“Who Dares Wins.”
Motto: Special Air Service
The First Hero is the adopted apprentice of the Great Serpent, one of the Three Unknowable. As the Firebird is Mystery, as Weaver is the Story, the Great Serpent is Courage.
First Hero meets and apprentices to the Great Serpent during the founding of the First Tribe. First Mother makes her agreement with the Weaver first. And through that agreement, the scavenger folk with First Mother are able to form the First Tribe. But the tribe finds themselves under siege by Hand Eaters. The Weaver tells of her kin: The Great Serpent, and tells First Mother that the Great Serpent can empower one of the Tribe to lead a defense against the Hand Eaters. None are willing to brave the Labyrinth of the Great Serpent, save a child of thirteen years.
The child ventures into the Labyrinth and meets the Great Serpent. They discuss the Great Serpent and his apprenticeship. The Great Serpent requires an apprentice who will live the Free Path and the Song of Seven boldly, even in the face of certain death. The child is young, and has never known a life without death everywhere. The child asks how the Great Serpent and his apprenticeship would help save the tribe? The Great Serpent says that the apprenticeship would render the child as The First Hero and enable them to achieve victory against impossible odds. The child accepts without hesitation. The Serpent asks if the child is not afraid that such victories might be achieved by their own death. The child says that the cost would still be acceptable. And so the Great Serpent accepts the child as his apprentice. And so First Hero is born, and the Great Serpent charges the First Hero with defeating a monster who personifies the temptation that comes with the role of First Hero.
Exiting the Labyrinth, the First Hero is confronted by a monster, specifically one of the Rooted. The Rooted are monsters connected to the animal tribes known as the Wild Folk. The Rooted can be noble or malicious, but the Beast is one of the Hollow Rooted: a cannibal werewolf. The Hollow Rooted are corrupted before they become Rooted, and the corruption of the Hungry Empire grows with the rooting. The Hollow Rooted will typically transform into Hand Eaters as the corruption is empowered by the rooting. The Hollow Rooted win through intimidation, but fall quickly if challenged by a bold opponent. The Hollow Rooted first attempts to recruit First Hero by showing the power of mystic rituals of the cannibal folk. First hero rejects the Hollow Rooted and their offer. Next the Hollow Rooted attempts to intimidate First Hero into fleeing back into the Labyrinth with a display of fangs and claws. But First Hero stands firm and then, unarmed and unarmored, charges the Rooted and forces it back out of the cave and puts it to flight.
And so First Hero exits the Labyrinth and returns to the tribe to find it under siege. He rallies the new tribe and forces the Hand Eaters back, puts them to flight. Some tales say First Hero fell in the fighting. But the Seven Siblings are said to be their children. And many more tales say that First Hero lived on till the end of the Green Lands. But whatever their fate, First Hero saved the First Tribe at their founding and all of the Freepath are in their debt for that.
The lesson of First Hero is simple. Once the Path is clear, Take the action. The best thing to do in a crisis is the right thing. The second best thing to do in a crisis is the wrong thing. The worst thing to do in crisis is nothing. Find your resolve and act. Choose your path and follow it, whether it leads to victory or defeat. If you path is a worthy one, then any life lived on it will be likewise worthy. How will you know if the path is a worthy one? You will know it because you will feel compelled to act and follow the path regardless of how unlikely success may seem. You will know because you will not care if you think you have any chance of success. You will know because you will consider the impossibility of success as why you must take action.
But whatever path you choose, you must act. Nothing gets done if you do nothing.
Professor Harbinger's School for Villains 