All her life Dierra believed she was born and raised in Dale, a member of a loving family. The family always had enough to eat, with a fine roof over their heads. The eldest of four children, the rest all boys and a girl being thought no less an equal, something she herself would not accept, she had a rather happy childhood. When she was of age, she followed in her father's footsteps and joined the guard, her father having taught her the use of weapons from age seven.

This all changed when Dierra's father took part in a raid against an organised band of brigands in Dale. While the brigands were for the most part caught and sent to justice, this was at the cost of several guards being injured, some mortally, one of which was Dierra's father. Brought home to die, he asked for Dierra to come to him. Her mother was clearly against whatever her father had to tell her, but he silenced the woman, saying it was more than time Dierra knew the truth. Then, with her mother weeping at the bedside, he told her that she was not their daughter by blood. It was obvious he was in pain as he asked her mother to open the box of family treasures kept under their bed and take out a large gold brooch. This he handed to her and told her that this was her past. If she could find the story behind the brooch, she would find her blood relatives and her true heritage. Feeling that he was near his end, he called for the rest of the family to enter and died with them around him.

Being quite shocked by this completely unexpected turn of events, Dierra took some time off duty to recover from the loss of her father and to think about what had been revealed to her. After several days, she went to the library in Dale to look for answers. There, after much searching, she found an obscure reference to a book that might have more information. Unfortunately, this book was kept at the Scholar's Archives in Breetown, many, many miles away. After much inner contemplation, she resigned her position in the guard, packed her things and took leave of her family.