Zandros

Zandros was born into a Horse-breeding clan in the southern Crowncrests, who rarely ventured down to the Isilet Ranges. Barely important enough to gain membership to the Common League, the clans had looked to share "stock" and strengthen their bloodlines. His mother passed in childbirth, and his father was a cruel drunk, caring only for his own coin purse; ultimately, after a childhood of beatings and sleeping in the stables, Zandros got his revenge by poisoning his father and slitting his throat, claiming his wagon and horses for himself.

He traveled the Balinok Mountains, following the Old Svalich Road until he came across the Vistani Camp south of Vallaki in the Zarovich Valley. Over years, he was adopted into becoming Vistani himself after ingratiating himself to the travelers. He had arrived at a time of incredible political tumult in the region: the Count Strahd von Zarovich looked to take over the entire valley as his own, consolidating all the noble houses under his banner, and approached the Vistani to assist him. Zandros was immediately taken with Strahd's intellect, charm, and force of will, and the young man fell in love with the would-be conqueror; he spent years campaigning to the many families of the valley to join the Count's cause. Those who opposed him had a tendency to "disappear", giving the Fighter a fearsome reputation.

Most of the Vistani agreed to assist Strahd, but some resisted. Strahd brutalized the Elven stewards of the region and forced the Vistani to look after them. The Vistana Captain Velikov, was particularly incensed by this genocide, and advocated for a reaction from the Vistani. Zandros killed him in a disagreement, an act which was noticed by the Count. Strahd named Zandros as "Captain" of the camp despite being an outsider, and when his own parents were killed by the Order of the Silver Dragon, he tasked Zandros with a life-changing mission. Strahd's Dragon Slayer longsword, an heirloom he had kept to defeat Argynvost, had been taken during the raid on the Village of Barovia.

Captain Zandros was ordered to retrieve the Dragon Slayer, and to do so, he had to infiltrate the grounds of Argynvostholt and find their Teleportation Circle. With a small but skilled cadre of knights bearing the Mark of Strahd, he found the circle in the stables, and was teleported to the far-off Silver Dragon's Hideout. Inside the barely-manned fort, he slaughtered the few remaining inside, and now only had to find Strahd's precious sword.

Their moment of great victory, however, was cut short by an unfortunate happenstance: a Tomb Tapper had eaten through the rock in search of magic items, and invaded the hideout's grounds at the same time. Unable to overcome such a creature, Zandros was forced to flee into a different teleportation circle as his men were devoured. The circle took him  to an underground tunnel in Emblem, far away from the mountains he had spent his life in. 

Penniless and estranged by both the slums of the city and customs of this strange land, Zandros' hunger and anger got the better of him. He beat a drunkard to death in an alleyway for a handful of silver and was immediately set upon by the well-armored capital guards. He spent the next five years in a dark prison cell, and his mental health deteriorated: he began receiving visions of a dark, shadowy Strahd, beckoning Zandros to return with the relic and with "offerings" to slaughter. By the time his sentence was over, Zandros was more sociopathic and conniving than he had ever been. 

He sought to find his way home, but learned that the area that once was the Zarovich Valley had been covered by the plane-altering Sea of Clouds. His search for the underground tunnel with the teleportation circle proved fruitless, but as he asked around in taverns and criminal establishments, he finally came upon a remnant of the Order. Marcus Cromwell, a Human of similar age claiming to be the last Knight of the Silver Dragon.

Zandros befriended the man, and convinced them to become adventuring partners, heading east to look for opportunity. Over time, Zandros tried to get as much information as possible about about the doomed Order, but realized that Marcus had only been a new initiate when the Order fell. He knew nothing about the details of the tunnel or the Hideout, as the voice of Argynvost hadn't been heard in Commona for years. Frustrated, Zandros killed Marcus for his armor and gold, then assumed his name and backstory.

The fighter's fortunes changed when wandered to the city of Khazalet. "Marcus" learned of the Ruckus Ring, where all he had to do was win fights to live. He quickly defeated the crowd favorite Xuk Smashmouth, and, at the behest of the Ringmaster Hakra-Shoku Brickbasher, became the new face of the Ring. He was assigned his own personal armorer, Tobias Villie Broadnose Cogsmith, as well as a healer in Ajuni Elajoral. Zandros saw great potential for these two to become "offerings" for Strahd, so kept up the charade and continued to act as Marcus; by trade, the two were natural thieves, and they began running schemes to make money in and out of the ring.

With the help of an able crew, Marcus' rise was meteoric. Tobias etched the insignia of a boar's head onto his pauldron once he could afford full plate mail, which lead to Marcus becoming known as "the Boar." When a series of objectionable wins revealed what a dirty fighter he was, however, he became known as "the Swine," and played up his heel-like performances. This only led to further fights and bets, and Marcus won them all, earning enough to buy Mithral for Tobias to mold into armor and further cement himself as king of the Ring.

Despite gaining gold and power, however, Zandros never stopped looking for leads on the Sea of Clouds, or mention of his former lord.