Jim Fodder grew up in Haense with his mother caring for him. His father is a soldier, stationed at a castle at least a day of travelling away, thus he rarely comes home. Jim's past was uneventful. He mostly grew up on the streets, because the house was too small to do anything more than sleep in, and when he was old enough to work, his mother told him to work for his own dinner. Ever since then he did odd jobs like fueling the smiths' forges, pulling the merchants' carts, scrubbing the nobles' mansion floors and carrying the carpenters' roof tiles.
Jim never worked at the same place for more than 2 or 3 months, and over the years his nickname became fodder (meaning 'slave him and throw him in the gutter when he's done').
When he came of age, Jim received some basic combat training in the army. He soon left there, because he made some terrible deals with the local nobles and in change they bought him out.