Orphaned and deemed too slow-witted to become a warrior or cleric, Arbias spent his entire youth sweeping the halls of the Arx Lucis. Tomas, the future High Questorian, recruited Arbias into his personal service, molding him into a fighter and informant. Throughout Tomas’s rise, Arbias was ever at his heels.

Later, Arbias would join Tomas’s cadre of expurgators for the excision of Void-corrupted Order personnel. Jealous, Arbias did not trust his fellow “Salamanders”. Justifying his suspicion as being in the interest of his master’s and the Order’s safety, he began to keep tabs on the other Salamanders.

It was weeks before he managed to slip in unseen and follow one of them deep below the Arx Lucis. He watched as the Salamander whispered blasphemous words to a locked door. Runes inscribed upon the lock glowed purple… Void sorcery! With a cry of triumph, Arbias ambushed and killed his comrade, just as the door opened.

In the chamber beyond, a young girl sat meditating. Behind her stood a kind of upright sarcophagus. She beheld Arbias, bloody blade in hand. A scream made him clutch his head in pain, though her mouth had not opened, and searing radiance filled his vision.

He awoke imprisoned by Salamanders. His eyes seemed unharmed. More, they possessed new sight, for he could see, to his horror, that all of the Salamanders, including himself, were Tainted! With desperation’s strength, Arbias broke free and fled.

Void Hunters found him, wounded from encounters with the Salamanders, who had hunted Arbias since his escape. The masks he claimed hung from his girdle and he had tied a rosary around his eyes. Raving, Arbias begged for help in saving his master from secret Void monsters. He was clearly mad, but most Hunters are a little mad and many are Tainted. Anyone who could take down four Salamanders was welcome.