Cero, First Gan of Armengar

Beastkin (Snow Wolf)

Died 1104 AF during the second Moot, while on duty in Armengar.

Born into the Ji'Khrel clan, a tribe of beastkin descended from snow wolves, Cero was raised with a reverence for life and nature. His parents, Courg (father) and Gaina (mother), taught him to respect the spirits of his ancestors and of the world around him. To kill without need for food, clothing, or defense, was wrong. Cero had a place in the world, somewhere to belong. That all changed when Cero was eight years old. The Drow came. Like ghosts, they swept through the village in the night. They cut down warrior and child indiscriminately, the lucky ones, Cero was to learn, died in the attack. He was struck down by the hilt of a sword, and a net thrown around him.

Cero awoke in a stone cell, with holes just large enough to see parts of faces as his "neighbours" looked in at him. He was taken to the matriarch of the city, a priestess of Lolth called Shaeveral, as where the other prisoners, mostly children or adolescents. They were each judged as to their worth in gold, depending on health, appearance, and what they were good for. Most of the children were put to slavery. The older ones were auctioned to noble houses for use as their owners saw fit. Many of Cero's kin were subjected to rape or use as training for combat. The really unfortunate ones were used as live specimens to teach young warriors the locations of vital organs and pressure points with which to inflict maximum pain. Cero found himself being used as a test subject for the students. His owners, the House of Vorgath, were impressed when their eldest son, Shyle, passed his lessons with flying colours using Cero as his subject. They were equally impressed when they discovered that the now ten year old Cero had survived.

One day in his eleventh year, Cero was set upon by members of a rival house to that of his owners. Thinking they would strike a blow against their enemies by killing their most prized slave, they attacked. Cero fought with every ounce of strength he had, teeth, claws, fists, feet, anything he could pick up off the ground. He won, badly beating two and killing one. Again Cero's life was changed. In retribution, the rival family demanded that he face their champion gladiator in the Arena, to the death. It was a brutal battle, and the Drow slashed Cero's face, leaving him with a distinctive scar above and below his eye. Cero killed the Drow, strangling him to death. It felt good. For the first time since he'd been captured, Cero felt powerful. In the Arena, for formalized matches with strict militaristic regulations, Cero learned discipline and combat skill. Not all the matches were to the death, most were to submission. It was in the Pit that Cero truly learned to know death. There was only one rule there: Kill. There was no alternative. Punishment for not killing was the death of your opponent first, then you. Cero excelled. When he was victorious, he was given good food, wine, clothing, and a bed of silk sheets. He was given women by his owners, who hoped his beastkin blood might sire offspring of equal caliber. After particularly impressive victories, Drow noblewomen would pay to use him for their pleasure. To this day, Cero despises the Drow for that they made him do, and has unwavering morals regarding sex and violations of this kind. The price of failure was severe. His wounds would go untended, he would not be fed for days, and if the match had been particularly important, he was subjected to torture.

In his seventeenth year, Cero decided he'd had enough. He broke free of his cage, slaying his guards, and fled he city. He spent a year in the caves, avoiding Drow, killing them and eating their flesh when food was scarce. Eventually he reached the surface, near death, and collapses at the edge of the Tribe's camp. He was nursed back to health by their healers, and was drawn to the attention of Quellin, the Tribe's High Ritualist. He saved her live when the Drow tried to claim him back by attacking the Tribe, and ever since then the two have been close, rarely leaving each other's side except when necessary.

After arriving with the Tribe on Amnor, Cero worked with the other Scouts and warriors, leading to his appointment as First Gan of the Armies when Caoimhe became Protector. During the war games exercise of 1104 Cero stayed in the citadel to maintain the skeleton defence. His bloodied body was found at the base of the citadel gates after the Conclave attack which took the citadel.

Stats

Unknown