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"Iolaos, brother to the Sun!"

Iolaos, the son of a powerful Sherden chieftain, was born squalling and sickly into this world under a pall of darkness from the north. There was only so much his parents could do to explain his constant fevers, as the sun-god Isul burned fiercely beneath his skin. With a rage fuelled by his son's ill-health, Iolaos' father's raids became increasingly destructive – during one such outburst, coinciding with his son's worst bout of sickness, he caused an enormous conflagration, setting an entire village and the surrounding forest on fire. Upon returning, he learned his son had miraculously recovered; Isul had spoken, and sealed the boy's glorious fate.

Iolaos grew like a forest fire, and as an adult lives just as intensely. Directing his ships towards the rising sun, his only goal lies in glory and conquest, with every victory bringing him closer to engulfing the world in Isul's divine flame.

As the leader of a Sherden warband, hellbent on becoming whole with his perceived brother, the sun god, Isul. Iolaos will stop at nothing to see the world burn and the ashes and corpses used as a temple to his "brother".

In short, he's a raider, a pirate, and a potentially mad ravager of life.

Iolaos considers Radiant Isul not a god but his very brother, and seeks to reunite with him at the end of his journey of pillage and mayhem. Those of his followers given to trivialities such as surviving until old age ask themselves how much of Iolaos' personality is a divine boon and how much of it is the sign of incipient madness. Either way, his course is set.

Canon: Total War: Pharaoh

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