Dota 2 Heroes Stories
Dota 2 Hero Lore Part II
Page "B"
7. Bane
When
the gods have nightmares, it is Bane Elemental who brings them. Also
known as Atropos, Bane was born from the midnight terrors of the
goddess Nyctasha. A force of terror too powerful to be contained by
sleep, he surfaced from her slumbers, fed upon her immortality, and
stole his vaporous form from her inky blood. He is the essence of
fear. Mortals who hear his voice hear their darkest secrets whispered
in their ear. He calls to the hidden fear in every Hero's heart.
Wakefulness is no protection, for Bane's black blood, continuously
dripping, is a tar that traps his enemies in nightmare. In the
presence of Bane, every Hero remembers to fear the dark.
8. Batrider
There
is no such thing as harmony among the creatures of the Yama Raskav
Jungle. By bite, or claw, or pincer, or hoof, even the slightest sign
of weakness means a swift death. They say the Rider was just a lad
cutting
chaff in his family's field when he was taken, swept up by a massive morde-bat looking for take-out. But this boy had a better idea, and wriggled his way from his captor's grip, onto the beast's back, and hacked it down with his tools. Emerging from the bloody wreckage and intoxicated by the thrill of flight, the boy realized he'd found his calling. The boy grew, and every summer he'd return to his family's field, often setting out into the bush seeking to reclaim that first thrill of facing death in the form of jaws or a fatal fall. The years went on, but his fire only grew stronger. He studied the overgrowth, plunging deeper with each expedition, until finally he found his way to the caves at the heart of hostility. They say the Rider, on the eve of a scorching summer night, had nothing but a rope, a bottle of liquid courage and a burning determination to feel the skies once more, when he plunged inside...
chaff in his family's field when he was taken, swept up by a massive morde-bat looking for take-out. But this boy had a better idea, and wriggled his way from his captor's grip, onto the beast's back, and hacked it down with his tools. Emerging from the bloody wreckage and intoxicated by the thrill of flight, the boy realized he'd found his calling. The boy grew, and every summer he'd return to his family's field, often setting out into the bush seeking to reclaim that first thrill of facing death in the form of jaws or a fatal fall. The years went on, but his fire only grew stronger. He studied the overgrowth, plunging deeper with each expedition, until finally he found his way to the caves at the heart of hostility. They say the Rider, on the eve of a scorching summer night, had nothing but a rope, a bottle of liquid courage and a burning determination to feel the skies once more, when he plunged inside...
9. Beastmaster
Karroch
was born a child of the stocks. His mother died in childbirth; his
father, a farrier for the Last King of Slom, was trampled to death
when he was five. Afterward Karroch was indentured to the king's
menagerie, where he grew up among all the beasts of the royal court:
lions, apes, fell-deer, and things less known, things barely believed
in. When the lad was seven, an explorer brought in a beast like none
before seen. Dragged before the King in chains, the beast spoke,
though its mouth moved not. Its words: a plea for freedom. The King
only laughed and ordered the beast perform for his amusement; and
when it refused, struck it with the Mad Scepter and ordered it
dragged to the stocks.
Over
the coming months, the boy Karroch sneaked food and medicinal
draughts to the wounded creature, but only managed to slow its
deterioration. Wordlessly, the beast spoke to the boy, and over time
their bond strengthened until the boy found he could hold up his end
of a conversation. He could, in fact, speak now to all the creatures
of the King's menagerie. On the night the beast died, a rage came
over the boy. He incited the animals of the court to rebel and threw
open their cages to set them amok on the palace grounds. The Last
King was mauled in the mayhem. In the chaos, one regal stag bowed to
the boy who had freed him; and with Beastmaster astride him, leapt
the high walls of the estate, and escaped. Now a man, Karroch the
Beastmaster has not lost his ability to converse with wild creatures.
He has grown into a warrior at one with nature's savagery.
10. Bloodseeker
Strygwyr
the Bloodseeker is a ritually sanctioned hunter, Hound of the Flayed
Twins, sent down from the mist-shrouded peaks of Xhacatocatl in
search of blood. The Flayed Ones require oceanic amounts of blood to
keep them sated and placated, and would soon drain their mountain
empire of its populace if the priests of the high plateaus did not
appease them. Strygwyr therefore goes out in search of carnage. The
vital energy of any blood he lets, flows immediately to the Twins
through the sacred markings on his weapons and armor. Over the years,
he has come to embody the energy of a vicious hound; in battle he is
savage as a jackal. Beneath the Mask of the Bloodseeker, in the rush
of bloody quenching, it is said that you can sometime see the
features of the Flayers taking direct possession of their Hound.
11. Bounty Hunter
When
the hunted tell tales of Gondar the Bounty Hunter, none are sure of
which are true. In whispered tones they say he was abandoned as a
kit, learning his skill in tracking as a matter of simple survival.
Others hear he was an orphan of war, taken in by the great Soruq the
Hunter to learn the master's skill with a blade as they plumbed the
dark forests for big game. Still others believe he was a lowly street
urchin raised among a guild of cutpurses and thieves, trained in the
arts of stealth and misdirection. Around campfires in the wild
countryside his quarry speaks the rumors of Gondar's work, growing
ever more fearful: they say it was he who tracked down the tyrant
King Goff years after the mad regent went into hiding, delivering his
head and scepter as proof. That it was he who infiltrated the rebel
camps at Highseat, finally bringing the legendary thief White Cape to
be judged for his crimes. And that it was he who ended the career of
Soruq the Hunter, condemned as a criminal for killing the Prince's
prized hellkite. The tales of Gondar's incredible skill stretch on,
with each daring feat more unbelievable than the last, each target
more elusive. For the right price, the hunted know, anyone can be
found. For the right price, even the mightiest may find fear in the
shadows.
12. Brewmaster
Deep
in the Wailing Mountains, in a valley beneath the Ruined City, the
ancient Order of the Oyo has for centuries practiced its rites of
holy reverie, communing with the spirit realm in grand festivals of
drink. Born to a mother's flesh by a Celestial father, the youth
known as Mangix was the first to grow up with the talents of both
lineages. He trained with the greatest aesthetes of the Order,
eventually earning, through diligent drunkenness, the right to
challenge for the title of Brewmaster, that appellation most honored
among the contemplative malt-brewing sect.
As
much drinking competition as mortal combat, Mangix for nine days
drank and fought the elder master. For nine nights they stumbled and
whirled, chugged and struck, until at last the elder warrior
collapsed into a drunken stupor, and a new Brewmaster was named. Now
the new, young Brewmaster calls upon the strength of his Oyo
forebears to speed his staff. When using magic, it is to his spirit
ancestors that he turns. Like all Brewmasters before him, he was sent
out from his people with a single mission. He wanders the land,
striving toward enlightenment through drink, searching for the answer
to the ancient spiritual schism. Hoping to think the single thought
that will unite the spirit and physical planes again.
13. Bristleback
Never
one to turn his back on a fight, Rigwarl was known for battling the
biggest, meanest scrappers he could get his hands on. Christened
Bristleback by the drunken crowds, he waded into backroom brawls in
every road tavern between Slom and Elze, until his exploits finally
caught the eye of a barkeep in need of an enforcer. For a bit of
brew, Bristleback was hired to collect tabs, keep the peace, and
break the occasional leg or two (or five, in the case of one
unfortunate web-hund).
After
indulging in a night of merriment during which bodily harm was meted
out in equal parts upon both delinquent patrons and his own liver,
Bristleback finally met his match. "Your tusks offend me, sir,"
he was heard to drunkenly slur to one particularly large fellow from
the northern wastes whose bill had come due. What followed was a
fight for the ages. A dozen fighters jumped in. No stool was left
unbroken, and in the end, the impossible happened: the tab went
unpaid. Over the weeks that followed, Bristleback's wounds healed,
and his quills grew back; but an enforcer's honor can be a prickly
thing. He paid the tab from his own coin, vowing to track down this
northerner and extract redemption. And then he did something he'd
never done before: he actually trained, and in so doing made a
startling discovery about himself. A smile peeled back from his teeth
as he flexed his quills. Turning his back to a fight might be just
the thing.
14. Broodmother
For
centuries, Black Arachnia the Broodmother lurked in the dark lava
tubes beneath the smoldering caldera of Mount Pyrotheos, raising
millions of spiderlings in safety before sending them to find prey in
the wide world above. In a later age, the Vizier of Greed,
Ptholopthales, erected his lodestone ziggurat on the slopes of the
dead volcano, knowing that any looters who sought his magnetic wealth
must survive the spider-haunted passages. After millennia of maternal
peace, Black Arachnia found herself beset by a steady trickle of
furfeet and cutpurses, bold knights and noble youths—all of them
delicious, certainly, and yet tending to create a less than nurturing
environment for her innocent offspring. Tiring of the intrusions, she
paid a visit to Ptholopthales; and when he proved unwilling to
discuss a compromise, she wrapped the Vizier in silk and set him
aside to be the centerpiece of a special birthday feast.
Unfortunately, the absence of the Magnetic Ziggurat's master merely
emboldened a new generation of intruders. When one of her newborns
was trodden underfoot by a clumsy adventurer, she reached the end of
her silken rope. Broodmother headed for the surface, declaring her
intent to rid the world of each and every possible invader, down to
the last Hero if necessary, until she could ensure her nursery might
once more be a safe and wholesome environment for her precious
spiderspawn.
