[ Zehan Zhang, cis male, he/him, 30/143 ] we’ve followed [ TIAN ] for awhile now, the [ WITCHER ] has been in Novigrad for [ A WEEK ]. they’re known to be [ APATHETIC ] and [ JUST ]. We find it fascinating that after all these years they [ DON’T WORSHIP ] the gods. They often remind us of [ BLOODSTAINED PETALS; A FOGGY MOUNTAINTOP AT DAWN; AN EMPTY FLASK; WORN COLD STEEL ]. Our thread has already been woven on what their future is looking like, but we’re eager to see the [ HERBALIST ] experience it.
SUMMARY
Largely retired from hunting for coin, Tian has lived his life as a lowly herbalist/beggar for nearly half a century. The contractual obligation to worldly value has impacted his sense of morality immensely and has made him reevaluate his life's work, purpose and sense of self.
Coming from the school of vipers, he's not only slain monsters but kings and peasants alike. Such bloodshed and destruction had once been something he never considered until they'd been betrayed by the very people they'd worked for.
One part survivor's guilt and one part disillusion, Tian has committed his life to vagrancy and making his living by selling herbs he's collected along the way.
Although he avoids conflict as much as possible, it's inevitable when he finds himself unable to resist those who are in trouble and with all the skills he'd painstakingly honed since childhood, it's not difficult to pinpoint exactly what he is once his sword his drawn.
HERBALISM
A unique aspect to the vipers were all the ways they'd learned how to kill. With their contracts varying from man to monster, knowledge of herbs and the poisons they make were key to getting the job done when opportunity was sometimes hard to come by.
Tian is a master at making poisons, potions and antidotes after finding that sometimes, less effort was preferable than slaughtering a whole town. Although, he'd never tout himself an alchemist for the kind of obligation that comes with when he'd much rather pick berbercane fruits by the roadside.
ORIGINS
Tian originates from a small mountainous tribal community of hunter/gatherers, fabled to take after the ghost tribe of ancient folklore. They respected their own tradition of not pledging their faith to any man or god and practiced swordfighting and martial arts in order to become the next generation of breadwinners for the clan. They had been honorable people, undisturbed by Northern/Western politics and warfare. In turn, they'd fostered a naïve child in Tian who never knew any better than what he'd always known: that people were compassionate, just and fair.
Tian had been the star pupil of his generation and was sent to Gorthur Gvaed to become the best hunter he could be. Becoming a Witcher was seen as gaining 'godhood' and ultimate enlightenment when it came to allegiance due to the Vipers' known neutrality and the expectation was for him to become the pride and joy of his community.
However, the strenuous training took a toll on Tian's mentality, moving away from community and towards selfishness and survival. He saw his own greed in coin once he was introduced to a world where money was exchanged for goods and luxury.
His ambition to introduce his clan to the outside world beneath the mountains veered away of the values in which they thrived upon and slowly, his tribe's customs and traditions began to dissipate into the ease of township and feudalism.
MISC.
Tian Lang is his full first name, although he found it to be too identifiable in its naming convention and tends to just use 'Tian'.
As a Witcher, he was often regarded under the moniker 'Venom' due to rumors that he was able to take down his foes with a single nick of his poisoned blade.
Tian masquerades as a hapless, blind and drunken herbal merchant. Always blindfolded to conceal his telltale eyes, his other keen senses tend to make up for the one he's ashamed to let the world see.
Although his hair has turned white due to the toxicity in his blood, his knowledge of herbs allows him to dye it a reasonable colour. He’s also very dirty.
