A Hero is the object of your decisions and movements in the game. Visually, the Hero is depicted as a person riding a horse and carrying a flag, the color of which represents your kingdom. Functionally, the Hero commands your troops, casts any spells you might know, and exercises any skills or special abilities. Heroes can wear Artifact that raise their skills or attributes. You must have at least one Hero in order to move and explore the territory.
Heroes can be hired within Castles at the Tavern. When a Hero’s troops are killed in battle, the Hero is not killed. Rather (s)he resigns from the kingdom and returns to a castle. That same Hero can be hired at a later time and preserves any skills and abilities (s)he may have learned. The hero won’t automatically die if you are left without a castle.
There are 6 heroes per faction and you can hire a hero per week. And that from a castle you can recruit only town specific heroes. In battle, heroes have the possibility to retreat or to pay money and remain with the army.