Meet the Character -- Dr. Cian

Name: Dr. Zared Cian
Age: 59 Sex: M
Family: Son (Chance, 31)
Infection: Immune / OFAR 'hunter' gene

Zared Cian is a doctor for one reason: a stable income for himself and his son. Fortunately for those under his care, he is naturally gifted at his job. A smoker for years, he is almost always trying to light up. He is often foiled in his attempts by Dr. Ophie. He is affable and hard working, but a little more self-centered than the average doctor. Dr. Cian's speciality is genetic abnormalities. So when the FLI set up its first agency in the state of Alabama, he was called upon to make sure that the lycanthropes were properly identified, both by type and infectivity.

We don't know much about his past, but he must have had one because he has a son older than many of the others in the book. Zared talks about his son a lot, but not much else concerning his personal life. His role in the story is as the pathology lab director. He does genotyping for those wanting to join the FLI in Alabama, as they are required to have the OFAR 'hunter' gene. He also determines which strain of Hensen's disease patients have, as well as their level of infectiousness (or how long they have been infected). He job sometimes also requires him to determine the type of lycanthrope and their 'age' (how long they have been infected) that may have injured or killed a patient/victim. Grim, but someone has to do it. When he can, he aids Dr. Ophie with the patients in the clinic, but he usually stays behind the scenes.

His first name, Zared, is a derivation of the Hebrew 'Jerod,' meaning verdant or of strange descent. Dr. Cian is an African American of the Jewish faith. I really don't know why I decided to do this, other than as a small nod to Sammy David Jr., but I am sure it will come out in the wash eventually. A close relative of a name in the dead sea scrolls is "Yar-rod" which means perpetual leader, something Zared feels like he always is.

The name Cian (pronounced "Kee-an") is Gaelic for ancient, which speaks to his age. 59 isn't ancient, but he is older than his counterparts in the book. Because he is older, he feels that he must be a leader to them, although he doesn't really want to be a leader. If he had his way, he would just be allowed to do his job, and leave the leadership to ALF and Dr. Ophie.