Mere months before the end of the first world war, Pain awoke in the forests of Argonne. His broken body left near the impact site of an artillery shell and his mind broken by the embrace. Years later he would piece together his creation and continue on with the assumption the exploded munition must have interrupted his embrace or shrapnel from it had made it possible in the first place. The first weeks of his new life were spent hiding from the sun, feeding on the wounded, and becoming a whispered rumor among both sides of the battle line. A repeated cycle of feast and famine set in for the nameless kindred that would come to be Pain. Burning through blood as quickly as he fed in a constant struggle for survival. The conditions and his slowly changing forms new capabilities made him faster, stronger and sturdier as he moved from hunt to hunt. On the verge of being doomed to wassail, Pain would attack the man who would become his mentor and savior.
Alkibiades could have easily destroyed the young gargoyle, but he decided to play with him instead. Repeatedly striking the near ravenous man with naught but his open palm across the face before finally staking the gargoyle. He never did tell the new disciple what had led him, but Pain was sure Set had guided Alkibiades to find him. Alkibiades would give the young kindred purpose. Though it would take the gargoyle some years to truly understand his place within the faith, Pain was welcomed into the fold with open arms. Taught the ways of the Warrior, he would become a guardian of the temple. His life would be one of preparation punctuated by short bouts of conflict as the temple was assailed by its enemies. Lycanthrope, the machinations of the Osirians and their mummy allies, even other kindred that might think to dislodge the presence of the faith in their perceived domains. All would fall before the stealthy ambushes of the fanatical sentinel.
Now he has been given a new task. Go to this city of B-more Careful, protect the faith and teach the worthy to love their true creator.
Praise to the dark father of sand and storm. Praise to the breaker of chains. Praise to Set