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Despite being a fictional universe, the world of Dota 2 is not free of all blights of real society – in fact, human vices such as xenophobia and bigotry are integral parts of many communities in the lore of the game. A world rich with different factions, it is realistically inevitable that some of the sheltered societies of the world will fall victim to prejudices having seeped into their ranks. One such faction, is the order of the Vigil Knights.

Based in Vigil Keep, the order of the Vigil Knights was an order of skilled knights who adhered to a rigid set of rules chronicled in a document known as the Vigil Codex. While the specific contents of the document are largely unknown thus far, it is apparent that the knights follow a set of severely xenophobic rules, as they consider breeding between different races to be an abomination. Thus, when it became known that one of their members had fathered a child with a meranth the order did not hesitate to execute him for his violation of the Vigil Codex.

I am aware that a few of you might not be know of what a meranth is. Meranth, also known simply as mer, is the umbrella term for the races that inhabit the sea in the world of Dota 2. Meranths are found in many different varieties; known to us are the slithereen, distinguishable by their long tail in place of legs; the hulking leviathans, known for their kraken shell which absorbs incoming damage; and other unnamed species of meranth, such as the race Slark belongs to. The naga, although similar to the slithereen, seem to form their own sub-species of meranth. Naga Siren, Slark, Tidehunter, and Slark are all meranths. The last meranth hero in the game is the child of the executed Vigil Knight – this boy became known only as Sven.

The meranth child born to the Vigil Knight betrayer was raised by his mother through his childhood, but at one point, his mother fell gravely ill. Sven had to tend to his mother through a slow and painful death, leaving the boy orphaned when the woman finally succumbed to her sickness. Filled with vengeance at the loss of both his parents, Sven vowed to infiltrate the order of the Vigil Knights in order to avenge the death of his father. Thus, he clad himself in armor as to conceal his mixed heritage, and offered himself to the order responsible for the execution of his father.

The Vigil Knights require an initiate of the order to undergo thirteen years of studying before, one night, they’re offered the honor of being sworn in at a grand ceremony, officially making the novice members full fledged Vigil Knights. Sven diligently completed his years of training, while gaining the trust of the order itself. However, on the night intended to be his swearing in Sven rebelled against the order finally taking revenge for the death of his father.

The order possessed a number of relics, which were either seized or destroyed on the night of Sven’s uprising. The Outcast Blade, an enormous sword owned by the order, was taken by Sven and is now the default weapon he uses in game. The orders Sacred Helm was shattered by Sven in an act of vengeance. He also made sure to burn the Vigil Codex in the Holy Flame of the order, the very document that declared his existence an abomination.

Having taken his revenge on the Vigil Knights, Sven strode out of Vigil Keep, no longer a Knight of the order, but a knight unto himself. He swore to only follow his personal code of conduct in place of a codex imposed on him by an external force. He had become a rogue knight.