: What actually makes someone an avatar, other than magic
: abiltiy? Plus, is there a difference between a great
: hero and a avatar?
An Avatara is, by definition, a member of the Nine. The Nine are a group of archmages (the GURPS/Myth term for superpowerful sorcerers--pretty much anyone who has a Dream spell, for instance, is an archmage) which was founded during the Wind Age by Mazzarin and unknown companions. Its members, who are basically the greatest Light archmages of their time, are called Avatara because they're the most likely candidates to learn all Forty-Nine Dreams and become an avatar of Wyrd. (An avatar is simply the physical embodiment of some god or force. Balor, for instance, is one avatar of the Leveller.)
You don't have to be an Avatara, or a lesser archmage, to be a hero--but since archmages are the most powerful mortal beings in Myth, almost all the really major heroes are going to be archmages. The Great Heroes of each millennium (Alric, Tireces, Connacht, etc.) aren't always Avatara. Tireces lived before the Nine existed, and Connacht never joined.
--SiliconDream
