Deep in the forests of Torino, a place known for its natural beauty and varied faiths, a crueler and more violent group of worshipers had made their home. Taking root in an abandoned and crumbling temple that their leader claimed had some connection to the old gods, this barbarous group proceeded to carry out their rituals and practice their gruesome and bloody faith, offering sacrifices to their gods, and dancing around crudely fashioned idols until fainting from exhaustion or famine.

Like many such sects, the leader of the group had not taken on his faith for purely spiritual pursuit, and often dined in the safety of the temple, living off the labors of the devout. He was known only as "The Elder", but in truth he was merely a charlatan who had enticed a group of the mentally deranged and easily fooled into following him. A selfish and lecherous man, when he was not giving false sermons or demands to his followers, he allowed only one presence in his company: Venus, a beautiful young woman who had made the mistake of drifting too far from her own congregation settled in the same woods, and had been captured by the cultists to serve as a slave. The Elder, smitten with her beauty, informed his followers that she would serve him in his private quarters indefinitely, and so she did. This continued on for several years, the status quo not changing noticeably during that time, much to the pleasure of The Elder. One day however, he awoke to find his beautiful Venus missing. After ascertaining that she was nowhere in the temple, he assumed that she had escaped to the forest and called for a search.

His assumptions were entirely correct, and Venus was hiding out and resting after having ran for several hours in the dead of the night. She had lost nearly all sense of direction over the years, but held faith that she'd make it back to her congregation. As she was resting, she heard the sounds of something moving through the forest, and she crouched down in a nearby bush and waited for it to pass. The moving something was actually a man, and one who looked to be quite injured. He had a large and shoddy looking bandage wrapped around his midsection, and a long bloody gash down his right arm, but even in the darkness and grime Venus could see the handsome man that lie beneath.

It was love at first sight for the young woman, and despite the gravity of her situation, her loving nature wouldn't allow her to leave this man to wander the forest in his condition. She slowly made her appearance from the bushes, her own appearance looking rather ragged due to her trek through the underbrush. The man turned to her quickly, ready to defend himself until he noticed exactly what had come out of the bushes. Upon witnessing her beauty, he as well was instantly smitten with the young woman. It seemed that she had happened upon him just as his strength had run out however, and he collapsed then and there.

Not sure what to do, Venus dragged him into a dense patch of foliage where she thought they would be safe from view, and set to tearing apart her cloak to bandage the man more effectively. She wasn't sure why she was doing this when it was obvious she should continue gaining distance from The Elder, but something insider her told her that she couldn't leave this man to die. After she had finished her work with bandaging him, she lie down and tried to get some rest herself. She still had far to go before she would feel she had safely escaped the clutches of The Elder.

She lied there in that bed of foliage until the morning sun woke her with its warming rays. As she woke, she noticed that the man seemed to be trying to get up without disturbing her, but it seemed that her timely awakening had foiled his plot. He tried to insist that he was on a serious mission, and that he had to be going now, but she clung to him. Explaining that she was being pursued, but not the circumstances leading up to such, she begged to be allowed to accompany him. Eventually, he reluctantly conceded and the two began travelling together.

The man, who introduced himself only as Meron, was apparently a retainer for some royal family known as the Odysseys and he was in search of a criminal that had been suspected of an attempted assassination on one of their family members. Because of the danger associated with the mission, Meron decided it would be necessary that he heal up a bit more despite the added time it would give his target to escape. The target had been injured in their last battle more than he, so there wouldn't be much danger of him losing the trail. During their time of rest, Meron and Venus began to consummate their new relationship in the depths of the forest.

It seemed these peaceful days couldn't last however, as a few days into their rest disaster struck. Despite the distance they had made, it seemed the search party put out by the Elder had finally tracked her down. Meron was still badly hurt and would be unable to defend himself, let alone Venus as well. So, faced with either dying with her new love, or resign herself to abandoning him and trying to escape on her own. Meron insisted that he would fend them off, but Venus knew that he would be unable to, and that were the cultists to find them he'd be killed. So, unable to allow him to die, she explained that she'd return to the temple and wait for him, no matter how long it took. He promised that he'd be back for her no matter what as he watched her step out of their hiding place.

Venus was brought back to the temple and to a furious Elder. He let out his aggression on Venus for some time after her escape, abusing her physically, verbally, and sexually for some weeks after her return. Eventually, he softened somewhat and returned to the way things had been before the escape. This only persisted for a few months though, until Venus started showing signs of pregnancy.

The Elder, being the disillusioned old man that he was, believed that the child must be his despite his likely lost virility. Venus however, was convinced that the child must be Meron's and that there was no possibility that the Elder was a candidate for the father. She had to keep this secret of course, lest she and her unborn child be killed for her infidelity. So, given less responsibility of housekeeping, but now burdened with the stress of childbearing, Venus continued on in service to the Elder in hopes that her love would return to rescue her and their new child. That hope was never to come true however.

As time passed Venus started to become ill. Her once fair complexion grew sickly and as she continued waiting for her love to return, she began to fear that she might not survive the birth of the child. Despite waiting nearly the entire length of her pregnancy, Meron never came for her. She still believed whole-heartedly that he would however, never giving up hope that he would keep his promise. Fearing that her time would run out before he could arrive however, she left a secret message to him on the outskirts of the forest outside her temple. Left beneath a tree marked with both of their initials, the message explained that she was about to give birth to his child, and that should something happen to her, for him to find the child and raise it in her stead.

Unfortunately, Venus's fears were realized on the day she gave birth, and her body, too weak to survive the strain, gave out as she finished her last act of bringing her child into the world. The Elder was incredibly saddened by her passing, and blamed it entirely on the child. He christened the boy "Northot", after an obscure god in their religious pantheon. He was The Forgotten One, or The Thing That Should Not Be, an apt name for the creature that had stolen his bride from him. Still, The Elder believed that the child was his own flesh and blood, and as such, couldn't bring himself to leave the boy to die. Instead, he was kept in seclusion from the rest of the clan and only rarely visited by The Elder himself.

One of the local women was purposed with caring for him in his early years, but she only carried out the bare minimum of duties in order to keep the boy alive. Not much more could be expected from what was little more than a fanatical savage. Still, he was fed when he was hungry and tended to when he fell ill, so there were few complaints aimed towards the slightly deranged woman. However, there was certainly animosity between the boy and his surrogate father. The Elder would come by every few weeks or so to "discipline" his child. Savage beatings and verbal lashings were the only love Northot ever knew from The Elder. The young boy quickly learned to fear these visits, but eventually, their regularity forced him to become numb. He lived out his life only doing the bare minimum to survive, not having known any other way, and he gradually grew to accept this fate.

Years later however, teenage hormones and a primal desire for freedom forced Northot to consider an escape. He had no idea what he might find beyond the borders of the forest outside the encampment, or even if the forest ended at all. It was the only world he'd ever known, but he had rationed that anything must be better than his current life. The Elder's beatings had only grown more furious as Northot grew older, and it seemed that the man's sanity was fading as well. His increased frailty had forced him to find more creative measures with which to "discipline" his son, and no matter how much Northot tried to block out the pain, it had begun to haunt him even in the dead of night.

So one night, much like his mother had done so many years before, he stole away from the camp and tried to gain as much distance as he could. His frail body didn't seem as though it could take him far however, malnutrition and constant abuse had left him weak and he hardly made it half a mile away before he was discovered by the search party sent out by The Elder. His return was met with far more rage than his mother's had been, however. The Elder's mental condition had deteriorated to near insanity, and viewing Northot as the last piece of his bride he had left, he wouldn't allow the boy to escape. He ordered that Northot be chained in the basement of the temple, and not to be let out under any circumstance. Northot, unable to fight back, had no choice but to accept his fate.

Northot was chained to the wall for three days in that darkness, with no food, no water, and not a sound aside from the rattling of the chains as he tried in vain to find some more comfortable position. As he stagnated there in chains, faced with no other option than to wait for death, he prayed to the gods worshiped by his faith, those old dead gods who cared naught for the mortal plain. He knew that there was little chance of any help, but also that doing nothing had an even slimmer chance. Eventually, the silence was broken by a door cracking open, something Northot found immense pleasure and relief in. Perhaps someone had come to get him out of here, or at least give him some food or water. His sanity was at its limit, and he didn't know how much more he could take.

Unfortunately for Northot however, there would be no relief to be found on the other side of the door. The Elder stepped in with a wide grin on his face, followed by two men wheeling in some sort of pit of hot coals. The old man then proceeded to explain to Northot that in order to prevent any more escape attempts they'd be blinding him permanently. Northot could only scream and struggle against his chains as a hot iron rod was brought closer and closer to his pupil. He cried out for help to any god or devil that would take him as the instrument was plunged deep into the organ tissue. This time however, his cries did not go unanswered.

Northot blacked out from the pain of having his eye forcibly cauterized, but after his own consciousness had faded another had taken over. A tremendous amount of energy poured out of the chained young man, and his form was suddenly replaced with that of a gigantic, black, and vaguely human monstrosity in the garb of an ancient pharaoh. Unbeknownst to himself, Northot then descended into a rage that left the temple leveled and not a single of the cultists left alive. The destruction was on such a scale that other encampments of priests from various religions witnessed it and sent their own followers to investigate. Northot had already long gone by the time they arrived however, leaving that place behind him forever.

Northot traveled through the forest for some time, eating from a small stockpile he'd plundered from The Elder's food storage, which luckily had not been totally destroyed. Eventually though, his supplies began to run out and Northot feared he would starve in the forest despite having finally escaped. To make matters worse, ever since he'd blacked out in the temple he'd been having horrible night terrors, far more vivid and frightening than the ones of The Elder. These ones showed him grotesque and nightmarish monstrosities, mind shattering images, things that he never wanted to see. With both his mind and body wearing, he struggled to find some way to survive.

Northot's luck finally seemed to turn up however, as while wandering through the forest he happened upon a camp of mercenaries who were resting in between jobs. They were a more honorable bunch than most, and seeing the state that Northot was in, they gave him some food and shelter. The men found Northot's lack of tact and world knowledge humorous, and the weary young man was finally able to feel some kindness for what must have been the first time in his life.

The band was known as The Lion's Claws, and after hearing Northot's story they offered to take him in for as long as he wanted. Glad to take the offer Northot stayed with the mercenary band for some time, eventually beginning to look at them as his family, and their leader as his father. The band helped to teach him the things he'd been shunned from in The Elder's care, such as how to wield a sword, how to defend himself without one, the ways of women, and how to handle his liquor. They helped Northot to become a man and learn to handle his pain and regret. He was still plagued with unending night terrors, and sometimes he felt he could even feel the dark whispers speaking to him while awake. He had also retained his ability to take the nightmarish forms of his people's gods, something that came in handy more than a few times for his surrogate brothers. His family helped him to forget his troubles and when he was with them he didn't think so much of the past or of his dreams. He truly hoped those times could last forever.

Of course, nothing lasts forever. Three years after Northot had joined up with the Lion's Claws, their leader fell deathly ill. His will did not name a successor to his position, but instead merely gifted his blade to Northot. With no choice but to accept the gift he became the new owner of his former master's blade: Shijin. Unfortunately, a power struggle took place within the band and those most qualified to lead had a falling out that led in the group's disbandment. Northot was once again left with nowhere to go, and was left to wander for some time with no one but himself in the world.

With no direction and no purpose, Northot did not adjust to the change well. Instead of finding new work or a place to live, he merely hopped between bars and towns, never staying in one place for too long. He acquired quite the reputation as a notorious drunk, and he cared little about it. He was merely waiting to die, assuming that there was no one in the world who would notice. His assumption was entirely incorrect however, as there was one man who had been looking for him for some time.

Unbeknownst to him, his father Meron had been returning to the forests of Torino to search for his mother year after year in tandem with his duties as a retainer to the Odysseys. Ironically however, it wasn't until Northot had destroyed the temple where they'd stayed that Meron had been able to find it, and the letter that Venus had left him. After learning that his love had lost her life giving birth to their child, he couldn't bring himself to ignore her dying wish. He couldn't be sure if the child was even alive given the state of the encampment, but he had never given up hope. By investigating with the villages in Torino, and the other religious sects that had settled there, he learned that a mysterious young man had joined a local Mercenary band a few years ago, apparently the last member of some religious cult that invoked the wrath of their own gods. Meron continued to investigate from there, and eventually was able to track Northot to a small town on the outskirts of Fioriano.

When Meron finally found Northot, he was shocked to see the state that he was in despite the rumors he'd already heard. He didn't let that stop him though, and he introduced himself to his son in what was an extremely awkward interaction. After dancing around the subject for some time however, Meron finally got to the heart of the matter. He revealed himself as Northot's father and explained the history surrounding his birth. Northot wasn't sure how to take all of the information in at first, and he still couldn't consider this stranger his father, believing his true father to have died of illness some months ago. Still, he respected the man's loyalty to his late mother, and he decided not to merely shun him away. Then, after talking for some time about his feelings of having nowhere to go, Meron suggested that Northot seek out a man known as Iliad. He was apparently the heir of the family that he served, and supposedly a man with great goals. It was Meron's belief that if Northot didn't know what his own goals were, he could learn from a man who did. So, thinking he owed it to his mother and this man to at least meet this man that was spoken so highly of, Northot set off to Fioriano.