*Sheffield, more commonly referred to as 'Sheff', resides in the Home Valley of Bronyr. Following an ambush led by the Great Betrayer against his Order and the Great Hero of his time, he and a number of the survivors of the attack were dispersed all across Kerys, and potentially beyond. Originally forming the group known as 'Altruistic Expeditionary Corps', or the AEC, in an attempt to rally other displaced members of his time-displaced men. Unfortunately, the group fractured following the sickness that is Hopelessness and Despair, leading many to brave the Wildlands and die a death from which there was no return. Sheff managed to find another surviving team of warriors from his time, rallying behind the banner of the Black on White Cross, naming themselves the "Crusaders". *

In Sheff's early life, he had grown up in a village, just on the outskirts of an abandoned Holdfast, the name attributed to the prior owners or the name of the keep long forgotten, even during the ascribed times. He had belonged to a long line of Carpenters and Woodworkers on his father's side, though his mother favored masonry and all the skills attributed to such structures. His family had set him on the path to be a decent, though not particularly groundbreaking, builder and designer of buildings and homes alike. Unfortunately, such a modest fate was torn away from him.

At the age of seventeen, he and three others, Alastor, Crawford, and Mary, went out foraging for Sweet Berries to make a pie for one of the younger children of their Village for their 10th nameday. They were alerted by the columns of smoke once they had entered a clearing not too far away from the village, which had been blocked by the trees just moments before. By the time the party of four returned to the village, every single man, woman, and child had been murdered or missing.

After two days in the destroyed village, looking for clues, survivors, and to grieve, the combined group made their way towards the abandoned Keep, simply to have something to do, and so they could plot their next course once they arrived. Once they had arrived, lighting as few light sources as possible, the group bickered over what they should do.

Alastor argued that there was no point in seeking out who had done the deed. There had been no signs of the attackers, and he concluded that they would die long before the group of 4 could put anyone to justice. Crawford made the stand that it was their duty as the sons and daughters of the village to fight on, to bring the band of brigands, for that was what they surely were, to justice, even if that was simply in the form of reporting them to the Governor of the lands they reside in. Mary remarked that they should seek out the killers themselves, and to 'repay the debt owed.' Mary had been the most drastic change in the group upon their arrival in the village. After burying her own younger twin sisters, a sort of anger and vengeance formed, of which only Sheff really seemed to side with. This was not to say that Alastor and Crawford were indifferent, but they saw the events from entirely different viewpoints, whether that was due to their upbringings and worldviews or because of something else entirely.

The group remained whole the following morning, heading towards the closest established town that they knew of. Few traveled to this region, claiming that the fauna and flora of their forest were warped in some way. The group knew no different, so they had no input in the matter.

Upon their arrival, they were met with a gut-twisting sight; the Frontier town before them was aflame. As was the stench of death.

The frontier town had stone walls and wooden palisades, as well as a seemingly sturdy main gate. 'Seemingly' being the term, as it was currently shattered open. The outlying town on the unprotected side of the walls was ravaged, a number of smallfolk and a less numerous count of guardsmen slaughtered on the stone road and the blood-stained grass. Alastor grimaced, known for his near-dead sense of smell, Crawford gagged, and even Mary seemed to replace her serious expression with one of barely hidden nausea. Sheff himself found himself barely better than Crawford, just hiding his own gags and marching forward.

Within the walls of the town, they found the first bit of evidence as to what they were facing.

The creature before them was something that the combined group could only consider to be grotesque. It had the fur and snout of a wolf, but the build of a man. The current posture the creature was in made it difficult to guess its full height, as it was currently kneeling with a spear in its chest, but he had to guess that the creature was at least somewhere over six feet tall, which would be towering over most of their group, save the lanky but tall Alastor.

Their trek through the city would bring them upon warriors of steel and tabards of various patterns, but the one that would always leave a mark on Sheff's soul was the one of Red and White.

The four would grow apart over the years. Sheff never learned what happened to Crawford, but Alastor ended up leaving the order to form a mercenary corps to earn gold during the campaign against the Demon Incursion. At some point, Alastor's "Soldiers without Banners" was destroyed in a devastating battle. Mary had been the only one that Sheff managed to stay in contact with, as they had served alongside one another in the 'Fellowship of followers of the Temple of Protennoia", serving within the Militant arm of the Temple, named the Templars.

Mary would lose her life during the event that would later be known as "Armozel's Folly".

Sheff himself would barely escape the ambush, the last of the numbered survivors being hit with an all-encompassing slash of light that he had thought to be the death of him.

He would awake from his "Banishment" standing under a clear sky, still in his iron armor and torn tabbard, in a land continents away from where he came from, not that he would know that. He took note of his surroundings, almost completely bare except for the pillar in front of him. He knew it to be an Ancient Stela, though in a much worse condition than he had ever seen one. Just beyond it he could see an old temple; this would be the center of the rebirth of his people.

His time in Bronyr had been a temporary respite, and he had been lucky enough to find fellow Crusaders lost in time during his stay in the Home Valley. They had been absorbed into the Church of Bronyr, an order that fought against the Lost Souls and forces of Evil in the Forsaken Forest. They had taken refuge in an old Chapel in the Forsaken Forest of Bronyr, though this respite was ended with a siege on their home.

They had lost their Chapel, leading to the collapse of the Church of Bronyr. The Crusaders In Exile splintered, with Sheffield finally claiming the mantle of Lord Commander of the Crusaders In Exile and leading his group to the lands of Dolavon.