The Army of Leodysseus. Xylona’s Flock. The Convocation of Bassylia. The Order of Eathyron. These heroic factions of Mythoss have been a part of Mythic Legions since the earliest days of the line, their names taken from the foursome of Great Beasts whose strength and bravery saved the Realm from evil during the First Great War of Mythoss. In this “Lore of Mythoss” article, we open the history books to see what we can learn about these heroic protectors of the Realm.
The First Great War
As has been revealed in the past, the Realm of Mythoss was once threatened with destruction at the hands of four evil entities known as the Dark Four. These beings were the personifications of War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death and they led their terrible armies with the sole intention of destroying the paradise that Mythoss had once been. This dark plot was only stopped thanks to the intervention of four other warriors - the “Great Beasts.”
These being were created by the Great Mother, Selyne, each of them birthed to combat a specific member of the Dark Four. The name “Great Beasts” is appropriate since each of these warriors bore a beastly appearance – Leodysseus the lion, Xylona the frost deer, Bassylia the great serpent, and Eathyron the golden eagle.
Wielding weapons of immense power, the Great Beasts rallied the good denizens of Mythoss to fight back against the evils that sought to oppress them, and eventually the evil generals and their armies were defeated. The Dark Four were banished from Mythoss, and their shattered forces crept back to the shadows from where they came.
The Legions of Light
With the Dark Four defeated and banished, the Great Beasts also left the Realm of Mythoss. Knowing that evil could one day rise again, the Beasts left behind their weapons to be used to keep the darkness at bay. Around these weapons and the memories of the Great Beasts who once held them, four heroic factions formed – the Legions of Light.
The Army of Leodysseus became the most militaristic of these new factions. Led by the Leossyr family, they built a great army in order to defend their kingdom and the Realm of Mythoss as a whole. The visage of the godlike lion can be seen in their faction symbol. It is emblazoned on the banners the army flies and it adorns the shields they strap to their arms as they head into battle.
The great weapon that this faction was left with is the mighty Leossyr Hammer. This is the story of Leodysseus that is still told in the golden kingdom today:
The first of the Great Beasts given life by Selyne, Leodysseus the Lion towered above the brave soldiers he led into battle during the First Great War of Mythoss. A shining example of bravery, Leodysseus faced off against the demonic Arethyr, using his massive hammer to defeat the fiery God of War. The Lion’s motto to be “the shield that protects the realm, and the sword that strikes those who threaten its peace” would form the core belief of the army that would eventually bear his name. That army would follow the example of unwavering dedication to military strength that Leodysseus showed during the First Great War, and his courage would be revered for all time within the kingdom of Leandorr.
Xylona’s Flock is the faction that grew around the memory of the elder frost deer, Xylona. Members of this faction gain their power from, and help protect, the elements of nature that give life to the people of Mythoss. Of all the heroic factions, the Flock are the ones most connected to the Great Beasts and the Great Mother herself, in large part because of their purity and close ties to nature. This inherent connection grants Xylona’s Flock a certain reverence and a measure of celebrity in the modern age.
The powerful weapon that was left behind for this faction was the Silverchord Bow.
One of the four legendary beasts that destroyed and decimated the unholy evils that once plagued ancient Mythoss, Xylona now serves as a symbol of hope to her flock. Wielding the Silverchord, a stag horn longbow able to fire magically-charged elemental arrows, Xylona’s elegant use of deadly force was much feared in battle. Once order was restored, her namesake army, Xylona’s Flock, pledged to carry her legacy forward in the wake of her disappearance.
The great serpent, Bassylia, lent her name to the faction of magic users, scholars, and teachers called the Convocation of Bassylia. The most mysterious of the heroic factions, they are also the most secluded, rarely leaving their towers and libraries to mingle in the affairs of the rest of the Realm.
The ancient weapon that Bassylia gifted this faction with is the Serpenspire Staff. This is what the history books tell of the great serpent:
The third of the Great Beasts to be called forth by Selyne, the winged serpent Bassylia was granted the ability to access the magic that shapes the universe. Leading an assemblage of scholars committed to wielding the burden of such considerable abilities, Bassylia and her followers were instrumental in shifting the balance of power in the First Great War by removing Poxxus’s forces from the battlefield. As enigmatic as the powers that these scholars wield is the mystery behind the disappearance of the Coatl, a race of serpentine beings like Bassylia. No one knows what happened to these beings, or if they do know, they are not revealing that secret.
Finally, the Order of Eathyron rose in reverence to the crowned eagle. The Order is an organization steeped in religious tradition, and which boasts warriors whose faith is as strong as the swords they wield and the shields they hold up to defend the Realm from the unholy terrors of the Undead.
The weapon left in the care of the Order is the Heavensbrand Sword.
Aeons ago in ancient Mythoss, four brave warriors arose to combat the evils that were overrunning the land. The mighty Leodysseus, Bassylia, Xylona, and the crowned eagle Eathyron were righteous and unyielding forces of nature. Armed with the Heavensbrand, a sword bestowed with the power to purify the evil in enemies' souls, Eathyron rained down like a mighty storm of unrelenting power from the skies. Although the heroes were victorious, they faded from sight soon after their triumph. In their absence, the four great armies of modern Mythoss formed to honor their memory and to carry their noble cause forward to this very day.
With these weapons at their side, the leaders of the Legions of Light helped usher in a new age for the Realm of Mythoss, one of great peace and prosperity. Today, three of the four weapons remain in their rightful places. The young queen, Artemyss Silverchord, wields the bow of Xylona. Herra Serpenspire, the leader of the Convocation of Bassylia, holds the serpent's staff. A righteous and noble man, Sir Gideon Heavensbrand fights with the sword of the eagle in his grasp. The hammer of the lion, however, has been lost. Attila Leossyr, the current leader of the Army of Leodysseus, fights without his family’s legacy weapon by his side, believing the loss of the hammer to be symbolic at best. He is wrong, for in its absence evil has been allowed to grow once again, and from the shadows that evil will soon emerge with the Legions of Dark.
The Great Beasts Figures
All four of the “Great Beast” characters have been released in the Mythic Legions line, with two of them already in hand, two more to come – and some reissues planned for the future.
The crowded eagle, Eathyron, was released all the way back in the “Eathyron’s Dozen” wave. While this wave made use of the tooling found on the Gothitropolis Kickstarter wave of “bird” figures, it featured all new decos and some brand-new head sculptures, including on the Eathyron figure. Canon-wise, Eathyron is the only release from that wave that is part of the larger story of Mythic Legions, and the figure was packaged with a pair of golden wings and the mighty Heavensbrand sword (the only other place that sword was originally available was in the “Weapons Pack 1” set from the first Kickstarter wave of Mythic Legions).
The elder frost deer, Xylona, was a stretch goal in the second Mythic Legions Kickstarter, for the “Advent of Decay” wave. Xylona came with her Silverchord Bow, which was also included with the Artymss Silverchord figure from that same wave.
Both Leodysseus and Bassylia were revealed as part of the Reign of the Beasts wave in late 2024, and they are expected to arrive in hand sometime in 2026. The release of these two warriors will complete the foursome of Great Beasts.
For those fans newer to the line, hunting down Eathyron and Xylona can prove to a challenging (and expensive) endeavor.This why at the Gcon reveal special where Leodysseus and Bassylia were first shown, it was also announced that the studio planned to release updated versions of Eathyron and Xylona, ensuring that Legionnaires will be able to assemble the entire group of Great Beasts to lead their own Legions of Light!
Originally published on 03.22.22
Published on 04.14.26