Easily the most famous of the Ten Magic Warriors, the Black Heron was the one who took knowledge of air magic to teach the Shory to create flying cities and flying armies that were used to great effect against the cults of Rovagug. The Shory nation did succeed, but Black Heron (or someone who had his mask) betrayed Old-Mage Jatembe, leaving his legacy muddled.

The Shory nation eventually fell apart as knowledge of how to power the flying cities was lost over time.

//One day, there was an excellent warrior who returned home from war. "I will come home and live my days in peace. I will teach my children the ways of sword and (bow/shield) so that they may sleep peacefully." The warrior became a teacher and trained everyone in his village. His first class became the town guard and the other villages learned to never attack the village for they were well defended. His second class became hunters, killing nearby predators, bringing a time of plenty with an abundance of meat and security. But his third class became drunk on meat and security and learned to love the fear of others. "We are strong on meat and our arrows number in the thousands. Let us march and subjugate those who fear us. They lack our training and our strength."//

Teacher Tahenkot has several versions of this story, but she understands and interprets all of these stories as referencing the Black Heron. In some versions, the warrior (could be Old-Mage Jatembe, could be Black Heron, she isn't sure and sometimes she thinks it depends on how the story ends) destroys the third class and has to kill his own son to stop them going to war while other versions have the warrior killed by his class before they go to war while still other versions have the villages call upon the warrior to defend them from his own students and he trains up their fighters to fight back (students versus students).

Regardless of the version, the lesson is typically one of how to use knowledge. Teacher Tahenkot is quick to point out that this is why the story is so diverse. Cultures more open to "forbidden knowledge" (she says with air quotes), such as the orcs and certain elves, see it as a morality tale that knowledge goes both ways (sword and shield) and it is up to how you use it. Other cultures will point out that some knowledge will be great in the short-term, but eventually lead to your death.

Teacher Tahenkot wonders if this is a story about Black Heron or Old-Mage Jatembe. Her theory is that it is both. The warrior means both and he was both killed and defended the village. Meaning, the warrior-teacher killed by the third class is Black Heron and the warrior-teacher called to defend is Old-Mage Jatembe who must kill his own "son" (the one wearing the mask of Black Heron).

While an easy explanation, this does ignore other versions of the story where the warrior-teacher kills the third class before they go to war and is a way to make Black Heron look peaceful while most historical records paint Black Heron as extremely war-like and willing to learn any knowledge regardless of the potential consequences, especially when fighting demons and cultists. Since teacher Tahenkot is a big follower of Black Heron, she has a vested interest in making Black Heron a heroic figure instead of the more common view of a student who went "too close to the sun" so to speak.