Hans Adler was born to Johanne and Liesel Adler in Bavaria, Germany, 1319, on a farmstead 20 miles south of Augsburg. His father, Johanne, was swept away to a call of war between Holy Roman Emperor claimants Louis IV and Frederick the Fair, leaving a newborn Hans and his mother in poverty. In 1322, Liesel received word that her husband had been killed in the Battle of Mühldorf. Widowed and with a growing son to raise, she was forced to enter prostitution to support them with her clientèle ranging from outlaws, to mercenaries, to soldiers.

By 1325, Liesel had a second child with an unknown client; a daughter she named Isolde. Unable to support two children, she was forced to accept a marriage proposal from a merchant who could provide her family a reasonably comfortable life in town, but after merely two years with him, she died while giving birth to her third child.

The merchant, who had no desire to keep who he thought as "bastard children", cast a nine year old Hans and a four year old Isolde out onto the streets, while taking in the newborn to raise himself. With nowhere else to go, Hans was forced to take his younger sister back to their farm so they could live off the land.

Ten years pass uneventfully; Hans growing into a strong young man, capable of hunting dear with a spear and bow, while his sister matured into the object of men's affections. While Hans had been moderately successful in warding off the local boys from Isolde and secretly hoping to marry her into nobility so they could live a higher form of life, his wits eventually betrayed him; and he returned one night to find her sleeping with her unmarried lover.

Anger took him; Hans furious at himself for failing to protect his only family. The axe he used to cut wood ended up lodged in the back of the boy's neck, killing him instantly in a shrieking spectacle of screams, tears and sprays of blood. His sister attempted to run, to alert the authorities of a murder, and so Hans was forced to take her hostage to avoid the crime being discovered. This worked for a few days, but eventually he decided to let her go and ended up on the run.

Weeks later, Hans joined up with a mercenary band and began his new life. It was hard at first, between actively searching for war and trying to gain the respect of the fellow men and their Captain. At fifty men strong, they were quite a sizeable force for a nationless band and found themselves happily accepting various contracts. As the years went by, Hans began to develop his skills of soldiery while trying to consolidate his growing relationship with his Captain's younger sister, whom had travelled with them since she was a young woman. Adelina was her name, and he truly loved, and she him. Her brother, however, would never allow a union of marriage and so they entered what was essentially a secret affair.

It was never destined to last, for in a scene that ironically mirrored him discovering his own sister, the Captain came upon an intimate moment shared between them and a rage ensued that almost lost Hans his life. He managed to escape, but the Captain had ordered his death, and the entire company turned west to chase him down.

With no other option, Hans fled westward into northern France, slowly gaining mileage over a much larger beast with a much larger stomach. While he could survive on rabbits and berries, they could not - and their speed showed it. The black death ended up saving his life, for it killed his pursuers. All of them, as far as he was aware - including his beloved Adelina.

Now, wielding a war-axe made for use in a single hand and only the unarmoured clothes on his back, he happens to wander towards the village of Gascony three short months after the loss of his comrades.