Cahlan's mother was a slave named Elina, taken back to the lands of Stahl from the western kingdoms by his father, the war-chieftain Kragaan of the Blood Eagle clan. When the boy was born she took him to the spirit-speaker to divine his future, and the runestones were cast. All five came up with the rune of the blade, an ominous augury that the child would not only be a warrior, but live in an age of war.

Normally, the child of a slave would also be a slave, no matter the other parent, but Kragaan was vain, and saw enough of himself in young Cahlan that he took and interest in the boy. Cahlan was given the opportunities as other youths of the clan; taught to fight, to hunt, to forge weapons, though the other boys never ceased teasing and bullying him for being a slave-born. From his mother he learned the few scraps of her language she was able to secretly teach (Kragaan forbade his slaves to speak their old tongues), and something of history, of ways of life beyond the harsh wilds of the clans.

Despite Kragaan's relative generosity to Cahlan, he grew up hating the man for his violence, ignorance and brutality towards his mother, and everyone else. In his sixteenth year, the day after his mother  had passed from the frost-sickness, he did something unthinkable: he challenged the war-chieftain to a duel for rulership of the clan. It was a long and savage battle, lasting from dawn until well after dusk, leaving both men battered and bloody. But at last Cahlan's stamina, skill and drive proved the greater, and he ran his father through from armpit to armpit. Annointed in the old war-chief's blood, Cahlan was acclaimed as their new leader, and granted the ceremonial markings of manhood and full membership in the Blood Eagle clan.

Cahlan did not rest long on the laurels of chieftainship. He built a cairn with his own hands to honour his mother, and began planning how to deal with the other clans that were looking at the Blood Eagles and their half-caste, young chief with aggressive eyes. By the time he was eighteen Cahlan had out-manoeuvred and defeated the Ghost Bears, the Iron Boars, the Smoke Wolves, the Sun Serpents and a dozen minor clans pledged to them. He was a born strategist, cunning and relentless in seizing what he wanted, firm and foresighted in defending what was his. The other clans of Stahl began flocking to the red eagle banner, and soon they were no mere rabble of savages: they were an army.

They roared out of the mountains and steppes of the east, conquering Talinia, Ruzhenda, Ulland and more. City after city, kingdom after kingdom fell under Cahlan's sway as they years went on and the battles stretched out. At last, only one remained untaken: Lothengard, and it did not stand a chance against his experienced warriors, well-honed tactics and determined vision of conquest.

Cahlan strongly resembles his father and their people. He stands over six feet tall, with a dark and sun-bunished skin and long brown hair, tied into a braid in battle but left free around his shoulders otherwise. Dark brown eyes glint below a deep, brooding brow, and his features show some hints of his mother's Lothengard origins, in the straightness of his nose and angle of his cheekbones. His body is a weapon, perfected by war; all lean muscle, powerful but not sacrificing speed and agility for bulk. Numerous scars gash his flesh, notably one down his sternum, and several on his left arm where his shield deflected blows that slid up and cut his shoulder. His back is dominated by a Blood Eagle tattoo, a huge crimson bird of prey with its talons reaching down below the waist of his trousers and wings spread so far their feather-tips are visible stretched around his shoulders.