Leika’s life has been one of hardship, loss, and defiance. Born in 1603, her existence has been shaped by the tumultuous events surrounding her family. Her grandfather, a revered hunter, met his end in the Battle of Grizzly Peak, an event that left deep scars on her family and ignited a fierce hatred of the Lunar Empire. Her grandmother, a woman of resilience, never remarried after her husband’s death, living a life of poverty and subservience as an assistant to a local shaman—a life that haunted Leika’s childhood. Her mother, swept away by a charlatan in 1603, bore Leika under scandalous circumstances, with the local lord claiming the right of ‘jus primae noctis’, the right to the first night, at her wedding. The striking resemblance Leika bore to this same noble lord only deepened the sense of shame and alienation within her. Her father, a swindler and opportunist, distanced himself from her and did little of note, and his untimely demise at the jaws of the Crimson Bat in 1620 only solidified her loathing of Chaos. Raised in poverty alongside her mother, who never remarried and labored as a farmhand, Leika endured the devastating Great Winter of 1622, which nearly claimed her life from starvation. It was in this dark time that she entered the service of the king. The local lord, recognising her likeness, ensured she received the finest training to become a noble warrior. In turn, Leika’s loyalty to her clan grew, tempered by a desire to rise above the tragedy of her past. Yet her journey has not been without its own horrors. In 1624, at the Battle of Pennel Ford, she saw Harrek the Berserk in all his terrifying ferocity. The sight of the berserk warrior instilled in her a deep fear—a fear that still gnaws at her. In 1625, during the Liberation of Pavis, she came dangerously close to death, bearing the mark of a scar across her face as a reminder of the conflict’s brutality.