Arden was born in a small village within the Holy Orenian Empire, while he was a boy his family farmed beyond a larger town until the birth of his sister Melina when he was 4. Once his father began to establish himself as cobbler the family then moved into the town with Arden both helping his father as he could, along with picking up odd jobs around town bring in some coin. Arden was always dazzled by the steel of the simple town guard, despite their breastplates and mail being relics of the War of the Two Emperors, while serving as a cobbler would have been a good profession Arden decided he would serve as a guard. Beginning his training with a simple wooden sword and learning the rudiments of swordsmanship under the tutelage of some younger guards and older boys within the town, once he reached the age of 16 Arden did become a guard for the town and served for four years. His relationship with his sister was a good one, while she was younger the two were good friends, occasionally teasing each other but genuinely enjoying each other's company. After three years of service the mayor of the town decided that he would prefer to bring strange men in to protect the town, these mercenaries seemed to have no real discipline starting to demand things from the townspeople such as drink. After a year of their being in power over the town the mercenaries began to demand women's jewelry for addition to their pay, with any who would resist being clubbed by the vicious men. Melina's sole accessory was a necklace which she inherited from their mother, her father having held it until she was at an age where she could appreciate the piece, naturally both refused to submit to the new guards' demands, leading to Arden being clubbed and Melina's arrest. When Arden came to a few days later he was informed that his sister had been accused of witchcraft, and was sentenced to be burned at the stake, despite her protests of innocence she burned. After his sister's burning something broke inside of Arden, while he did not give in to grief he was bitter at the abuse of power which had led to the death of his sister, following that he left his small town, resolving to gain skill and strength to return to his hometown and drive out these 'men of honor'.
