Rondo was born on the marches of Furyondy near the frontier with the Horned Society. His birth was irregular – born to a reclusive widow living at the outskirts of his rural village several months after the village was raided. Whether the raiders were bandits or “soldiers” of the neighbouring hostile nation is unclear but whispered rumours suggest they weren't all human.
Whatever the truth of his birth may be, Rondo was born with heavy features and found little acceptance amongst his peers. Referred to by less charitable adults as 'the witch's brat' or 'the swamp bastard', and by children as far worse, Rondo now has no tolerance for names or personal insults. Strangely, he is happy to respond to 'Rondo the Ugly' or just 'Ugly', considering it no more than the truth, by those he knows.
Rondo learned to fight at a young age as an alternative to routine beatings, becoming adept at using his superior skill and agility to wrestle his opponents to the ground and subdue them. As a result the beatings became more common and more violent, sometimes involving most of the village boys wielding sticks and threshing tools. If not for his ability to twist and roll his body to absorb the blows and a natural resilience to such damage, Rondo could well have died from these attentions before his tenth birthday.
Ever since he could remember Rondo was a loner, spending much time roaming the nearby swamps alone - finding it peaceful, particularly at night, in which he could see almost as well as during the day. He amused himself by stalking imagined enemies and striking them down with mortal blows, ducking weaving and diving to avoid imagined attacks. He would crawl into narrow spaces and emerge silently to surprise a passing buck or fox. At maybe eight years of age, Rondo started to receive the attentions of the younger teenage boys and he was mercilessly treated, having to learn at least to defend himself one on one.
At this time a caring observer may have been disturbed by certain changes in Rondo's behaviour - rarely seen during the day and creeping about at night. After finding an old warhammer and dagger on a corpse in the swamp one night, his private games more often involved the imagined stalking and killing of some of the older village boys with these weapons. As time went on Rondo would creep around the village at night, hiding behind a woodpile or squeezed between hay bales in pursuit of his foes. Thankfully, he was rarely observed and never caught with a weapon in his hands and he left them concealed away in the swamp during the day. In any event no such "caring observer" existed to draw his actions into question.
Though he always found the feel and balance of the dagger more natural, he found the truly martial nature of the warhammer compelling. He began practicing imagined combats with opponents, considering how best to use the weight and feel of the warhammer to deal with moves his opponents may make. As a result, even after years of training and employment in soldiery, Rondo still feels an affinity for, and instinctual comfort with, the warhammer as a weapon.
At 12 Rondo's mother died. Shortly afterwards, following an incident where the growing boy broke the arm of one of his tormentors, Rondo was driven from the village. Wandering a few days from the village he fell in with a loose society of outcasts and degenerates eking out an existence on the edge of civilisation. Here life was truly brutal and over the next few years, Rondo learned the difference between the harshness of the village and other humans at the edge of the wilderness and the perverted pleasure in violence and cruelty of the goblinoid scum in the swamps.
At 15 he left the swamps, joining an irregular garrison unit for Furyondy. Demonstrating unusual skill and bravery, he ultimately fell into a billet in the auxiliary light lancers and found acceptance with men for whom his appearance was less important than his loyalty, skills at arms and physical prowess in inter unit contests.
Some years later, disillusioned at more often being used to ride down poorly armed peasant 'criminals' than engaging enemy regulars, and following a disastrous ambush which saw most of his friends killed, Rondo left the military to strike out on his own.
Rondo at 22 is a veteran, having hired on as a guard, a mercenary and privateer and seen combat many times. His associates respect him and his cool, emotionally detached approach to combat and dealing with his enemies. Many have seen first hand his efficiency at infiltrating and exposing an enemy camp in the small, precise wounds evident on the dead guards. Far removed from his childhood, however, Rondo will laugh, drink and compete with his companions, though close mouthed with those he doesn't know well.
Rondo was in Hardby looking to hire out his sword when the independent ship Mandragora was taking on crew. The captain had just accepted a commission from the free city of Safeton to patrol the local waters and protect the city and nearby coastal villages from raiders. The captain had a stout crew but needed more heavily armed mercenaries to boost his fighting capability on land. Rondo was one of half a dozen mercenaries who signed up. The Mandragora also took on three passengers and set sail for Safeton.
During the brief voyage each mercenary was assigned a crew member to 'show them the ropes'. Rondo's mentor was Edgaar, a capable sailor originally from the Barbarian Kingdoms in the cold North. Rondo and Edgaar quickly became friends. Edgaar recognized one of the passengers, Saab, as a native of his homeland and spoke with him. Through Edgaar Rondo learned that the three passengers were travelling together. Two of them, Saab and Tellius, had journeyed from the Barbarian Kingdoms in search of a legendary sword to defeat a dragon menacing that kingdom. The third passenger, Lucien, joined them in the Greyhawk city and was searching for his father. The two quests were somehow related and takes them to Safeton.
Once the Mandragora docked at Safeton the crew were left to their own devices for a few days while the captain met with the leaders of the city. Rondo and Edgaar spent the days and evenings with the three travelers as they searched for information. Edgaar was concerned about the situation in his homeland and eager to help in the quest for the sword. Rondo tagged along as Edgaar was the closest thing he had right now to a friend and had nothing better to do. Saab, Tellius and Lucien had lodgings at an inn. Rondo and Edgaar slept on the ship.
The third night in Safeton the Mandragora caught fire under mysterious circumstances. The crew managed to save most of their possessions but could not contain the blaze. The ship burned to the waterline. Rondo and Edgaar stored their rescued gear in the rooms of the travelers and crashed there for the night.
The next morning the devastated captain canceled all mercenary contracts and disbanded the crew. That day Lucien discovered information pointing to small fishing village half a days walk south of the city. That night the group stayed at the inn and after some discussion it was decided that Rondo and Edgaar would join the others in their quest. Just after daybreak the next morning the group goes to the market square to purchase a pack mule and supplies before heading to the village.
Rondo has powerful arms and shoulders, heavy facial bones (brow, cheeks and chin), deep set, squinty eyes and scowling mouth. His is generally considered short, unimpressive and unappealing - even ugly.