The Phoenix Bearer is a legendary former rune warrior and protagonist of SpellForce: The Order of Dawn and SpellForce: Shadow of the Phoenix who played a pivotal role in saving the realms of Eo in the Battle for Fiara and, subsequently, the Rune Wars in the years following the Convocation. She is skilled fighter and leader, as well as an important leading figure within the Order of Dawn.
Biography
Early Years
Not much is known of the Phoenix Bearer's early years apart from the fact that, at some point in her youth, her soul got bound to a Rune Stone by one of the Circle Mages, however, both when this happened and who is responsible for it is unknown. Based on the fact that Rohen Tahir is the one seeking her rune after the Convocation, it is likely that the rune belonged to him in the years prior, but this is yet to be confirmed.
An early conversation with Rohen confirms that she had been asleep in the rune for 8 years, meaning that the last time she was summoned was at the height of the Convocation Wars, just before the Convocation.
Battle For Fiara
Messenger of the Order
In the year 8 following the Convocation, a free rune warrior named Tahira, together with her friends Caele, Lev, and Joshua, is tasked by the Circle Mage Rohen Tahir with retrieving the rune containing the Phoenix Bearer's soul from the ruins of Ankbrand. Not long after, Rohen summons the Phoenix Bearer in the mountains of the Shadow Pass and hands her her own rune, thus granting her freedom and allowing her to be the master of her own will.
Though her memories had faded due to her 8-year-long slumber, Rohen urges her to seek out Sartarius, the master of the Order of Dawn, residing in the city of Greyfell. On her way, she is ambushed by the Dark One, a mysterious hooded figure plotting to kill Rohen. After a failed attempt at her life, she collects a sealed chest the Dark One had left for his messenger and reaches Sartarius in hopes of opening it. They discover that the chest is protected by a powerful seal, only breakable by a Circle Mage, and thus, the Phoenix Bearer is tasked with bringing it to Rohen, who has since departed for the Wildland Pass.
Her journey first takes her to Darius Servil, a local scribe in Liannon whom Rohen often visits on his travels. He tells her more about Rohen's whereabouts, after which she continues through the islands of Eloni, Leafshade and the Shiel before finally reaching the Wildland Pass, meanwhile pushing back the hordes of the Black Fist, a mercenary group led by Brannigan and loyal to the Dark One. With the help of her rune armies, she manages to push through their defences and the Dark One's Blades, finally crossing the portal to the Frost Marshes and catching up to Rohen.
Their reunion is short-lived, however, for the seal on the chest, she brought him was a trap, encasing them both in ice as they attempted to remove it. The Dark One appears once again, mocking them and killing Rohen, but not before Rohen could advise the Phoenix Bearer on what to do next. She is to seek out Hokan's Legacy and a a way to stop a Circle Mage.
Defeated and directionless, she returns to Greyfell to bring them the news of Rohen's passing as the forces of light and darkness prepare for war.
In Search of the Phoenix
After discussing Rohen's last words with Sartarius, the Phoenix Bearer learns that she must venture into the Darklands to find the means necessary to stop Rohen's killer. She is advised to first meet with Marcia, an ambassador of the Order in Stonewell, home of the royal house Hallit, to acquire more leads on Hokan. This trail eventually leads her to Greydusk Vale, a border fortress of the Order under the command of Urias. It is then revealed that while Hokan's body may have perished during the Convocation, his spirit still roams the ruins of Whisper from whence he commands his Undead hordes, restlessly searching for the Mask of Belial that had been stolen from his grave. He tasked one of his most powerful servants, Korshar, with finding it
Despite knowing the dangers involved in dealing with a former mage of the Circle, the Phoenix Bearer has no choice but to find the two parts of the mask as leverage for her demands. She retrieves the part hidden in the fortress by a necromancer by the name of Malicor, before making her way to Korshar who already had one part in his possession. After defeating his forces inside the ruins of the old Falcon fortress in the Howling Mounds, the Phoenix Bearer traded both parts for a fraction of Hokan's wisdom: to defeat the Dark One's Blades, she must slay the Soulsmith, and to find the Phoenix, she must rummage the ruins of Mulandir, the former seat of the Circle.
Arriving in the once greatest pool of knowledge on Eo, she made her way North to where the Archives of the Circle once stood. Amongst them, a former servant of the Circle stood guard over their remaining riches. He could give her the Phoenix, but first, she must pass a trial put before her: to bring back an old artefact of the Shapers that had been broken and stolen during the turmoil of the Convocation - the four time shards - and that now lay scattered across the surrounding lands.
Having collected the pieces, the Phoenix Bearer was handed the Phoenix and now had a weapon powerful enough to defeat a mage of the Circle. Armed, she made her way back to Greyfell to discuss the Order's next steps with Sartarius.
Counterattack
While she was searching for the Phoenix, the Order made plans to bring the fight to their enemy. Sartarius, together with every combatant of the Order of Dawn, set out to break the enemy's blockade in the Frost Marshes. With haste, the Phoenix Bearer followed suit, but upon her arrival, she found that the Order had paid greatly for this ordeal. They had indeed broken the blockade but at the cost of their lives. Only two of their members survived: Urias, who had been saved by the dark elf Craig Un'Shallach, and Sartarius, whom the enemy has taken prisoner. Short on options and time, the Phoenix Bearer pushed forward into the Southern Godmark where Sartarius was being kept, freeing the master of the Order, yet by doing so, walking into another of the Dark One's traps. Sartarius, too, dies by his hand, while the Phoenix Stone, the ace up their sleeve, gets stolen.
The Circle Closes
The Phoenix Bearer nearly escapes her death through the help of Urias and Craig, yet she now finds herself in a desperate position. Filled with anger for the Dark One and the Circle, she nonetheless makes her way to Nightwhisper Dale where she crosses the great portal to Urgath to stop the Dark One once and for all. Atop the obsidian mountain in Sharrowdale, she slays the Soulforger and faces her foe for the final time, only to discover that the hooded figure she had been fighting is none other than Rohen himself, albeit a younger version.
In shock, she can do nought but watch as Rohen steps through his Time Portal. At this moment, even though her strife for the Circle burns strong, she realises that she mustn't follow him through, for if she were to stop him now, he would have never been their saviour come the Convocation. She removed the Phoenix Stone from the portal, its frame collapsed, and she disappeared into the unknown knowing that, had she returned it, the people would have only quarrelled to get their hands on such a powerful artefact.