Darius Burrows – Cleric of Cedhelieth

Description

Like many Halflings through Tharador, Darius finds his roots in Grӓns, the small-folk capital of Tharador in Formen. As a boy Darius had an intrinsic feeling or instinct of life’s sacredness, and would often find himself in rows for his beliefs. Kids setting ablaze to an ants nest would find the wrath of young Darius to meet them, often getting himself pummelled in the process to protect the smallest beings. He was scolded as being foolhardy or quick to find an excuse to fight by his parents and siblings, though as he grew it became clear that this belief sat deep within his heart, so his parents pulled him from normal schooling and sent word to the local Chapel of Cedhelieth for their son to be schooled by the Order of Life. Though Grans has little in the way of institutions or temples for The Tharameni, the chapel tutored him for several years before sending him to a temple in the city of Skiljevag.

For much of his adolescence Darius continued his studies there, learning the tenets of life giving and preservation in that time. Cedhelieth’s worshippers hated undead as much as Namneri’s and Erdrydions, though unlike those of Namneri they saw resurrection as a thing of beauty rather than abhorrence, for a life renewed and revived was to be rejoiced. Still they added much to the ideas as “life givers” as well, as virility ointments and potions were the specialties of Cedhelieth’s followers, and both men and women suffering from infertility would find themselves under the counsel of one of Cedhelieth’s followers. So Darius, as a Cleric, was bound with two duties: ensuring that life would flourish down every path he walked, and purging any creatures that might violate the sanctity of life, undead especially.

As the Liturium War raged on and Skiljevag became a battleground, Darius was sent on his mission a year early. Every Cleric of Cedhelieth must spend one year on a mission in a remote place where life is “both cruel and scarce” and there’s few places that better fit this description than the freezing cold shores of Mammoth Isle. Darius often curses his classmates who instead were sent to scenic mountain towns in Brightstone or the sunny savanna of Sudd Tohst. Even a sleep village somewhere in Belfrie or Baldur might have been preferable for Darius. Still he felt that perhaps this path was chosen for him, for the first month was fine as summer had yet to close. Yet when it closed it was like at the snap of an Ice Giant’s fingers for the days went from mild to days-long blizzards overnight.

It was then that the towns people relied on his services more and more, asking for blessings, warmth, concoctions to bring about pregnancies, concoctions to get wives or husbands into bed and the seldom blessing of passing or child delivery, though in two months each had only happened once in the whole town. Though as people disappeared and rumours of undead stirred amongst the town, Darius hardened himself for the dark menace he might face.

Additional information