The second surviving son of Lord Hektar, Gektar was born in the summer of 1372 in Outer Bohemia. His people are nomadic raiders and warriors existing almost outside of time and ignorant of the developments happening in the nearby regions; they observe strange, unchanging tribal traditions and thrive on the spoils of conquest as they travel by oxen from town to town.

In 1388, Hektar gave a recently captured boy named Heinrich to Gektar as a sweet sixteen present (feeling the boy was finally mature enough to have a slave of his own). Gektar was ecstatic and promised to take good care of his new possession.

At the age of twenty-five, Gektar set out from his people (with a few precious objects on the back of his slave) in search of a way to make a name for himself. His elder brother and heir to the tribe's leadership, Fektar, convinced Gektar to leave to avoid the potential conflict with his brother should succession become an issue. Thoughts of adventure and fear of facing his elder brother in combat were enough to spur the barbarian onward.

In early summer of the year 1400, Gektar arrived in Paris. So impressing the king, he was prompty made Captain of the Guard (that had been vacated after a suspicious, but uninvestigated, death). It was there Gektar's life took another path.