Girard is the stepson the gelfein of his clan, an extended 
Jarinese family who migrated south some fifty years ago.  His 
stepfather's father, Orsin, was a young man and a woodworker who 
lead his family to migrate southward in response to the Ivinian 
invasion.  His son, Bakian, became the next gelfein.  

	Girard's mother Gwelen was a 

had a child out of wedlock (Girard), then 
married the gelfein of a Jarin clan -- a guilded woodcrafter by 
trade.  I'm picturing that the marriage was of practical advantage 
to the father, which would outweigh the negative of her having a child.  

	I'm picturing this as a refugee family of a sort, which was 
divided after moving in his grandfather's time.  Girard's mother 
was arranged to marry the gelfein, but she had an affair before 
then which resulted in Girard.  

	As he grew up, he felt out of place in his stepfather's 
household.  He went on a pilgrimage to Araka-Kalai, and there met 
with a priest of the Order of Chuchlaen Wheelwright.  He took to 
heart what he was taught there.  After returning home, he announced 
his intention to take clerical orders.  



#2 (Girard) is a strong and sharp-eyed fellow, who is an unacknowledged 
bastard living with his mother who is the head of the clan or married 
to him.  I'm not sure who his biological father is.  He isn't 
particularly estranged, so even as a bastard he has little reason 
to leave home.  But he has fairly high Piety, so I think his is a 
genuine calling.  I picture that his mother is a Jarin, born here 
in Kaldor after his grandparents fled the Ivinian invasion fifty 
years ago.  Thus he grew up in the faith of Ilvir.  After getting 
knocked up, his mother regretted it and raised him strictly in the 
ways of her ancestral people and their faith.  

(Note: I should add 3d6 to his Piety if he was raised Ilviran 
from birth.  I hadn't pre-decided that.)  





A less obvious-- but possibly more intriguing-- option would be 
training at the Temple of Chuchlaen Wheelwright.  This is a rather 
unusual order based at Gedan-- an ancient Jarin burial ground (and 
Earthmaster ruin) up in Orbaal.  The order is secret and hidden-- and 
works closely with the largest Jarin 'resistance band' that is also 
based at Gedan.  It is an unusually militant and politicized order (but 
one with ancient roots) whose theology is secondary to its political 
goals (killing/kicking out Ivinians), although it has linked these 
goals to the curious figure from Ilviran mythology, Chuchalen 
Wheelwright.