Tristan's Mercenaries. These ten grogs are the mercenary soldiers who work for Tristan the Gifted: Generic Template (x10)
Tristan's parents were an inconspicuous couple in a well-to-do family, except that secretly they practiced the arts of dark magic and diabolicism. Tristan doesn't recall what these rituals involved, and only has recurring nightmares to link him to this life of his parents.
His parents both died in a gruesome accident when he was 5. The exact details were repressed by the rest of his family.. as for whether it was suicide, the occult, or something completely different. Though his family tried to keep the news repressed, rumors of various sorts spread (some even more fantastic than what possibly could have happened).
Tristan went to live with his uncle's family. His uncle was very religious and devout, and while Tristan was already conspicuously well versed in religious dogma, he was unrepentant and openly atheist. Along with his awkward behavior and preternatural reactions, this was reason to suspect that he was possessed by a demon.
The next few years he spent being moved from church to church, all unable to help him. Desperate, his uncle finally turned him over to a covenant, as a last resort.
The covenant immediately realized that he wasn't possessed, and was hopeful that he had The Gift. He began with the basics in education but no faculties for magic seemed to develop. It was suspected that he might have a mental block in expressing himself fully, so that even when his training as a magi was abandon, it was seen as a disappointment and a failure to try hard enough on his part.
The covenant was the only home he had, unwelcome by his family and too young to strike out on his own. He served as a lab assistant for a wizard Mandib who specialized in the darker arts, and also assisted other grogs with sentry duty, etc. He developed exceptional combat skills and good leadership skills, and soon became a favorite errand boy for leading small expeditions investigating certain phenomena.
Grown to an adult, his defined role became body-guarding or assisting magi with the team of mercenaries he had put together. Mercenaries came and mercenaries went, but the tales of some of their exploits became quite famous, outside of the covenant too.
Maturing in his new role and purposiveness, he became more comfortable and confident with himself (some would say too confident...). Along with his confidence Mandib noticed a strengthening of his aura. What had only seemed an undefinable eerie presence now actually manifested itself more concretely, at first with Tristan's capabilities for premonitions becoming more obvious, but then with the blatant event of Tristan seeing his first ghost.
The path of these developments is unclear, but Mandib pulled some strings to have Tristan assigned to the new Spring Covenant Cearl is attached with. It is thought that perhaps Cearl will be able to probe Tristan's mind to unlock some of his memories.. and also that in playing a role with the establishment of the covenant, Tristan will gain more confidence and have an opportunity for his capacities to develop.