Katra is a native of the Skycitadel of Kraggadon, where she was raised to be a warrior. Her parents loved her and raised her in the proper Dwarven way, and she and her four brothers both fought and protected each other, as is the way of Dwarves.
During her childhood, she followed a voice to an abandoned shrine of Trudd. As any Dwarf would have done, she tended the shrine and grounds, helping to restore it in no small part to it's former glory. Inside, she found a trap door beneath the altar, which lead to a naturally defensive cavern. One a slab of marble lay an expertly smithed Warhammer, glowing blue runes etched into the striking surface of the single headed hammer told the story of the God of Dwarven protectors. As she read the story eagerly, she felt herself falling into the runes, her mind being swallowed up. When she woke, she lay in an open plot of land cradling the Warhammer. As she stood, it disappeared, with only the faintest hint of a voice that echoed through her mind.
Mine.
Since that day, she has been able to summon the hammer as she needs and can cast some...odd magic through the hammer.
When Katra came to adulthood, she found work as a caravan guard, protecting shipments of weapons and armor that were being delivered to Nirmathas. She spent several years on the road, but didn't encounter much beyond the odd bandit attack which were easily repelled by the stout Dwarven warriors who protected the caravans.
All of that changed the day Katra's caravan returned to Kraggadon, only to see it under siege by a massive army. Although the warriors among the caravan wanted to fight, the caravan master, a wizened old elder, instead ordered them to set out to the nearest Human settlement, reasoning that there was no reason to throw their lives away in vain.
The city of Phaendra was closest, and Katra knew it well: it was a trade city that she had visited several times and had something of a reputation in, for the night that she beat seven men in a brawl, each of the men having a knife. This, of course, was the proper Dwarven way of diplomacy with Humans.
The caravan master and his men have all departed the city, but Katra is biding her time, waiting for an appointment to speak with the city council at their next meeting and attempt to rally troops to break the siege on her homelands.