‘ Welcome back my friend. I know your memory has paled... eight years is a long time. Many things have happened. The war is over, but its consequences were terrible...the Convocation has shattered the countenance of our world!... The circle is closing... and these lands need a protector! ‘
~ Rohen Tahir to the Phoenix Bearer
Rohen Tahir is a former Circle Mage, founder of The Order of Dawn and one of the most influential individuals in Eo's history, playing a pivotal role in reconnecting the world after the Convocation by creating portals to mend the broken countenance of the world.
Biography
Early Years
As one of the founding members of the Circle, we know that Rohen was a powerful and influential individual worthy of being chosen to represent his people in the newly established order. Though we don't know where exactly he hails from, he likely spent his early years studying magic and honing his skills in one of the major human cities on Eo. During this time, he developed a preference for Fire Magic, though he would come to prefer Ice Magic later in life. Nevertheless, he during this time, he was already one of the most powerful and bright mages on Eo, especially in the realm of Elemental Magic - the school he specialised in.
The Circle
Rohen was chosen as one of the original 11 representatives of the Circle and has thus been one of its founding members. During the early years of the organisation, much like his fellow Circle Mages, Rohen dedicated a considerable amount of time to the research of magic and preservation of peace on Eo - the main tenets of the Circle. This would eventually lead them to Xu where, inside of an ancient Shaper ruin, they discovered the Allfire, essence of all magic. This discovery fascinated the Circle, and over the coming years, they began mastering this newly acquired magic. This caused both their power and lifespan to increase exponentially, making them nigh immortal and solidifying the Circle as the keepers of prosperity on Eo.
Alongside it, they also discovered runic scriptures detailing a prophecy of a day when Aonir's hold on Eo and the Primal Elements would weaken, allowing powerful individuals to harness their immense power. However, although the Circle wasn't aware of it back then, this false prophecy, left behind by the Fial Darg at the end of the War of the Six Races would play a major role in orchestrating their downfall.
The Piper
As the Circle's power grew, each of its members began expanding their spheres of influence across Eo. During such expansions, while still mostly peaceful, they would sometimes clash with other influential individuals who stood in their way. One such individual known as the Piper would join the Circle around the year 400 B.C. as its 13th and final member following the inauguration of Hokan Ashir some years prior. Though Rohen wasn't solely responsible for inviting the Piper into the Circle, the two had clashed in small-scale skirmishes beforehand, which had greatly impressed the Circle Mage.
Convocation Wars
Over the next centuries, the Circle kept solidifying its hold on Eo, growing ever more power-hungry under the influence of the Allfire as the day of the prophecy was drawing ever closer. However, as their power increased, so did the mistrust towards their fellow Circle Mages, each wishing to gain the power of the Primal Elements for themselves alone. These tensions reached their high point around the year 50 B.C. with the start of the Convocation Wars - a series of military conflicts between the Circle Mages that caused mayhem and disarray across Eo.
This caused the Circle to fall apart. Using their powerful armies to do battle, they ravaged the lands and became the cause of what they once stood to prevent. It isn't known against which Circle Mages Rohen fought specifically, but this time saw the employment of his Orkish and Rune armies. Though he was a human, Rohen showed a preference for using hordes of Orcs to bolster his ranks - a trademark he had already shown during his skirmishes with the Piper centuries ago.
As the day of the prophecy drew near and the Circle prepared to call upon the slumbering Elements, Rohen patiently awaited inside his tower. However, fate would have a different plan for him, as he was stopped for partaking in the ritual, thus saving his life and allowing him to become Eo's saviour in the years that followed.
The information provided below this point focuses on the events as they appear in SpellForce: The Order of Dawn. It is important to note that, to reach these events, some of the characters go through a time loop. For the sake of clarity, these time jumps won't be covered here, so please take a look at this page if you wish to know more.
Rune Wars
Rohen survived the Convocation, although only through the help of Ereon, son of Aonir and Guardian of knowledge. He helped steer Rohen back to the right path, bestowing upon him the secrets of the Convocation and opening his eyes to the lie it truly was. Armed with this knowledge, Rohen decided to henceforth use his powers to aid the mending of the broken world he had helped create. He constructed the Portals, established the Order of Dawn in Greyfell, and thus laid a foundation for the new world to prosper once more.
Battle for Fiara
Around the year 8 A.C., Rohen sent an envoy to an old friend living on the outskirts of the once great city of Ankbrand, Tahira. She was to recover a special rune for him, from within the city's ruins - a task which she reluctantly accepted. Once in his possession, Rohen set out to the Shadow Pass to summon the warrior, tasking her with seeking out the leader of the Order of Dawn, Sartarius in Greyfell, before being urged by a messenger to deal with an emerging thread at the Wildland Pass, though before making his way there, he sought out his old friend Darius Servil in Liannon.
Once At the Wildland Pass, Rohen and his bodyguard got separated by an attack of the Black Fist, forcing his men to set up camp and stay behind while he continued his journey deep behind enemy lines - none of whom presented much of a challenge to a mage of his calibre.
Finally arriving at the Frost Marshes, he was called out by the Phoenix Bearer who had managed to catch up to Rohen in an urgent mission of the Order. She gave him a casket she had acquired from yet another Circle Mage that had allegedly survived the Convocation, though unbeknownst to her, this mage, known as the Dark One, was none other than Rohen himself, albeit much younger, and the casket she had acquired was an elaborate trap meant to get rid of his older self.
Rohen, seemingly aware of this, told the Phoenix Bearer how to proceed. She was to seek out Hokan Ashir and find an artefact powerful enough to conquer a mage of the Circle. After giving her the Book of the Convocation, he opened the casket, revealing it to be empty and triggering a trap that froze them both in place. The Dark One appeared, killing Rohen and setting the cycle back in motion.
Though Rohen had died, his grand plan to ensure Eo's future was set in motion - something not even his younger self was aware of at the time - continuing the cycle once more.
Aryn Crysis
Rohen does not play a significant role during the events of the Aryn Crysis, however, the portals he had created are instrumental to the events occurring in the first place.
Rune Wars
7 years after his death at the hands of his younger self, Rohen's resting place was robbed and his corpse reanimated by a now fully revived Hokan Ashir. Hokan used a potion he had created using the essence of a god in his captivity, allowing him to return the dead to true life once more, restoring their full power. This, however, unquestionably bound Rohen to Hokan's will, rendering him a tool in the necromancer's grand plan to merge with the demi-god Belial.
As Hokan's loyal servant, Rohen acted as a general for his undead armies, always at Hokan's beck and call, should he require his assistance. As such, Rohen would ultimately be commanded to lead an army of the dead during a counterattack against the forces of an old friend and ally, the Phoenix Bearer, at the Raven Pass.
After a hard-fought final battle inside the pass' final fortress, Rohen and his army were ultimately defeated by the Phoenix Bearer - in no small part due to Rohen either not having recovered his full strength, or him deliberately not using the power of the Allfire to give his old friend a fighting chance. Dead once more, Rohen's soul was finally free from Hokan's grasp. Before his final journey to the Mor Duine, he would appear before the Phoenix Bearer, instructing her to combine the Phoenix Stone in her possession with the Shadowblade of the Shadow Warrior, the hero of the Aryn Crysis kept prisoner by Hokan.
Once his final guidance had been delivered, his soul departed to the River of Souls, flowing amongst its silver waters for the rest of eternity.
Shadow Wars and Beyond
Even though he no longer dwells amongst the living, the influence of Rohen's work reaches far, even from beyond the grave. His Portal network remains a focal point in ensuring Eo's survival. Knowing this, Rohen shared some of his knowledge of portal magic with chosen individuals, ensuring it doesn't fade for good once he's gone.
He also wrote books on the topic, some of which would be studied by bright minds trying to recreate his work - mainly out of necessity, for after all of the members of the Circle disappeared from the face of Eo for good, so did their connection to the Allfire which had been used to fuel the portal network up to that point.
While this means that the world Rohen had created is slowly falling apart, his work and knowledge laid the foundation for the people of Eo to reunite their world once more - this time using their own power to do so.
Quests Involved
Trivia
- In SpellForce: Shadow of the Phoenix, Rohen is the only Revived Circle Mage spotting an undead character model, while all the other mages, apart from Hokan Ashir, were given generic ones.