Hilda was born to Gunnar Týrson and his wife Eir, a couple of former guardsmen who branched off into the more lucrative craft of fur trading. As capable warriors and hunters, they hunted, trapped, skinned, and sold the pelts of animals out of a traveling cart all across The Lands of the Linnorn Kings and other cold northern regions of Avistan, rarely even venturing into border towns of Irissen, as unsettling as it was, when they thought the coin may be good. They returned to their guard posts in Halgrim when their daughter was born, knowing the cold and bitter life on the road was not a good place to raise a child, who simply couldn't have survived the harsh conditions of winter. When she was old enough to read they started her on swordplay and archery, and she came to learn survival skills, told they were just as important as anything else she could learn. When she was ten the couple once again left their guard positions and brought their daughter with them to hunt and wander. (Campaign Trait: Northern Ancestry)
As she grew amidst the bitter cold, Hilda developed the necessary tools for survival. She learned how to follow tracks, sneak up on animals, set traps, and hunt for her meals. Her skill with a blade was commendable, but it was her prowess with a bow that really made her parents proud. Even over long distances she could hit her mark with ease, eventually making her a very useful part of the family business capable of more than pulling her own weight. She was also taught how to be a prideful and honourable warrior, to be brave and revel in combat, but to hold one's oaths and respect opponents.
But it wasn't meant to be. During one particularly harsh winter when Hilda was seventeen, a band of raiders who claimed the territory as their own came across them and demanded their pelts for warmth. Rather than negotiate a price, they ran her parents through with their blades. Hilda was off checking traps at the time, coming back to find her father dead, her mother clinging desperately to life, and their cart looted. There was barely enough food left to make it to the nearest village, but thankfully some medical supplies to patch her mother up. After burying her father they began a perilous, slow march that took two days, with Eir leaning against her daughter for support.
Eir was left blind in one eye and lame, returning to Halgrim to retire on her savings. Unable to do the job alone, Hilda had no desire to even remain in the cold northern land, leaving home once her mother was as recovered as she would get. Her skills with a bow let her move seamlessly into the profession of mercenary, complimented by her large Ulfen frame. For eight years she's worked as a sellsword, moving from job to job with little sentimentality as she travels Avistan. Much of her spare coin is sent to her mother to keep the family savings from draining too fast and leaving her poor.
She is in Heldren purely by incident. Fresh off the successful completion and payment of a job, she's stopped by the small town to rest for a few days. Big cities don't interest her much, even if it's where the most lucrative jobs are; there's an intimacy with the wilderness in small towns that she likes. The quiet and closeness of nature reminds the nomadic girl of her time in the wild, sometimes going days without seeing civilization, only to come across a small village much like Heldren. A few days in the inn is all she'll need to rest up before embarking on the long journey northwest to Oppara.
