Cerno was born to a large tribe in Spriggan's Sanctum, Umory-Ond. For his 16th birthday, his father decided to take him on his first hunting trip. However, Cerno and his father soon became the hunted when they were mauled to death by a panther. The tribe sent a search party and found only their remains strewn across the forest.
Cerno's mother was wracked by grief. She suffered until many months later, when her son suddenly returned home from the forest, alive without a scratch on him. It was then they realized Cerno had been granted divinity by the Spirit of Gaia.
DIVINITY
Now immortal and capable of great power, Cerno decided to use his powers to help his people thrive. He was celebrated and worshiped by his tribe. He was so beloved that an entire race of fauns--the Cernios--were named after him, their name meaning "of Cerno's likeness".
But immortality had its drawbacks. Cerno watched as his people grew old and died around him. He had been tracking the panther that killed his father for years for vengeance, but he eventually found it lying dead from old age. It had lived a long, full life while his father had not.
Cerno never came to peace with the situation. Once he'd collected a pelt from every species on Umory-Ond, he decided to lead a pilgrimage to new lands. He led a flock of his people through Lorrowey and Evik, and together they killed at least one of each animal in those lands. Some of his people stayed behind as Cerno moved on in his quest, and in this way the Cernios people spread themselves across the globe.
LYCANTHROPY
Cerno ran into trouble when he reached the Blue Valley, Noalen. He found that commoners were dominant here, and his gaian kind were not welcome. He and his people were enslaved and treated deplorably. Cerno got back at his captors by forging a monster called a "werewolf" and unleashing it on the town.
The werewolf's bite was infectious only to commoners, infecting them with the lycanthropy disease. By the time the werewolf was slain, several soldiers and townsfolk had already been bitten. They did not realize they were sick until the next full moon, when they transformed into werewolves themselves and terrorized their own town all night long.
Evangeline Kingdom declared a state of emergency. Those believed to be infected were rounded up and executed in a horrific event known as "The Full Moon Genocides". Many lycanthropes managed to escape the kingdom, and so too did Cerno and the disease. Lycanthropy quickly spread across the world, plaguing and wiping out entire communities.
Over the course of just a few months, Cerno went from a beloved leader to a hated criminal. The Cernios people no longer wished to be associated with him and even considered his name a curse word. They now prefer to be called "Sanctorios", meaning "from the Sanctum".
Lycanthropy is still rampant around Noalen today, though it is understood better than it was in its early days. Cerno is still a wanted criminal worldwide however, and continues to make himself as scarce as possible. Only brief sightings have been reported here and there, and he's said to be extremely hostile when approached. Those who survived their encounters with him compared his behavior to a "feral animal", believing he has possibly gone mad from his eternal life among the beasts.
Cursed woman hires big, beefy man with the personality of a golden retriever as a bodyguard to return to her village safely, a comic we're working on and hope to publish next year :)
YAAAY I've officially started a teaser/spinoff comic of our upcoming comic (coming in 2024) This is set before the actual story so that you can see how Cerno (deer man with big tiddies) came to be! I'll try to post a page per day :)
