Greene Tanache began his life as a blight on his family, marked at birth by his mother's indiscretion with a man she refused to name. That Greene's father was very likely a devil in mortal guise did little to endear him to his adoptive father. For most of his childhood, he learned to answer to "Bastard" and "Devil-Child" as frequently as his own name, and at the age of eight, Greene abandoned his family and fled to the High Forest, where he was found and accepted into a group of highwaymen calling themselves the Thorn Guild.
Greene became a brigand and a highwaymen for the Thorns, although he lacked the cruelty of his fellow thieves and was frequently berated for allowing victims to escape with their lives. Knowledge of the Thorn was often enough to earn their enmity. Greene learned quickly to assuage his guildmates with reason, else they send men to find and murder those he allowed to leave the High Forest alive.
As a highwayman, he regularly attacked travelers and took their valuables, but that changed when he mistook a single rider in the night for a noble and was soundly defeated by a paladin of Lathander called Sir Andress. Green awoke to find himself bound and healed after the combat, with Andress making breakfast over a fire. He was humane and even affable to Greene, who grew to like the paladin in spite of the beating he'd taken at his hands the night before.
Andress planned to take him to the Silver Marches to be properly tried, but the paladin seemed to take his time, walking his horse instead of subjecting it to the strain of two riders. He spoke to Greene as they journeyed, asking about his life and what had led him to such dire ends as taking advantage of travelers. At first, Greene gave only short answers and outright lies that Andress easily saw through, but eventually he told the paladin of his youth and the cruelty that led him to run away. Andress confessed that he'd known for some time that Greene was a Tiefling, but he made it a point never to judge a man without knowing his life. Among the paladin's remarkable gifts was the ability to detect evil, and he candidly told Greene that there was no evil in him, whatever the outward signs of his infernal heritage. He promised Greene that he would seek leniency from the magistrate if he would mend his life, and Greene was so overwhelmed by the offer of mercy that he agreed, though he had no idea how to mend his life.
Near the edge of the High Forest, after traveling with Sir Andress for over a week, they were attacked by members of the Thorn. Andress had stopped binding Greene days before, a show of trust that Greene never betrayed. Seeing Greene unbound in the company of a paladin, they drew their own conclusions and marked them both for death. The Thorn caught them unaware, and Andress lost valuable time drawing Greene's weapons and returning them before mounting a counterattack. He was much stronger than Greene, but against so many opponents, the paladin's strength waned. He took no time for himself, constantly weakening his position to defend Greene and heal his many injuries, spending his last divine gift to keep Greene alive and fighting. He fell, and Greene slew the last of his former guildmates alone.
Andress lay bleeding and Greene could do nothing but watch, his heart wrenching. He knew nothing of medicine or magic. The paladin died and something within Greene broke. He'd known kindness for the first time in his life and all he could do to repay was spill useless tears over a noble man's body.
With great effort, he returned Andress to his saddle and continued the journey to the Silver Marches with the dead paladin by his side. He gave himself over to the guards without resistance, asking only that they show the body of Sir Andress the respect he deserved. When questioned by the magistrate, he answered honestly and was grimly surprised when the magistrate believed his account of the paladin's death. Out of respect for Sir Andress, the magistrate remanded Greene to the Church of Lathander, where he was sentenced to serve them as they saw fit.
His service took the form of simple chores and ministering to the sick, but his sentence was not long. Greene pledged himself to Lathander, though in his heart it was Andress to whom he gave his fealty. He returned to the High Forest and hunted the Thorn Guild without mercy, using all he knew of their ways and all he'd learned from the church. If they did not surrender to the law, he fought them with righteous fury. It took years, during which he drifted further and further from the Church of Lathander, but he drove the Thorn out of the High Forest.
