Barth is the third son of the eponymous leader of the famed mercenary company Hard Hadigan's Heavy Hammerers. His father trained him in martial skills so that one day he could join the company and take up the family banner. However, Barth found that the mercenary lifestyle led one to being killed on the battlefield more often than he'd like, and wanted to stay home learning a safe skill like magic. His father would have none of that, however and locked up all his books until he could "be a true dwarf, worthy of your beard!" His brothers, Handsome Harald and Tough Torvik both got into the trade, and persistently mocked him for his ineptitude on the battlefield. They would call him names like "Blundering Barth" and "Belching Barth", all of which convinced him to leave home as soon as he was able.
Once free of his father's home, he was able to go find a tutor to learn magic from, particularly magic that would make it easier to survive battles. He met an adventuring party, and they were exploring some ancient ruins when they ran afoul of a pack of rust monsters and oozes. Not everyone made it out, and Barth's gear became food for the creatures, but he kept hold of his most prized possession - his spellbook. The rest of the survivors retired after that unfortunate incident, but Barth is quite uneasy by himself, so is eagerly awaiting another group of adventurers that can help a down-on-his-luck wizard.