For as long as Khatijah could remember, she had been a slave. She couldn't remember her parents, or even her own name. She was a pretty little girl, however, and the brothel that bought hoped to groom her into a fine courtesan. What they didn't count on was a will of iron and a stubbornness that bordered on foolishness. They tried and tried to break her for years, but finally, when she was ten, they grew tired of trying and sold her to a group of thugs organizing pit fights and other blood sports.
The thugs wagered the girl would only last a fight, maybe two, at most, and decided to pit her against a half-starved gnoll, thinking that watching the gnoll eat the girl alive would be good entertainment before the main event. Leading up to the fight, they taunted her, telling her all of the horrible things that were going to happen to her during the fight. When the time came, they expected her to be too frightened to do anything other than run and cry. They gave her dagger, saying it was only fair to be sporting about it.
Much to their shock, the girl gutted the gnoll, leaving him bleeding on the floor, trying to keep his intestines inside his belly. Still not convinced, they tried again, and a third time to pit her against an opponent that would kill her, preferably while keeping her alive long enough for her to scream. Each time she managed to kill her opponent quickly and decisively. The thugs, impressed by her instincts began to train her to fight.
Over the next seven years, she became a minor celebrity among those that watched the fights. She began to use the greatsword, taking advantage of the strength she'd built since being sold to the thugs. It appeared that she'd continue on the path, likely dying young when someone better appeared in the ring, but fate had other plans.
The thugs had tried to expand their criminal enterprises and took up blackmail and information brokering. Unfortunately for them, they crossed a powerful and jealous merchant prince that had great influence with the Pactmasters. The thugs were tried and executed for their crimes while their assets feel into the hands of the Pactmasters.
The Pactmasters turned their attention to the young woman who had been in the pits for almost half her life. Seeing she was unskilled in most tasks, they opted to make her a deal, help cleanse a small village of its gnoll infestation, and walk away a free person. Seeing the first chance she had ever had at freedom, she eagerly accepted the deal.
