Editing Character:Ziyad Antarah (section)

== Background ==
Eldest Son of one of the wealthiest Orkhan's amongst the Noble Delzahn of Chiaroscuro, Ziyad Antarah grew up in wealth. He spent much of his youth in study of both the traditional methods of war among the Delzahn and the recovered first age knowledge of his home city. As first among the Antarah Orkahns children, he was heir to the sept and leader in both the glass trade and when the sept was called to war. 

Thought young Ziyad seemed able for these duties, his passions seemed to lie elsewhere. By adolescence he was an accomplished hunter and duellist but also an inspired poet and historian. Enough that the Tri-khan wished for the youth to study be a member of his own court, to act as an emissary and functionary for the Tri-Khan.

By 24 he was considered one of the greatest poets in the south, entertaining Dynast and other exotic guests at the hospitality of Tri-Khan. His sonnets, odes, ruba'is and ghazals were renown as far as the realm. He had also gained a infamous reputation for womanising, his affairs with the young brides of several prominent nobles within the city had earned him enmity from members of the court. 

The disgrace on the family honour was causing friction with young Ziyad and his father the Orkhan. Threats were made between the two after an incident involving the young wife of a visiting diplomat from Gem but they did little except incense Ziyad to look for greater conquests. By Ascending Flame he had found them. 

On the twenty third day of Ascending Flame, Ziyad was caught 'performing' within the Tri-Khan's personal harem by one of his lords most trusted bodyguard. Fearing for his manhood and the repercussions that would ensue should this come out, Ziyad tried desperately to reason with the man. When that failed, he with as much dignity as he could manage fled from the guard by leaping out of nearby window into a fountain within the Tri-Kahn's personal garden.

Unluckily for Ziyad the garden was at that point being frequented by the Tri-Khan himself. Being quickly the focus of many armed guard and attempting to disarm the situation he said the first thing that came into his head...

To this day Ziyad is not exactly sure what he said to the Tri-Kahn but when he calmed enough the garden was filled with light and the Tri-Kahn was laughing. The two had a short negotiation, ending with Ziyad's banishment from Chiaroscuro, the most favourable result Ziyad was likely to get and Ziyad walked away from Chiaroscuro a member of the Exalted.

Over the next year he worked his way through city to city in pursuit of his passions and ending up with many a jealous local lord, Satrap or Perfect and entourage pursuing him out of various cities for dalliances with their wives. In between cities he looted ruins in search of lost literary work, cataloguing it and attempting to artistically surpass it. 

Six months ago he arrived in Nexus, accompanied by a young girl who Ziyad claims as a ward.  He quietly became the guest and courtier of one Councillor Brueghel, a situation that seems to suit the both of them despite his reputation. 

About two months into moving into Nexus, Ziyad got involved in a heated argument after flirting with a Lord Jidan’s wife at a party on the river. It culminated in a bet with the young lord: If Ziyad could climb a Mt. Giruyana, one of the largest mountains in the local area; Jidan would cede the lands surrounding the mountain to Ziyad. If Ziyad failed Jidan’s wife would be safe from Ziyad’s escapades forever. Not being one to resist such a challenge Ziyad climbed the mountain with Shofei in tow. 

The climb was tense and would have been near impossible for a mortal but for a couple of Chosen of the Sun, it was just trivial. A few spirits of the mountain hounded them but for but a minute until Ziyad forced them away with glare, the threat of Shofei and a well timed speech backed up by ancient oaths. Having reached the summit and explained to Shofei why they had climbed. The night he returned having beaten the mountain and taken the summit, he claimed both the Lord’s lands and his wife’s virtue.

On surveying the property some weeks later, deep in a valley in the foothills, he found shards of a ruined structure and found the vines overgrown twisted into prayers to the sun. In the centre of the valley there lies a broken alter with two curved blades jammed deep within the stone.  Around the ruined alter as if the outer wall of a room is a circle of vines and moss which tell of the fall of a mighty prince here. 

Ziyad felt called to the valley and pulled the swords from the ruined alter with ease. He carries the blades with him even now, normally wrapped in silks until he is required to use them. He did not mark the valley on the map but felt compelled to write a poem about it, calling it the Valley of Twisted Words and Echoing Sighs. He knew the place has power, he could feel it in the air. Fortunately for Ziyad he recorded the place in a poem so as he left though he did forget the valley, the poem triggered his memory. Within a month he had returned and attuned to the place, making it impossible to forget. Now with what funds he can scrap together he has begun investigating constructing a structure there, investigating those that know of such things.