Varmond's story really began with his father. Varmond Strongsword I was an officer in the Restovian Militia. He had not been alive to see the city burn under Chorral the Conqueror, but his grandfather had told him of the terror his family had endured during the attack. The tales of his childhood manifested in a deep hatred for the rulling body of Brevory. He did, however, hold a strong loyalty to Restov in his heart, which kept him laboring day in and day out to keep the small city under control. Eventually, he found someone who had similar views. That man was Vladimir Aldori, a son of one of the original Aldori Swordlords. He trained under Vladimir in the way of the Aldori in secret, since it was well known that the Aldori were still against the crown of Brevory. After years of training, he finally finished his training with Vladimir while simualtaneously raising himself to the captain of the watch in Restov.
It was around this time that he met his wife, Svetlanna Skyshield. Svetlanna was a tall, raven-haired beauty from the far off country of the Lands of the Linorm Kings. Her family had made the long and perilous journey after her father had been kicked out of the Blackraven rangers for killing a fellow scout for having his way with his wife. Svetlanna spent most of her days inside, for her father did not like the idea of her falling in love with one of the weak-blooded taldans that made up the bulk of the Restovian population. As hard as he tried, though, there were times when Svetlanna had to leave the house to fetch things from the market or work her shifts in the tavern. It was there that Varmond met her. She was just getting off her shift after dark and he was just finishing up his tankard of mead. They were both heading in the same direction, so he offered to escort her home. It became a sort of ritual for both of them and, before they knew it, they were in love. Even though Varmond wasn't actually from the Lands of the Linorm Kings, his ancestors were and it was going to be the closest her father was going to get to a full-blooded Ulfen. A year later, they had a baby boy which they named after his father.
Ten years passed and the boy grew into a strong young lad. He trained daily with his father in simple techniques of swordsmanship and learned everything else from his mother. He had a few friends, but for the most part, kept to himself. Little did he know that past his father's facade, the stories of Varmond the first's still caused him turmoil. On night, when he got a litte more drunk than he usually did, his father attacked an official from New Stetven who was in town to collect Restov's tithe to the monarchy. He beat the man nearly to death behind the tavern before one of his guardsmen pulled him off. The guard let him go so long as he was out of Brvory by the morning. Varmond's father stole away with his family in the black of night and rode south into the River Kingdoms. Varmond's lessons with his father became less and less frequent (as his father spent most of his time at the bottom of a bottle) and his mother cried more often than he had ever remembered, but they were alive.
By the time he was twenty, Varmond had grown into a man. The River Kingdom's were harsh on the family, but they got by. His father did whatever work he could find and his mother took care of the home. As for himself, he took odd-jobs with his father, but was constantly restless. He wanted to get out away from the hole in the ground they lived in surrounded by bandits and dark creatures that made all of his nightmares a reality. On the day of his twenty-first birthday, he left home. His father gave him the sword that Vladimir had given him when he completed his training, his old guard armor, and the signet ring of their family. His mother cried again when he left, but sent him off with a kiss and a long hug. He then set off south, knowing that north was definitely not an option. He spent his first year out on his own in the southern part of the River Kingdoms. He mostly did mercenary work, fighting bandits and the like near the scattered settlements. A few times he had to forgo even mercenary work for unsavory jobs like digging graves or helping build a farmhouse. He would do anything necessary to keep his adventure going. After a year in the Southern River Kingdoms, he continued south to the turmoil-filled country of Galt. While he wasn't exactly welcomed at first (even to the point of being ran out of a town by an angry mob for asking where the local constable was), he quickly proved himself a great asset to all sides of the conflict. He kept his nose clean compared to the murderous revolutionaries that plagued the country and chose to only take jobs that he found were just (again, getting him run out of town a few times by angry revolutionaries that thought he was a threat). He spent the next two years in Galt helping where he could. Now, he heads south again to Taldor, hearing that an unnatural winter has struck a small town in the middle of summer, partially for the adventure and partially because he feels that he has overstayed his welcome in Galt.
