HavocAndZeal

Third of a series of 6 children, Orion was born to a modest family near the community of Pestilles. His father, a Sentinel, had been capable of providing for the dowry of a small-time Merchant’s daughter. The first two children, both sons, had proved taller, and stronger than Orion, and so he often sought to catch up to them in physical and emotional maturity. This drive pushed Orion deeper into academic studies, gaining the services of a tutor when his family could afford it, and begging or eavesdropping on merchants, scholars, and clergy when they could not. The world deeply fascinated Orion, and so pushed him to understand as much as he could of it. Unfortunately, it would be in his 20th year, having worked for some time in the apprenticeship of a local scribe, that Orion would meet the “Stranger.” The man was pox-riddled, and their tattered clothes barely concealed long runs of disease-scarred flesh. The man begged Orion for knowledge, but his speech had been slurred by the wasting affliction. Confused, and enraged, the man struck out, leaving Orion a not-inconsiderable wound as the man scrapped his nails and fists into him. Orion has learned little in the martial prowess of his brothers, and so was unable, or unwilling, to retaliate. Though the stranger quickly fled, stumbling into the darkness, the disease had already proven contagious. The next year would be spent in terrible anguish as fevers, hot flashes, and deep delirium ravaged Orion. Medicine from Oren or Haense proved expensive, and ineffective, with magic an even less desirable option for the middling family. Orion eventually pushed himself away from others, and exiled himself to the deeper wilderness near his home. There, he would expose himself to the elements, trying desperately to shake the infection. In what felt like a revelation, at the height of his affliction, Orion experienced relief and ecstasy in a fever-induced vision. His body gave way, and when he awoke, the fever had lifted, but his skin still bore scars like lightning burns, seared lines running across parts of his body. The experience drove Orion into deep, somber contemplation. He threw off his robes and profession for that of a wanderer. He trained with vagrants, Sentinels, or anyone who would listen, in order to regain his physical fortitude, so that no pain or obstacle would ever again take away his agency again. Now Orion searches the land for new knowledge, experienced best through personal encounter. He refuses to be confined again, to a place, or the confines of a weak body.