Roma Therensgard was Captain of Horse for House Surtova until approximately 25 years ago, when she suddenly resigned and left Brevoy to travel to Lastwall, where she gave birth to a son (Campaign Trait: Bastard).
Kern's earliest memories are of investigating the nooks and crannies of his maternal grandfather's tower, fascinated by the journals left be the old man before he died (Trait: Magical Lineage). Soon, however, he was packed off to a boarding school in Absolom, his formal education paid for with a generous stipend from House Surtova. As he entered apprenticeship age, he was accepted into Absolom's College of Mysteries, showing unusual talent and drive, but upon graduation he spurned several lucrative offers to settle down and become a 'working' wizard.
Instead, he immediately returned to Lastwall and joined the Lastwall Riders, a border patrol that serves as a first defense and warning from orcish invaders (Trait: Lastwall Cavalry Rider). Anyone who worked with him could tell he had something to prove….and he did. Kern had a plan, perhaps even an obsession. He was going to prove himself worthy enough to be legitimized and welcomed into House Surtova.
After 3 years with the riders, Kern had performed well, and even attained some rank. A wizard and a blooded warrior, he travelled to Brevoy, feeling that his excellent academic record and military service would earn him the place he sought…he was bitterly disappointed. His father refused to legitimize him, or for that matter even acknowledge him, and the stipend that had been granted his mother ended on the spot.
When the opportunity to join a chartered exploration group was presented, he leapt at it, seeing it as an opportunity to metaphorically put a stick in the Surtova family's eye by proving that he can make a name for himself without them (Drawback: Pride). (He also feels responsible for his mother's loss of income at this stage, and feels that success here will give him the opportunity to replace that income).
