Well, I gave it some good thought and finally came up with some background fiction for my belayed application. Enjoy.

Cydael, Priest of Mitra

 Herein lies a brief account of the most personal history of the early life of Cydael the Priest of Mitra.

Twenty-seven years ago a newborn boy was left on the steps of the Temple of Mitra in Old Tarantia, an offering to the priests and to their god Mitra. Children were often offered up in this way by poor parents who hoped for a better life for their child. Unlike the priesthoods of many of the other gods who will often treat such children as slave property, or worse, offer them as human sacrifice, children offered to the temple are taken into service to provide the church with many of its secular needs. In rare circumstances these children have even been adopted by members of the clergy and raised as successor apprentices to their foster parents. It is said that only a few days after the temple had taken in the newborn babe, that the high priestess Maltheria happened to pay an unprecedented visit to the nursery on account of some errand and chanced to lay eyes on the infant, suckling in the arms of one of the Temple's wet nurses. Later many rumors were hypothesized, but the truth as it was understood then was that Maltheria on seeing the helpless child felt a maternal chord stuck in her heart for she had no children of her own, and felt an instant bond with the infant. She preformed the official adoption rites herself only days later in an extravagant celebration that is said to have lasted a week. Both her and her husband, a major noble in the court of the old Aquilonian ruling class before the days of King Conan, were said to have rejoiced and made much over the child.

Although Priests and Priestesses of Mitra can marry their position is always considered separate from that of their spouse. Therefore a child adopted into the church could not inherit the hereditary title of his secular parent, but could still hold any position appointed to him by the clergy as his worth dictated. The young child grew up in the temple surrounded by wise and loving role models. He was officially named as the custom dictated after the last resident priest to pass away, so gaining for himself the name of Cydael, an ancient Hyborian word meaning strength against aggressors.

Outwardly he led a perfect and happy childhood, with privileges that many would have envied. In reality however Cydael's foster parents were not the loving model family they presented in public. His father all but ignored him privately, playing no role in his life other than to appear for the mandatory annual festivities and socially required situations where they had to be together as a family. There was no intimate contact between his foster parents as far as Cydael could tell which brought his mother much bitterness and grief which she often took out on her private household. His mother's relationship with her adopted son would range from conspiratorial closeness where she would call him to her privately away from the clergy and slaves and confess her secret failings, her vices, and her political maneuverings; to a violent rage where she would strike out at anyone who came near her, be it her household or her son. When one of her bad moods to her she would rant and rave, sobbing uncontrollably one moment then shrieking and attacking anything or anyone that came near her the next. Publically she was always poised and noble, the model of a high priestess.

 In spite of his home life Cydael managed to find comfort, love, and guidance from many of the people in his daily life. Like many of the abandoned children he was a child to all the priesthood and temple servants. He was adored as an intelligent and passionate child, who willingly embraced his many foster parents. Everyone from wizened old priests to plump young scullery slaves loved the inquisitive and expressive youth. He made many friends among the other temple children and would associate with even the lowest beggar eager to listen to their stories. He made particular friends with one of his mother's household slaves, a younger woman of Ophirian decent named Bettra. She had become the child's new wet-nurse after the adoption and had ever after become Cydael's closest companion and mother figure. Unfortunately this closeness also seemed to bring out the worst in Cydael's adopted mother Maltheria, who being scorned by her husband would jealously seek the companionship of her son and often flew into a rage on seeing a lowly slave associating with her child.

As Cydael grew older his mother's violent temper grew fouler and the list of her favored victems narrowed with each passing year. She seemed to have a particular hatred for Bettra, beating and abusing her, calling her all sorts of vile name and hurling the most vulgar of insults at the poor woman. Frequently Maltheria would escort Cydael to her private chamber, her face a mask of tears and twitching with sorrow. There, to the poor child, she would pour out the miseries of her heart, telling him of her unfaithful husband, of backstabbing politicians, and of many other things which Cydael learned to understand in a way children had no business to. He grew to fear and pity her at the same time as he learned to admire her. During the times when she beat her slaves he grew to hate her. In this way he developed a different face for his home life and his public life.

 Cydael grew quickly and flourished despite his troubles at home. He was accepted into the priesthood on his own merits and everyone that knew him rejoiced for his decision to serve Mitra. He had a natural aptitude for the lessons the priests taught him, and soon despite his unknown origins and lack of traceable bloodline he was admitted into the confidence of many of the noble households. Much of this political success was due to his foster mother's high social status, but it is worth noting that he had his own charms and successes with his peers to add to her careful positioning. In his late teens to early twenties he took a special interest in getting to know the more militant crowd of priests and this in turn led to his association with many of the mercenary types that passed through Tarantia during this tumultuous period of Aquilonian history. Cydael longed to accompany the armies of Aquilonia on their campaigns against the Pictish tribes that ravaged her borders, but Aquilonia had become a nation in decline.

 Corruption had spread throughout the Aquilonian nobility as unrest had spread through the population. Cydael knew the truth behind the rumors through his mother's confidence and hated the weak King every bit as much as he hated his distant and unfaithful adopted father who was part of those nobles who had supported the King's rise to power. He had made the decision to leave the capital city and look for a posting somewhere on the borders where he could be of some use to his kingdom rather than sitting in the temple listing to rumors of invading armies and perverse undergoing in the palace. He wanted to experience the lust for life that seemed to fill so many of the mercenaries he had encountered in Tarantia. He had made up his mind and bid his farewell to his friends and mentors at the Temple. Mitra had given the young man a favorable sign, now he had only to confront his mother and break the news to her.

Events had reached a head before he had the chance to part from his family. On entering his mother’s villa he was horrified to discover that she had murdered both her husband and the slave woman Bettra and arranged their bodies in a sick embrace on the floor of her bedchamber. Cydael managed to learn than Bettra was in fact his real birthmother and that his birth father had in fact been his adopted father all along. Years ago Maltheria had discovered the liaison between Bettra and her husband and of the pregnancy but Bettra fearing for her child’s life had pre-empted any action by Maltheria by giving the child to the temple. Maltheria, learned of this and desired to mother her husband’s child so  she adopted Cydael and allowed Bettra to be a pseudo mother him. Over the years however Maltheria began to fester with jealousy and hatred towards her husband because despite her mothering his illegitimate child he never fulfilled his role to her as a husband. She began to lose her mind, confiding more and more in her son, and growing ever more hateful toward her husband and the woman he had laid with.

In the end Cydael left Maltheria to get help for her, but found on his return that she had killed herself despite her promise to the contrary. With the coming invasion of the barbarian Conan, Cydael found himself too caught up with the ensuing chaos to spend much time grieving the tragedy of his parents and set out on his own. He is uncomfortable around the Capital city of Tarantia, because he doesn’t want to face his past and so spends as little time there as possible. Rather than receive an official posting from the church of Mitra he has joined the ranks wandering mercenaries and for the last several years he has been seeking to find a question that he already has the answers to.