Acteon was born into a prominent merchant family from the Allirian Reach. They had lands and properties scattered all over that dealt in goods ranging from wheat and rye to iron mining to shipping. While not being of the Merchant Lord level of merchant families, the Cass were known and respected throughout the region. It was because of this prominence that Acteon found himself as a child being trained and educated to take over as his father's heir to the family business. This special treatment and constant repeating of how much effort was being put into him caused him to develop an arrogant and self absorbed attitude. Much trouble with tutors and staff was caused and only seemed to get worse from Acteon for his father as he got older.

When Acteon was a teen and nearly of age, he had finally reached the peak of his worst behaviors. While a potential new business partner that his father had been working for years to gain was over to sign an official contract of partnership, Acteon insulted and embarrassed the man. This infuriated the potential partner and years of work faded forever. They burnt the contract with a candle then left immediately never to respond to a single letter of apology Acteon's father sent. This was the final straw for Acteon's father. He banished his son from their house and told him not to return until he could prove he had lost his arrogance and gained enough wealth to replace the lost business partner.

Acteon found himself with only the supplies and items he would need to travel and enough coins to see his stay in a commoner inn for a month. The young man wandered around not sure what to do with himself. He had never had to take care of himself so personally a day in his life. It was a hard transition as he found his talents were desired at first but his attitude always saw him jobless within weeks. He bounced around from job to job ranging from scribe work to labor to even being a discount minstrel in hard luck taverns. He was barely scrapping by and simply lashed out in anger as his arrogance remained.

Things changed for Acteon after a few years when he got into some trouble after stealing some food while in a harder spot. He was given two choices at that time: death or conscription. He chose to be conscripted into the Allirian guard. It was his time in the guard that he finally had that arrogance beaten out of him. He was angry at first but the routine and lack of worry on where his next meal quickly tempered it. He also learned that he could potentially work his way up from this position. The guard was as good of a place to make connections as the merchant quarters were.


A few battles between merchant lords broke out over the years Acteon spent in the guard. He had worked his way up from a conscript into the lower officer ranks and made a decent bit of savings from the occasional looting and not terrible wages. Things were looking up for Acteon for once and his head began to swell a bit at the prospect of returning to his father with rank, wealth, and a better reputation. But that all changed when some mysterious deaths began to occur in the region he was garrisoned at. Some beast was slaughtering cattle, sheep, and farmers alike indiscriminately. Hunters were sent and a bounty eventually issued. None of them returned. So with the risk and danger having grown out of control Acteon found himself part of those sent to deal with the issue.

What Acteon and his fellow guards found was not what they expected. An entire town and the surrounding farms had been either slaughtered or abandoned by this point because of this beast and travelers actively gave it a wide birth. What was once a sleepy little agricultural stop had become a blood drenched ruin. They followed what signs they could find of the beast, but whatever it was had hidden it's tracks well. Night was upon them so the guard settled down in the abandoned town for the night. Acteon was awoken from his sleep in the night by screams. He grabbed his sword and spear and rushed out to meet the threat. What he and the others found was those on watch slaughtered. It was a sight not even war had prepared them for in the sheer brutality given to the corpses. Bits and pieces of guts and flesh were scattered all over. Armor had simply been peeled open like a iron sacks. It was horrifying, but not as horrifying as what came next.

Out on the edge of the light a shadow stalked before the guard. It was hard to make out what it was but it was clearly larger than any man. The commander yelled for those with bows to take aim. This caused seemingly glowing golden eyes to be directed at the guards. A silence that felt like minute but was simply a second past for Acteon. Then it was broken by sudden growls either side behind the guard. It was not one beast but three that had slaughtered the watch and they were now next. The first beast was already leapt upon one of the first guards before anyone could turn to look. The second was not long after. Claws and teeth ripped through iron like cloth, sending those within to brutally quick deaths. The beast from the edge of the light rushed them down in the chaos and pounced the commander, snapping his neck and removing his head from shoulders. It gave Acteon his first clear look at the beasts.... He was face to face with legends. He was face to face with werewolves.

Everything that followed was a blur. Acteon remembers frantic orders leaving everyone's lips, including his own, as the chain of command quickly descended. Eventually he heard a voice, perhaps his own or perhaps another's, simply say "survive." The guard was mercilessly torn apart, but it was not without effect. Spears and blades found their ways into the beast's bodies. Eventually one of the wolves fell dead. This only made the remaining two more furious and the guards more frantic to survive. Any who tried to run was targeted and slowly it came down to Acteon and two others that was all who were left. All of them had been clawed up and bruised. But a second wolf was slain as it pounced one of them. The victim did not survive but at least their death had not gone unavenged. The last took Acteon's sole companion when they were distracted and he heard a short yet cut off scream from the darkness. He was all alone now. The last beast's breathing was as labored as Acteon's as it circled him in the darkness all too close within the fire light. It pounced him and he braced with his spear before him. The tip sunk in but then the shaft broke. It was on top of him as he desperately thrust his sword tip in and out of the beast's belly. It bite his shoulder and he felt teeth sink through his armor into his flesh. But it was the end. The beast had made that final attack and while heavily wounded Acteon survived.

Acteon barely made it to the nearest town and was treated for his wounds. It was from here that Acteon sent both his report and his resignation from the guard in letters back to his garrison. He never did mention the bite to his superiors. He knew what it meant but a bigger part of him was in denial tossing it up to simple legend. The newly jobless Acteon roamed around for a time selling out his skills as a sellsword until his first full moon arose. Something deep down had told him to get away from others. He followed this instinct and when the night of the full moon happened he turned for the first time. He found himself less of a bloodthirsty beast and more of a less controlled version of his inner beast. He ran, he hunted, and he began to enjoy this controlled lack of control. But the day after he came to find his original form had changed. It was distressing for him and he spent some time away from others as he came to learn more about this new condition.

Eventually Acteon went near others more and more again. It was at this time he heard a rumor that his family's land and properties had been stripped and sold by one of the merchant lords. Concerned he hurried home to discover the truth. It all was true. His family home held some unknown merchant with a massive gut and his father was living in the slums. He took his father and found him a better, safer place to live in Alliria. Acteon's savings were now no longer his own as he handed them over to his father to live off of. Acteon vowed after that he would find a way to take back what his family had lost. He would take back what was his by birth.