Giles Verotyklos was born on Mercy 11th in the year 400 in a Toban village on the River Lun in Tyr, not too far from Lundica.

Given that he was born with the hind leg of a black horse in place of his right leg, it was probably fortunate for Giles that his mother, Brina, was alone in her pottery when she gave birth.

A meaner bit of luck was the fact that Brina was widowed a few months before. Her husband, Petor, was killed when a wall of the new Church of Love and Reason he was building collapsed on top of him. And since it was common knowledge that this was a direct act of the local Fae, who were angry that this church was being built on land once sacred to them, it was easy enough for Brina to see Giles' deformed leg as another bit of Fae spite.

She was in fact only half right in this. It was indeed a Fae curse, but was actually in retaliation for refusing three times the advances of a Fae lord with a thing for pregnant women. The fact that Brina implied she'd rather lay down with his horse than the Fae was unfortunate, at least for Giles.

The only person she confided in about Giles' condition was the local Priest of Love and Reason, Pater Frazer, who concurred with Brina that this was Fae work. He improvised a number of tests to Giles' nature and declared him well within the keeping of Love and Reason. But just in case, Frazer promised to take him on as student when Giles reached six years of age to safeguard against any other possible influence.

When the member of Flos Crastinus discovered Giles and his gift in 409, he was indeed Frazer's pupil--as well as Brina's apprentice in pottery. Given his family's tradition, Giles ought to have been apprenticed to one of his four uncle's as a blacksmith, but they had plenty of their own sons and that his twisted leg was seen as a weakness. (Brina had managed to hide Giles' right leg's true nature all these years, obscuring its form with a wrapping of rags and wire) It was also the leg that kept him from working the river caravans of the Toban, the common default for most un-guilded children.

Giles did assist his various uncles and cousins in their smithies when demand was high, but was seen destined as a potter, which was a woman's occupation. Already at nine Giles was weary of his extended family's jokes and derision and so had no problems with being separated from his family and go study at Bethelion in Evasendia. The fact that the Brian allowed the Flos Crastinian mage to take Giles was another matter and raises the question what sort of persuasion the mage used. He did promise that Giles would be allowed to write often and visit yearly, a promise which he promptly forgot though Giles did not.

Giles was accepted at Bethelion in 409 for what was to be the class of 425. The alacrity to which he took quickly to learning and writing Cholaic gave many the impression he was to be an exemplary student. And where he was an eager pupil when the class officially began in 410, it was soon clear that it wasn't easy for him to understand magical principles, rather he fought against the logic of what he was being taught, though not intentionally.

His suitability was coming into question when, after months of struggle, an internal connection was made for Giles that led to a breakthrough and allowed him to quickly catch up with his classmates, though not quite by the same path. Giles wouldn't hit this logic wall with all aspects of magic, but enough that a pattern was becoming established and brought to the attention of the headmaster, Derleth.

This continued into 411 when, after weeks of failing, Giles solution to simple light spell was to abandon the common Creo Ignam and instead pursue Creo Imago. News of this prompted Derleth to seek an interview with Giles. The interview went on for hours , during which Giles was sure he was going to be tossed out of Bethelion. It was when Giles explained why he didn't eat meat, that he could taste the animal's terror and distress, its death, that Derleth decided to take Giles on as his protegee.

With Derleth's assistance, Giles was able to keep more even pace with his class, mostly through exhaustive studies and practice in magic theory. Though initially resentful of the extra work Derleth was putting him through, Giles quickly became devoted to him. Even more so when Derleth honored the promise the Flos Crastain made to his mother and allowed Giles to visit home once a year. That privilege, along with how much student and pupil seemed to enjoy each other's company, naturally gave rise to talk about Giles being Derleth's crippled pet, the indulgence of an elderly mage, despite Giles' now excellent performance in class.

It's quite likely Derleth discovered the true nature of Giles right leg. Giles's fierce reluctance to let anyone examine his bent leg wouldn't have moved Derleth and fact that most people--including magi-- seemed content to overlook the leg would've intrigued him. The conclusion reached was probably it was more a problem Giles needed to solve rather than something that needed healing.

Things continued smoothly and well for Giles until the middle of 416, when Giles' classmate and best friend Camille was killed in a lab accident. The depth of Giles' trauma over her death led some to believe he and Camille were forming and magical bonding, Derleth included. It was this that moved Derleth in allowing to return to his mother's home for two months.

This visit did work as restorative for Giles, mostly thanks to his half-sisters, the three year-old Katryn and new born Tansy. He was cheered by his family's sincere sympathy for his loss as well--though from their perspective they though that Giles just lost the only girl who would've possibly married him.

Giles returned somewhat restored and, after some intense catching up time, resumed a fairly normal routine again until the last days of 416, when Derleth fell severely ill, signally the beginning of his decline into twilight. The first initial bouts of illness didn't last very long and caused no real disruption to Giles's studies as he attended Derleth. But as 417 progressed, Deleth's spells of illness became worse and longer in duration, with Giles missing more and more classes in oder to attend to him.

Given his constant absence from classes, his increased proclivity in socializing with servants, even in their drinking and gambling among other unruly behavior, his rebukes of concerned teachers, many at Bethelion began to refer to Giles as Derleth's folly.

As most of his attention was focused on Derleth's well-being and comfort, Giles hardly cared. He did attend as many classes as he could, which did allow him to retain a connection with his classmates as well as to take needed breaks from the ailing Derleth. His only significant learning by the middle of 417 was of theory and order history, mostly from Derleth in his more lucid moments but from a few other professors as well. He spent most of his time reading and scribing, becoming as familiar with the library staff as with the kitchen staff.

In mid 418 Giles solicited the board to officially abandoned his studies to attend Derleth, securing permission to resume his studies after Derleth no longer needed him, even if this meant dropping back a class. Giles still socialized with his official classmates when possible, probably even taught them dicing and drinking games, which did not improve his reputation with some of the magi.

In late 418, Derleth slipped into final twilight. As Derleth's previous fillae began to arrive, Giles fund he did not care for them on bit. Their politics certainly did not endear them to him. And it was fair to say had no love for House Derleth given the circumstances of its founding, beyond the fact the fact that Derleth had wanted the proposed House of University Magi to be named Elizabeth. As far as Giles could see, the whole purpose behind Elizabeth's example and the founding of Bethelion was to decrease the artificial divisions between the Houses.

It was the politics and scrabbling that surrounded Deleth's death in 419 that led Giles to decide to leave Bethelion all together. After saying good-bye to those he cared about and could trust, he pack up his inheritance from Derleth--all of Derleth's journals, quite possibly a couple of Elizabeth's, three enchanted rings, a small tapestry and the complete works of Tenemus-- Giles left for his mother's home.

After spending several disaffected months in his mother's home, Giles decided to try his luck in Sophia. It was only due to falling in with the best possible of a bad crowd that Giles survived this whim. Soon he was soon distracting himself with taking part in cons and petty larceny, enjoying the camaraderie of a group he liked but didn't so much trust. He was nicknamed "little Monk" during this time, due to a combination of the long plain tunic he wore to help obscure his crooked leg as well as his observance of Love and Reason.

When he ran across the foreign scholar seeking out the Library of the Cholaic Order, the gang Giles ran with had pretty much been dissolved, mostly due to arrest and death. Still, Giles was a bit surprised when he decided to offer his services as guide to this scholar. After all, he wasn't sure how prudent it was to approach the Order after deserting it for over two years. Nevermind guide an outsider to Annalum.

But he was curious about current goings on in the Order, and so Giles resolved this internal conflict by reasoning that the Order might very well want to know more about foreigners who know of it and, since it was never specified, he decided to guide this nosy scholar to Isrillion instead of Annalum. After all, Isrillion’s library was quite famous. And very attractive to Giles was it's fringe position in the Order, both politically and physically. Had he been more in touch with news of the Order over the past two years, Giles might've reconsidered.

As it was, he regretted his decision almost as soon as he and the scholar arrived. Isrillion was in shambles, its magi impossibly young and inexperienced and there was a general taint upon the place. He felt a bit guilty towards towards the scholar who he had begun to like, but upon the general acceptance of the magi and continued well-being of said scholar, Giles let that go and looked to start up a new life for himself in this back water covenant.

He had intended to do this by restoring the dilapidated pottery and become the resident potter, and so was rather surprised to end up apprenticed to the Mage Asonder. He accepted it with a shrug, reasoning that this was probably the safest thing for him to have done--until Isrillion became host to the trial of the latest Rogue House Savacion.

But all the odd and suspect activity surrounding the Isrillion wasn't what Giles had the most trouble with in living there. No, that would've been the Fae that surrounded Isrillion. As through out most of his life, the Isrillion Fae took delight in tormenting and sometimes injuring Giles. It was mediated somewhat by Asonder's understanding of and general good relations with the Fae. Still, it made Giles long for the life in the city, where few Fae if any were present.

Giles always suspected it was his leg that attracted the interest of the Fae. Certainly that was what prompted Asonder, who was was interested in most things Fae to apprentice him.

Though he was uncertain as how good of a master and student match they were, Giles quickly became fond of Asonder. True, they fought constantly, Asonder had no sympathy for he agony Giles went through handling newly killed animals and Giles would often find his master unbelievably dense in certain things. Still, they shared a similar enjoyment in the pleasures in life, a sense of humor and a compatible if not similar unorthodox approach to magic. It wasn't too long that Giles realized he probably couldn't have found a master more unlike Derleth if he had tried. Which oddly pleased him.

It was only when both he and Asonder became trapped in Arcadia that made Giles wonder if he couldn't have done better. In an attempt to discourage the occurrence of the Fiftieth Manerean Conjugation at Isrillion, in spring of 422 Asonder decided to try and convince the local Fae to assist by obscuring the road to Isrillion, naturally taking his apprentice with him. The fae in turn decide to detain Giles and Asonder the next twenty years.

It takes a couple years before it becomes clear that their predicament is due to Giles, more specifically due to the curse of his leg. It is to Asonder's credit that he doesn't abandon his apprentice then and there but instead help negotiate a solution to the impasse. And Asonder quickly discerns that it has to do with Giles learning to transform into a horse. Which clearly requires Giles to acquire the skill to do just that. Which is what they spend the next twelve or so years working on.

Giles does indeed successfully learns to transform fully into a horse and then fully as a man. Whereas it took no effort for Giles to walk, trot, etc as a horse, it takes him many weeks to learn to walk on two human legs; he still walks with a slight ghost limp. Soon after accomplishing this feat, Giles learned the true condition of their release. Giles must sire a foal on the Queen of the Hunt's prize mare in his new horse form.

Giles fought this--and Asonder--actively for over a year before relenting. And after spending a couple of years of making the mare's acquaintance, he did indeed succeed in getting the mare pregnant. And has been trying to forget that act ever since.

Asonder and Giles are released from Arcadia shortly before the very intimate Fiftieth Manerean Conjugation and first the Linguan Conjugation. Giles is dazed and confused for the next few weeks: he vaguely remembers Asonder declaring him mage, doesn't remember when or why he agreed to join Calvus in the founding a Covenant on the site of what was Sol Media Nox (what would become Nemus Animae), dimly recalls Gratuitus Turturillus handing back the Elenorean text he had given the Lemmite mage back in 421 and embarassingly doesn't remember meeting Sonata erat Aurora at Isrillion at all.

He "woke up" in time to strike up a friendship with one of the few Manereans to attend the fiftieth conjugation, Denarius of Fumus et Specula. thankfully he also was aware enough to argue his mage name with Asonder, thus sparing himself the name Decisus cervis ("Fallen Stag") but instead settled for Equus sine equite (“Horse Without a Rider”).