Sarus was hatched in the dark of the moon, the only survivor of a clutch of six thin-shelled eggs. By tradition, the lack of moon and the one-in-six survival mark the coming of a Watcher, a person fated to be present at pivotal events in history, but typically powerless to change them.

As word spread that Sarus was a Watcher, people began to naturally shun him, for those “pivotal events in history” generally create turbulence and death to anyone nearby. Those that fear change become increasingly uncomfortable the longer Sarus stays nearby.