Dorian is the fifth son of a wealthy family. His father, and three of his brothers are lawyers. His immediately elder brother is just about to finish his apprenticeship to a lawyer and get his certification for it. Dorian was supposed to go to school like his brothers, and he did try to make a go of it, but instead he started going about with a group of ne'er-do-wells.
In addition to carousing, drinking, and wenching, they began to get involved in occult investigations. A few started doing alchemy, other seances, and still others, including Dorian, started investigating making flesh golems.
Dorian showed real interest in taking apart the bodies. Unfortunately, he wasn't very good at putting the pieces together.
Their grave robbing, explosions, and some actually successful summonings got the group in trouble. Most of the others were punished, but Dorian's father was able to call in a few debts to have Dorian not punished, as long as he left Quartz for at least a year.
