Curtis was raised in a thick forest by a cruel father. His mother died when he was too young to remember. His father had been banished from his home city when he was a young man. he blamed his brother for this and vowed to kill him as revenge. Before Curtis was born his father had murdered his brother and sister in-law and was searching to find and kill their son. When Curtis was thirteen his cousin appeared and, in a sword fight, caused Curtis’ father to fall into a fire bit and burn to death. Curtis was grieved but not for long because he and his father were never very close. His father had beaten Curtis often and now he was free of him. He wandered around for some years making a fair living for himself. One day he did some service to his king that he thought of little importance but the king was very impressed with. He found himself in the castle serving the king. He eventually became a knight.