# PathLore

### Who are the Pathfinders? 

> Hearken the song of the sea, the tides crashing upon our shore bear rhyme \
> Pluck thy strings poets and singers, our voices joined in praise, we perform, \
> Proud of heroes who ventured forth. And hail the heroes of our prime’s time. \
> Hail to the trailblazers’ brazen path, beaten beyond the intense storm. \
> The legends braved the Titan’s howling gales, And passed the raging storm with hoisted sails. \
> Glory to mystic Erasmus, Mad Saint of the mast and the Witch-spark. \
> Glory to Princess Yukari, sea’s prodigy, paving the way forth. \
> Glory to clever Aetherine, on airy wings, airborne amidst lark. \
> Glory to bold Tahaki, our bastion who never would break troth.\
> Glory to hated Siana, the hoary hag, casting her woe-hex. \
> Across a storm that wailed, and a menacing sea blazed their trail. \
> Venturing vast, wide seas, and in their New World that does vex. \
> Hear their glorious tale. Of heroes, ones who we now hail: \
> The pathfinders, the ones who heed the call. \
> The ones who saw beyond the Titan’s Wall.

*—* Anonymous, *Glory the Trailblazers*

A **Pathfinder** is an adventurer from the [Thirteen Lands](https://project-pathfinders.gitbook.io/project-pathfinders/pathlore/thirteen-lands) who travels to the unexplored [New World](https://project-pathfinders.gitbook.io/project-pathfinders/pathlore/the-new-world). Since the parting of [Titan's Wall](https://project-pathfinders.gitbook.io/project-pathfinders/pathlore/titans-wall) in 520 AC, thousands of young men and women have chartered expeditions to seek fortune and glory in the east, leading some to call this era the **Age of Pathfinders.**

<figure><img src="https://content.gitbook.com/content/l8PoDauAl8rpfrqzxzXf/blobs/QJKwqwBhfbP9wRUWcA28/pixisu%20poster.png" alt="" width="563"><figcaption><p>The first explorers!</p></figcaption></figure>

#### The First Expedition

The name “Pathfinder” was popularized by an anonymously written poem, *Glory the Trailblazers.* This poem, originally about five legendary figures from different cultures, came to symbolize the modern age of exploration as well as the explorers defining it.

The five figures referenced by *Glory the Trailblazers,* sometimes called “the first expedition” or “the first Pathfinders,” are:

* [Saint Erasmus the Mad](https://project-pathfinders.gitbook.io/project-pathfinders/pathlore/the-heroes-of-the-new-world/saint-erasmus-the-mad)
* [Princess Yukari Murasaki](https://project-pathfinders.gitbook.io/project-pathfinders/pathlore/the-heroes-of-the-new-world/princess-yukari-murasaki)
* [Tahaki the Bold](https://project-pathfinders.gitbook.io/project-pathfinders/pathlore/the-heroes-of-the-new-world/tahaki-the-bold)
* [Aetherine di Colinas](https://project-pathfinders.gitbook.io/project-pathfinders/pathlore/the-heroes-of-the-new-world/aetherine-di-colinas)
* [Siana the Exile](https://project-pathfinders.gitbook.io/project-pathfinders/pathlore/the-heroes-of-the-new-world/siana-the-exile)

#### Factions

Pathfinders are generally affiliated with one of five factions in the Thirteen Lands:

* The [Domenican Empire](https://project-pathfinders.gitbook.io/project-pathfinders/pathlore/factions/domenican-empire)
* The [Sea Ronin](https://project-pathfinders.gitbook.io/project-pathfinders/pathlore/factions/sea-ronin)
* The [Kanaui](https://project-pathfinders.gitbook.io/project-pathfinders/pathlore/factions/kanaui)
* The [Aetherwrights](https://project-pathfinders.gitbook.io/project-pathfinders/pathlore/factions/aetherwrights)
* The [Tunuk](https://project-pathfinders.gitbook.io/project-pathfinders/pathlore/factions/tunuk)

Each of these factions has a different understanding of the New World and a different vision of how the Thirteen Lands should relate to it. Pathfinders from different factions pursue different goals, sometimes collaborating with each other and sometimes coming into opposition with each other.