Mathis Brand was born in a small village on the outskirts of the Archduchy of Alba, not far from the township of Elizabeth. His father, Willem, was a miller - not a serf, but not truly free either. He ground grain for nobles, paid his rent, paid his tithe, and asked no questions. Until one day he did. An imperial tax collector came through the village, and Willem quietly questioned why the rate had gone uo. Days later, the mill was sealed. He died two winters after, sick and without work. Mathis was twelve. His mother, Eska, kept them alive through needlework and mending. It was from here that Mathis learned his trade. Stitching leather, repairing boots and saddles, fixing what others had worn through. At seventeen he left, not out of ambition, but because staying felt like waiting for the same fate. He has been wandering the roads of the Empire since, taking work where he finds it, trusting few, and keeping his head down.
