Terios Ry'leth was born to a pair of Aberrians named Lizzet and Ferra Ry'leth in the Silver District of The Aberrant Kingdom. The Aberrant Kingdom was an enormous and prosperous city located in what is now known to the people of Arethil as The Aberresai Savannah. Long since lost to time, it operated as it's own country; Tall walls surrounded the stone towers and castles of The Kingdom, separating them from the conflicts and worries of the world outside of their own.

The Kingdom was governed by the Aberrian Royal Family, and it was under their strict rules and ideologies that Terios grew up. His family was one of poverty, as was common in The Silver District. Still, the doting mother and father did their best to raise a child that The Kingdom could be proud of, one who would serve The Aberrians well. Terios was schooled in the heart of the Onyx District, alongside kids both poorer and richer than he. Education in The Aberrant Kingdom was far different than traditional learning methods; his schooling consisted of only the basic knowledge one needed to live on their own. "For every son and daughter of Aberrant blood must rise when called."

It was during this instruction that Terios met two other children who would become lifelong friends. Yura Thal'lissa and Herak Gel'toth. They were both of a much higher class than Terios was, and yet they felt drawn to the young man. His grades were average, but it was what he did during their free time between lessons that made him interesting: The boy would dance, seemingly lost in music playing in his head that none else could hear.

The three of them bonded, and as their basic schooling continued through their youngest years they would become an inseparable trio. When it came time for the students to graduate and commence their Illya, the truest test of an Aberrian's spirit, they were confident in their ability to surpass expectations.

When an Aberrian comes of age, but before they are allowed to finish their education, they are expected to embark on an Illya. An Illya was a right of passage in which one leaves The Aberrant Kingdom to find the sacred site of The Seven Trees, where The Kingdom had originally been constructed. It was among these trees the young adults would decide what they would do for the rest of their lives, each tree representing a facet of life for the Kingdom.

The First Tree represented life and parenthood, those who would raise the next generation from the safety of home, This tree was usually assigned to women, but men too could attempt the path, becoming caregivers and surrogates should the need arise.

The Second Tree is where knowledge and study thrived. Scholars, teachers, and men of science learned atop this tree, sharpening their minds to carry The Kingdom forward into the unknown beyond.

The Third Tree was reserved for nobles and leaders for the next generation. Those of noble blood would have their leadership and patience tested, their morals and ability to put the people over themselves strained until they knew what it was to rule.

The Fourth Tree was cultivation and agriculture. Farmers and healers alike learned of nature's bounty and methods of which to use them to their fullest potential so that the people may remain fed and healthy.

The Fifth Tree represented might and strength, molding the mightiest warriors to protect and represent The Kingdom in battle and defend it at home.

The Sixth Tree sought to bring Culture and Spirit, ideal for those devout in faith who wished to spread the word of their gods to the people, as well as entertainers whose desire was to spread happiness throughout the land.

Finally, the Seventh Tree was intended for public servants and laborers. Often underappreciated, but vital to maintaining the power their Kingdom had attained.

When one was assigned a Tree, they were then given intense training related to that profession upon its thick branches every day for three months time, and each day they were required to climb higher in order to receive their lessons. If you were unable to make it to the required branch, you were sent to The Seventh Tree, which was much less daunting in size, to become a laborer.

Len wished to devote himself to the Sixth Tree, but his skill with a blade, demonstrated during preliminary classes, caused pressure on him from all sides to kneel to the Fifth. With little option should he not wish disdain and dishonor from his family, Len became a warrior on the Fifth Tree, training upon its branches for three months time.

It was during this training that Len and Yura became lovers, often spending the cold nights after training in the arms of one another. Yura had been assigned to the Fourth Tree, however, and it was frowned upon for Warriors in particular to couple with any other castes of society. Despite their passion for one another, when the Illya was complete, it was the last time Len ever saw his first love, or Herak, who had failed his training and was relegated to Labor.

The Aberresai Savannah is often a treacherous place for travelers, with a hostile environment at best and territorial trolls and wurms at worst. For as long as merchants have found a business in Arethil, so too have escorts, hired to protect the merchants and their valuables. It is a mutually beneficial situation, even though one party tends to profit more than the other. As the hands of time moved forward, however, some particularly ambitious traders began to wonder if there was a method of eliminating the need to pay for protection for their massive trading caravans. Greed is after all a very powerful motivator.

The Golden Road was once a network of traders that had joined together to both strengthen their influence and protect them with numbers; when things went awry, they relied on their brothers and sisters of The Road to pick up the slack and ensure that the losses of the whole were minimalized. Even with this pact, attacks on their supply runs continued, whether from bandits or the wilderness itself. Using their pooled resources, they explored countless options for flawless, unwavering protection. Protection that could not fail.

Such protection proved time and time again not to exist. The enemies of The Golden Road adapted, and constantly found new ways to work around whatever measures the trade network took. Desperate and beginning to accrue losses, they began to search for their answer in darker, more morally devoid methods. If the perfect guardian did not exist now, they reasoned... perhaps it existed in the past?

Books that told tales of early civilization mentioned such a being; a warrior that acted as a vanguard, defending those whose mark he bore, a great city sat in the middle of the Aberresai Savannah that was only ever rumored to truly exist. He was unmatched in skill, unbeaten in combat, and unwavering in spirit and will. This being was depicted as a mighty being known as Terios. After his final victory, his body slowly succumbing to age and time, he proclaimed that not even death would defeat him and slew himself upon his own blade in defiance of his own mortality. His remains were said to lay beneath the soils that now held the city of Maraan.

An expedition soon began, and tunnels began to be dug all throughout the trading town. It was a costly endeavor, but they were committed to putting all of their faith in this legend. They dug for a month, then two. Just when they had begun to lose hope, a stone chest was found buried deep beneath the ground. The bones inside told nothing of their owner. It could have been anybody's remains, dried and now laid bare in the savannah air in the summer. It had to be him though, they thought. They had to have faith that they had found what so many had told them did not exist. The Golden Road had put its reputation and its wealth at stake, and now they were confident that they held the fruits of their labor.

They could not afford to celebrate. These bones would mean nothing without the employment of one of the darkest of magics. Necromancy was a dangerous affair, and one that held far too many risks for even the most moral-free mages to attempt it; There were far too many unknowns, and too many variables to count. Even so, The Golden Road had found their Necromancer. When money was no object, the difficulty to locate became much easier to come by.

it was with held breath that every brother and sister of The Road watched the forbidden magic attempt to breathe life into the long-dead warrior. Would it work? If it did work, what condition would the warrior be in? Would the magic last long enough to make all of their lost time and effort worth it?

The initial results were somewhat hopeful. The spirit of Terios floated from the long-dead remains: a restless spirit that had refused to move on for generations had woken. The ambitious group of traders had forgotten an important piece of the puzzle, however: A vessel for the spirit. Indeed, the spirit plunged into what was closest, which was the very mage bringing it back from the grave. The spell was already flawed; Necromancy toed the line with far too many known laws of magics to ever produce a reliable result. The necromancer struggled, the powerful will of an ancient warrior subjugating his very being from the inside.

They'd revived the legendary warrior destined to secure their wealth for the rest of their lives inside the body of a sacrificial lamb, but their troubles had just begun. The unparalleled shock of a mind returning to the living plane after centuries of death was immense. Their new guardian's mind was unfocused and in a panic. It brandished the dagger on the belt of its new form, lunging at those who'd sought him.

By the time the being once known as Terios had settled down, every member of The Golden Road that had attended the ritual was dead at his feet. His body had already begun to twist, shaping itself into the visage of who he'd once been.

He remembered his name. Such a thing was inconsequential; Who he was, he was no longer. If instructed to identify, he decided, he would refer to himself as the first thing he had heard upon returning to this world. It was a part of the incantation that had ripped through his being, tearing him from eternal slumber: Len Dy't B-taa.

These roads that littered the ground before him, stretching far into the horizon... They'd once been his home. Now they were a breeding ground for thievery and greed. It was the very same greed that had brought him back into the world despite death itself. Why? He was too late to save his home.

Maybe though, it was his calling to instead ensure the sanctity of what was once that home.