An unwanted child at birth, Rhan was orphaned at a very young age. Her real parents are unknown, as are the reasons for her being discarded, although it was not uncommon for parents to discard children they could not raise in the slums. Rhan was rather fortunate, however (or unfortunate, depending on how you look at it), as she was taken in by an opportunistic couple who took in young kids to be brought up as thieves and thugs. Rhan was brought up as the later, for it did not take long for it to become apparent that she was a brute. By the age of seven, she was getting the better of kids nearly twice her age in fights. In her teens, her adoptive parents used her as muscle to help them extort other criminals in the slums. However, her fiery temper was a serious cause for concern. Rhan was not happy being controlled the way she was and, after a very heated confrontation with her adoptive parents, her fire magic flew wildly out of control. Her family home, and several of the surrounding homes, were decimated in the explosion. There were several deaths, including that of her adoptive parents and some of her adoptive siblings, and many more casualties. Rhan was seriously hurt as well, having collapsed the building on top of herself. But she managed to dig her way out and flee the scene.

She spent the rest of her teenage years trying to hone her newfound ability, or at least keep it under control. These were the dark years of her life, where she had to steal and scavenge just to survive. In her late teens, she got involved with the underground fighting scene. Bare-knuckle boxing, mixed martial arts. She had a knack for winning in hand-to-hand fights and this garnered the attention of the rich people who placed bets on these fights. She managed to save enough money to buy her way out of the slums, settling for a modest apartment in the Outer City. She changed career altogether, from being a fighter to being a bounty hunter. She felt it was a more fulfilling and legitimate way to earn a living, taking down wanted criminals, tracking down bail jumpers. Life seemed to be looking up for Rhan.