Channa was a soldier during the Last War, fighting for Breland. She primarily fought on the Eastern front, against Cyre and Thrane. She leads a cell of the Swords of Liberty under the epithet 'The Dire Wolf'.
In 982 YK, she was captured by a force of Valenar mercenaries working for Cyre. They killed most of her squad, but felt that she fought hard enough that she had honoured her ancestors, in as much as a human could have honoured ancestors. They kept her a prisoner for some time, but allowed her to spar with their own soldiers. Eventually, when an opportunity presented itself, she escaped and made her way back home through a hostile Cyre, with a pair of stolen Valenar Kukri.
She spent much of her time while imprisoned becoming gradually more and more disenfranchised. Boranel was a hero to his people, but Channa couldn't get past the fact that no rescue had come for her. She'd had to make her own way back to a country, and a king, that didn't care whether she lived or died.
Some time after this, she joined the Swords of Liberty, and eventually worked her way up to managing their operations in Eastern Breland. She has a begrudging respect for the Cyran refugees, who have lost everything, just as she once lost everything.