ATHALIA

"The war has begun."

Athalia is an agility-based ranger hero of the celestial faction. She delivers slashes and critical strikes with her blades, prevents enemies from regaining energy, stuns enemies, and mitigates damage to herself based on how many allies are left on the battlefield.

Athalia's ultimate "Divine Fury" unleashes a barrage of lightning-fast slashes against enemies, with the third slash having a 100% critical strike rate.

Athalia could be described best in her current form as a living weapon. She was once a mortal woman, but after being Ascended by Dura and made a demigod to serve in the Celestial Order, she wields incredible power. Athalia has always found Dura's kindness for mortals perplexing. The mortal' behavior often dishonored the very gods they claimed to revere, but Dura would always find a way to forgive their transgressions. "They are imperfect, but are our creation nonetheless. We may guide them, but they will forever stray from the path. We must be there to see them back on it. Have pity on them and try to understand. They possess a spark that we do not." Athalia couldn't help but feel the burning twinge of jealously at these sentiments. Were their hearts not blighted? Prone to the sickness of greed and hatred? "They must suffer that which we do not. We forget what it is to exist under the yoke of disease, hunger, poverty, the constant loss of the things we cherish. To be mortal is to love no less than a Divine, but to do so with the knowledge that all of it will inevitably be torn away from you. To be a mortal is a symphony of joy and pain. To be mortal is to be imperfect and complete. It is imperative to remember who they are when you approach them."

After Dura's death, Athalia's resentment of these creatures was cemented, the last remnants of her humanity forgotten. Had her goddess not intervened on their behalf, had she simply allowed her creation to fend for themselves, she would still exist. The most important thing, however, remained the same as ever. The preservation of The Light is the highest calling, and even some of the pitiful creatures that lived such petty, short lives were instrumental in this preservation. Athalia, however, was created as executioner as well as adjudicator, and her viewpoint is seldom nuanced. There is right and wrong in the world. Good and evil. Evil must be expunged.

Athalia now seeks out and destroys blasphemers with righteous fury. Those who dabble in the dark arts or conspire to aid the Hypogean conquest do so at the risk of becoming another body crumpled under her blessed blades. Her godless quarry are often discovered with their eyes charred and burst, lost to the light and the glory of this surviving avatar of Dura's justice aspect. Athalia is an indispensable ally in the fight against the demonic armies, but she is a double-edged sword. Whomever wields her should expect to pay with a little pain of their own.

"I am Justice. I cannot be judged."