Originally the youngest of five strong brothers from the village of Templehof, Ghorst was a farrier and groom just like his father. His love of danger and the open road was well known, and he would take any excuse to deliver messages to Ulfheim in the west or Vassel in the south. One day he returned from his adventures to find his brothers and father dead in their beds, taken by the Plague of Blue Roses. Fungus-bruises covered their bodies, and its spores were thick in the air. Ghorst could not accept the loss. At first, he tried to contract the plague himself by embracing his lost brothers, but it would not take him. Eventually, Ghorst plunged himself into the study on the black arts, hoping to return his brothers to life.[1a][2a]