Ordin is the only child of Stanford Clay, a Lothanian, and Leillyn Austmil, a Vashanti of the Cerion Forest. Their love was genuine, but because they were of mixed bloodlines, the family was predominantly ostracized. Ordin was deemed a half-blood, a "skrub," which left him friendless and alone.
One day, as a teenager, Ordin was climbing a tree to watch ships sailing the Rae Serene. A brewing storm grew violent and lightning struck the tree he was in, blowing off his left pinky toe and stripping him of all pigment in his skin and hair. He also landed several yards away from the tree with little memory of the event. But he was alive. He smelled like petrichor and constantly carried a static aura, but he was alive.
Ordin quickly became a famous figure in the Cerion Forest, the skrub who survived a direct lightning strike. His half-blooded nature became less of a societal issue, giving way to the "fame" of his odd appearance. In his twenties, Ordin took the opportunity to join the mystic cabal to serve as a guide and servant of the Forest. While aiding his clan against a horde of marauders, Ordin accidentally absorbed the magical lightning from an enemy arcanist and sent it spraying outward from his body in all directions, killing several of his kin.
For this, he was taken before the Sacred Circle and judged. Suddenly his bloodline mattered again, and he was expelled from the Cerion Forest to "find his purpose" in life. There was no small amount of hushed discussion amongst the mystic leaders, with many curious glances his way, and a number of uncomfortably personal questions. Through it all, the young Ordin grew increasingly bitter, distrusting, and pessimistic. As he was leaving, one of the cabal members pulled him aside and explained: he might be the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy. Ordin could only laugh darkly and brush the mystic aside. After all his mistreatment, he had no time for being some stupid focus of their religious fancies.
That wasn't even physically possible.