Katerina Anchova grew up in the town of Kalsgard in the Ice Quarter with her parents Leonid and Marla Anchova and sister Raya. Her father and mother were merchants of moderate wealth, having a small shop that sold mostly nice furs and clothing.
Katerina was found by Marla one evening while she was walking home. The baby was in a crudely made basket, and had very little protection from the coming cold. Marla took the baby home to her husband and although not on board with the idea at first, her father Leonid, after convincing from his wife, eventually relented and decided that the little girl shall be called Katerina, and would be their new daughter.
Katerina was quite a tomboy, which irked her mother and made her father smile. He had always wanted a son, but the birth of Raya almost killed Marla, and left her unable to produce one. He would shoe Katerina how to do things as a father might show a boy, and Katerina often performed better than her male peers. She was quite strong for her age, and developed a penchant for being extremely sneaky and mischievous.
Upon reaching her 12th birthday, Katerina became enamored with a traveling troupe of agile performers, who came to town and put on a show of acrobatic feats, and sparring matches. Katerina decided that she too would learn how to fight as they did and perform their breathtaking feats. She begged one of the performers, Liam Ming, to teach her. He reluctantly agreed, after being paid a tidy sum by her father. Although Leonid didn't necessarily love the idea, he wanted his daughter to be able to defend herself. He realized what she really was over the years, and feared that her hag mother would come calling soon. Something he dreaded.
This training lasted for a years, and she traveled around with the performers, who grew quite fond of her as well. Especially her mentor Liam. Upon reaching 16, she felt a strong urge to go to set out to a location she never recalled visiting, yet was strangely familiar. Liam, being very familiar with what was going on thanks to Katerina's father's warnings, decided to have his troupe follow her and protect her from the hags.
Katerina upon arriving at the location she was being drawn to, saw three strange ugly creatures resembling misshapen old women who welcomed her with cackling glee. Terrified and outnumbered, she awaited these strange hags to prepare some sort of ritual, wanting to run off, but something held her from doing so.
Luckily for Katerina, Liam and the rest of her fellow comrades showed up and managed to drive one of the hags off and killed the other two. Unfortunately, Liam was killed in the fight, which left Katerina devastated. She refused to rejoin them on their travels, and wandered until coming to a town known as Almas, the capital of Andoran.
She joined the local guard, not knowing how to do anything but fight. Her prowess and demeanor in combat happened to catch the attention of Knight-Commander Calisaria Reinn during a skirmish with Slavers (or whatever would be appropriate for the campaign currently).
Knight-Commander Calisaria Reinn took Katerina under her wing, and Katerina gained her new mentor's approval with her hard work and dedication. With the magical winter becoming an ever increasing problem, Katerina would be called upon by Calisaria to represent Andoran, and end this horrible winter that has claimed the lives of many.
