
Luke is known as being a character in many Luric myths, in which he is somewhat of a demigod. In some stories he is told as being "3 meters tall and more powerful than a hundred men". This is more than likely an exaggeration, as the consensus of lore considers him to be of normal size and stature. Some myths consider him to be immortal as well, but this is also unlikely, as immortality is difficult to attain even with the power of magic.

The Creation of Illiena
In the myth of the creation of the city Illiena, Luke is the character who forms a small group of settlers from the south and builds a city in what he tells them is the "perfect land". At first, the status of the land is questionable, as the new settlers struggle to find food and have many disagreements with each other. One of these settlers, known as Ray, goes as far as killing Luke. For years, his death was thought of as an accident. In time, though, Ray publicly confessed to the crime and plunged into the Elic River to his death. After Ray's suicide, the town began to prosper, as hundreds of the useful laedra plants began to grow.

This is known by many to be the final chapter of Luke's long-lasting tale. Alternate versions of his death exist, including one where he is metamorphosed into a handful of laedra seeds upon his death.

The Slaying of the Beol
Another popular story featuring Luke was the tale of the Lady Mille, a woman who had caught the disease known as reed sickness, a terribly contagious plague that thickens the blood stream, making it difficult to move oxygen and nutrients through the body. It almost always leads to death, and was thought of by many as being without a cure. The man called Luke was concerned, both about the woman's life and about how the sickness would spread if it wasn't stopped. He knew, from reading banished texts on the occult and other questionable ideas, that a demon known as Beol resided in the heart of a thick forest in southern Luric. In search of answers he trekked to the south.

After walking for two weeks he felt a presence inside of him. He assumed it was the Beol demon, and asked it if he could have an answer to his problem. Luke, who was correct in his assumption, was told by a breathy voice that he could, indeed, solve the problem on his own accord. However, the voice told him that it was only one embodiment of Beol, and that its true form was back in the village of Gord, the village where the sick woman Mille was still quarantined to her house, the village where Luke had come from. The voice had told him that if he wanted to solve his conflict, he must kill Beol itself. One last word of advice told him that Beol incarnate would begin to walk south and meet Luke halfway to Gord.

Luke had prepared for the trip with whatever he could gather from the darkly tinged forest. He had fashioned a spear out of sticks and stones, and made a sort of salad out of the plants he could identify as being edible. After the day had ended he began to walk north. Exactly one week later he came upon a clearing. In the distance he could see a figure walking toward him. Luke drew his makeshift spear. The figure appeared to be a woman, a rather frail looking woman at that. After a few minutes Luke had put the pieces together - the demon Beol was, in fact, the Lady Mille.

Mille looked up at him with a frail smile, and whispered into his ear: "Please, please could you cure me?" Luke, in shock, didn't know what to do. He had known that the feat of killing a demon would be difficult, but in a completely different way. After what seemed like hours of silence, Luke drew his spear and lunged it into her chest. She let out a whimper of surprise and fell to the ground, bleeding profusely. Luke tried to close his eyes but felt an unearthly force holding them open. He figured it must have been the spirit of Beol, forcing him to watch this woman die. When he stabbed her, he'd aimed to stop her heart but missed by just a few centimeters. He had burst her lung.

Now, his punishment for his inaccuracy was that he had to watch her slowly die. He saw the look of agony on Mille's face, but when he looked past that he saw a sadistic look of pleasure on Beol's face. Luke himself used all the strength he could muster to look away. He saw that it wasn't working and he simply surrendered. He watched the woman's suffering slowly turn into relief. Mille's dying breath was used to utter the words "Thank you..." Luke had finally realized what he had done. He had taken the woman's life, but he had rid the disease, and he had exorcised a demon from inside of her.

Beol was done torturing the world with its sickness.

Descendants of Luke
Some records state that Luke had children with the woman Mae-Ilena. (Further proof of this woman's impact on Luke's life is the name of the city Illiena, which Luke supposedly named after his lover.) They had a son named Mark, who grew up to have a son of his own called Mark. This continued for generations. In fact, a wealthy merchant from Illiena by the name of Mark IX claims to be a descendant of Luke himself. Mark IX is known for being skilled in the manipulation of magic (which is enhanced due to the well in Illiena) and his extremely persuasive personality.

The mage Mark III sometimes claimed to be the great-grandson of Luke.

Appearance
While no one really knows what exactly Luke looked like, he is generally considered to be a rather tall and well-built man. However, his features vary from myth to myth. In fact, one variation of the character is a woman named Lucy. This version of the hero is very uncommon, though. In many myths he is depicted as one who wields a sword, spear, or other short range weaponry. In reality it was more likely that Luke was a mage, due to the fact that his great-grandson Mark III was a powerful mage who is credited for discovering the Magacana.