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Goronik was born to a pair of warriors, deep in Kiadana-Rah. Her parents had been hoping for a male giant, and hoping so strongly that they gave her a name more suited to a male. As she grew, they encouraged her to act like a male, and dressed her like one. They quickly came to see that other young giants (and older ones) did not treat her as male, no matter how she acted. This in itself might not have discouraged them, however, except that Goronik herself knew that she was female, and eventually insisted on this. She was female, and proud... and the rest of fire giant society welcomed her declaration even as her parents grudgingly accepted it.
They were not ready to stop pushing their expectations on her, however. As she grew old enough, her parents insisted that she learn to be a warrior in the army, as her parents both were. However, Goronik found that her skill with weapons was adequate at best. On top of this, she observed the army and found it foolish how so many soldiers followed orders without question. Some orders could be quite bad, and reminded her of the way her parents had insisted on her acting male. She observed other parts of fire giant society, and eventually came to find she had a talent in focusing her mind the same way that the few priests and anti-paladins of Kiadana-Rah used. She could not channel magic energy like the anti-paladins, so she decided to take up priests' path. but came up against a large obstacle... the very femaleness she was so proud of was what barred her from the priesthood. In Kiadana-Rah, priests were highly respected and valued, and the males had built customs over centuries that insisted women did not have the focus and strength of will to be priests, and would make poor excuses for priests. Goronik was disheartened, but still sure this was what she was meant to do. She thought it a sign of weakness in the priesthood, that they were scared of giving a chance to a female who might prove them wrong, and a sign of weakness in her parents and others who supported the custom without question.
On occasion, some groups of fire giants would slip past the storm giant army to Hamsah Mu'tazz, to gather extra supplies for the village or even just out of curiousity. Goronik had made a few of these trips, but it was in a trip shortly after her refusal by the Kiadana priesthood when she found something she had not noticed before. This was a statue of the Father of Devils, Scarabaeus. As it happened, there was a human in front of the statue on this day, preaching. Goronik was curious, and stopped to listen, scaring off a small group of other humans. The preacher was not discouraged, and spoke straight to her. He told of the Dark Father, who taught that most are lost in a fog of customs, habits and limitations set for them by the ignorant. The true life is that lived according to one's own Will, without care for the desires of others or traditions of society.
When Goronik heard about this, something felt right in it for her. She demanded to hear more, and the preacher was happy to tell it. He told of the Light that many such as the storm giants follow. Goronik had often seen the storm giants rushing in to attack, and believed that they were only seeking power, as fire giants and anyone with the smallest of brains did, in her opinion. The Light was not something that fire giants talked about and she had never heard of it before. When she did, and realized this strange system of "right and wrong" was what guided the storm giants, she was amazed that anyone could be so stupid. The preacher told her of how the storm giants, and many other races, believed that some races were naturally "evil" and had to be destroyed for this. He told of how those of this "Light" held back their own urges, and refused to do what they knew they really wanted, or often did it while claiming it was done for a different reason. Goronik could see one reason might be the "evil" of a fire giant, when the Lightbound person actually just had the urge to kill which all fire giants understood. Goronik's interest only became greater with all she heard. Eventually, however, the preacher had to leave. Goronik still wanted to hear more, so the preacher asked if she knew how to read. As it happened, when she had insisted on her female role, Goronik's mother had grudgingly told that if she was to be female, she would need to learn to read, to have any chance of keeping up with the knowledge of the males. Goronik's mother had done this teaching, herself. The preacher told that more information could be found in the library of Hamsah Mu'tazz, and led Goronik there before leaving. He even agreed to meet with her the next day, to help her learn more. The librarians were shocked to see a fire giant stalk into their nice, quiet library. However, when she did not try to destroy anything, they did not call for guards. They showed her quickly to the small section on Scarabaeus, and kept a watch on her. As she read more, she found that the highest positions in this priesthood were those of the Hand, the Eye... and the Flame. The last piece seemed to fit for Goronik, and she knew her place. She was meant to burn through the blindness of the Lightbound, and the fools bound to customs, like the flames of Kiadana-Rah.
She met with the preacher the next day, and finally found out his name was Horthis. He taught her more, and as she told of what she had realized, he encouraged her to seek the blessing of the Dark Father, Scarabaeus. Horthis then pulled something from his pack. He said that he had found this in a shop just the night before, and perhaps it was another sign of the path she was meant to take... he had instantly known it was meant for her. Horthis gave her a long, huge dress which could only be meant to fit a giant. The dress was covered with patches of orange and red in various shades. What was truly strange about the dress was that it seemed to slowly shift and flicker, and a patch which was red might be orange a moment later. She put it on, finding it fit well, and agreed that it was meant for her. Horthis said that he was sure he could get repayment from her sometime in the future in a way she would not mind at all. She was wary of this, but believed the dress was worth the debt. Horthis told her of the location of Scarabaeus' temple, and told her more as she wished... but they both knew that he had done about all that he could. The rest was up to Goronik, and her new Lord.
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