Legends of Belariath
Darius
Darius was born to a proud warrior and a wise herbalist woman of the Celestial Tribe. Unfortunately, his life would be marked by tragedy before it even began. A couple of months before his birth, his father was involved in a skirmish with another tribe and fatally wounded. The healers and his mother did all that they could to save his father, but all without success. His mother went into deep mourning at this time, as her soulmate had been taken from her. She refused to eat much and barely took care of herself, which would ultimately lead to her death just a few days after Darius had been born. The birth had been hard on her already weakened body, and she had succumbed to injuries sustained during childbirth, leaving Darius an orphan.
But the Celestial Tribe was not without its compassion and Darius found himself eventually taken in by the camp's healer, Adean, former teacher of his mother. Adean was old, prideful, and quick to anger, so anytime Darius made mistakes, as is expected of children, he was beat quite severely. When he wasn't beaten by Adean, he was beaten by the other kids, who would ridicule him for being an orphan or kick him and claim he was being prideful of being a healer, or because of his parentage, or just because he was a calm soul. Darius tried to run away, several times, but inevitably got lost in the surrounding forests of his nomadic camp. He hated life among his people, but because it was all he'd ever known, he felt like there was nothing he could do to get away from them.
Finally, one night, maddened by grief and loneliness, he stole into his mentor's stores and grabbed some poisonous herbs, belladonna and nightshade. He was now fully trained in the ways of healing and herbs, so he knew what to take and what it would do to him. Hoping to find escape and death, he poisoned himself. Unfortunately, he wasn't thinking clearly and had gotten the correct types, but the wrong dosages. Instead of dying, he merely sank into a comatose state, losing himself in his mind. He began to have strange dreams of all kinds, his parents, his tribal spirits, as well as nightmarish creatures, creations that didn't exist anywhere but his mind and had no name. His body eventually began to give up, resigning itself to losing the fight against the poison. It was then, that he had one final dream.
An achingly beautiful vulpine woman appeared before him, She who bears nine tails. In his dream, She offered him salvation, a way free of the life and pain that he'd known, but in return, he had to serve Her faithfully. Seizing the chance, however slim, that it wasn't all just a delusion, he agreed to Her offer. After that, whether through sheer belief or actual divine intervention, his body quickly began to recover. A few days later, he awoke, a new man with a new mission. He quickly changed his life, finding himself now above other people's teasing and abuse. Anyone who hit him, he began to refuse to heal. Their behaviour dropped off quite abruptly when they found Adean, his abusive former mentor, dead in his bed. Poisoning was suspected, but as Darius was now the only one who knew how to truly diagnose it, nobody else could be sure. But he was a watched man now. They would come to him to heal them, but few would associate with him on a more personal basis. That was fine with him.
Finding solace in his solitude, Darius sought to use various herbs and mixtures to try and induce visions, so that he could see The Lady once more. Inevitably, these experiments failed, making him sick and naseous instead. Finally, after trying stubbornly so many times, Darius had another vision. This time, The Lady appeared before him and told him that his time among his tribe was at an end. He'd stayed with that camp as long as he needed to, but now She needed him elsewhere. A little concerned and uncertain, as Darius had never even heard of a civilized society before that time, he asked Her for guidance. She told him that she wished for him to learn humility, servitude, and deference, and that he would be led to a place and a person who would teach him all this. Packing up all his stuff, which wasn't much, and following her instructions, he left his people and traveled far, though unmolested, as if She were watching over him. It wouldn't be too long before he found himself in the city of Nanthalion, somehow knowing that this would be his final destination.