Anton Aliyev

Family
Anton Aliyev was raised by his abusive grandmother, Uliana, and perpetually drunk father five miles from the small harbor town of Lukivsk in the Novogardian Territories. His Grace of Sight manifested early and was discovered when he saved his brother, Illya, from a snowstorm.

From that day on, Anton's grandmother believed that Anton broke the prophecy of the raving king, which stated that Emperor Vasili would never produce a Graced heir, and was destined to return the Novogardian Territories to their former glory. Illya resented Anton's Grace and became abusive.

The Wanderer
When Anton was around eleven years old, he ran away from home and spent four years on the streets and in slyhouses, stealing and gambling, when he was found by The Wanderer (as Ms. Tappan) who offered to train him to use his Grace, but he was unable to harness it without exposing himself to the vision of the Age of Darkness. He ran away again, drifting around the Six Prophetic Cities. At the beginning of There Will Come a Darkness, Anton is working at Thalassa Gardens in Pallas Athos, where The Wanderer (as Ms. Tappan) finds him again.

The Vision of the Age of Darkness
When Anton was around eleven, just before he ran away from home, Anton had this vision for the first time and tried to drown himself to escape from it in the same lake where Emperor Vasili drowned with the Relic of Sight. For years Anton repressed the vision beneath the memory of the lake, which was altered to be a memory of Illya trying to drown Anton, holding him under the water.

The second time Anton had the vision was at the end of There Will Come a Darkness after Illya tortured him in the cisterns beneath Nazirah. Jude Weatherbourne rescued him from his brother, but Anton attempted to burn out his Grace with the godfire torch at the lighthouse of Nazirah. Jude protected him from the flame as the lighthouse fell, and Anton could no longer run from the vision.