Many, many generations ago Vheklios was a noble family of
Thagretis. But when the Head of their family attempted to expose the corruption of a cabal of High Priests to the Archprophet, suddenly the entire clan found themselves in exile. Left to die in the deserts of
Malakath, they came together and journeyed East to the borderlands of Thanasis.
After battling creatures most foul, the elements, hunger and infighting, they came upon a battle between the Jarlax and a small patrol of Thanasyian soldiers. The scouts were about to be overwhelmed when the Vheklios family came charging forth like berserkers. Several of the family were lost in that battle. But not one scout was. And the soldiers rewarded their saviors by escorting them to the Royal Palace and testifying to their honor before the Throne.
That is how Thairyl's family came to live in the great city of Thanasis. A city which hated them all, as far as Thairyl could tell. To the other Thanasyians he had always been an Abomination. Something that should not exist. His golden dragon eyes had earned him many attacks, physical and otherwise. And they cost him plenty of opportunities for work and fellowship.
His family lived in Thyz Jhafel, a slum of northern a seaside suburb in the Outer City. His father (Dorobiir) taught him and his brothers to fish and how to sell their catch and get a good price. His mother (Khezati) taught him to pray to the
Dragons at the suburb’s small community shrine. The other Thanasyians taught him to fight. Too bad the army wouldn't take an abomination. A soldier's wages would have been enough to help his family. As it was, he fished and found laborer’s work where he could from his thirteenth year.
He grew up with three younger brothers and one older sister (Lythana). His sister found work at a tavern as soon as she could. As his brothers helped their father fish, he spent less time in the boat and at the markets and more time running errands, helping around the smithy, and doing odd jobs around Thyz Jhafel.
The local smith had given the young man more and more work and paid him fairly, too. Not like so many who had taken it upon themselves to judge Thairyl and his family. He even taught the young man to read and write. When asked about why he was being so good to the boy, the smith told him that he had seen him praying to the Dragons and that he knew sincerity when he saw it.
And so the eldest Vheklios boy grew into a strong and talented smith. His youngest brothers (Aral and Kynon) continued to help their father with the fisherman's trade. Their middle sibling (Grulen) became involved in illicit trade, gambling, and a whole host of dockside trouble that made home as unwelcome at home as he was anywhere else.
But over the years his older sister grew more and more depressed and restless. Then, three years ago, she got this foolishness in her head that she could save their family from all it's troubles by joining the Rising and bonding with a dragon. She told her brother all of her fantasies about how it could win reputation and connections for their family if she bonded with a dragon and became Ascended. How they could move and be welcomed or at least tolerated in one of the beautiful and cultured suburbs closer to the Inner City or maybe even the Inner City itself if they had a dragon rider in their family.
The next year she joined the Rising. And she died in the Rising. After that Thairyl stopped showing up at the shrine very often. And his steel hasn't shined as brightly anymore since then.
