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Following the death of his parents, Vandal inherited their modest wealth and then proceeded to dispose of it in the pursuit of his vices. Namely, gambling, liquor, and women. Despite his best efforts this hedonistic lifestyle did not bankrupt young Vandal as many thought it would. Through nothing but sheer luck (though many assumed that other, more nefarious forces were at work) he was able to stay just a few steps ahead of his debts and actually managed to live comfortably for a time.

All this was to change when he caught the eye of wealthy socialite widow Rosaline Artega. Well known for her own hedonistic ways the two quickly joined into a passionate and very public affair. Vandal and Rosaline seemed to fuel each other’s wilder temperaments, each driving the other to greater and more base acts of depravity. This earned them quite a scandalous reputation, even among their contemporaries. It also earned Vandal the ire of the widow Rosaline Artega’s brother, Lord Haxyn Artega. After a particularly wild night Lord Haxyn burst into the bedchamber where Vandal and Rosaline slept. There, he challenged Vandal to a duel.

Publicly Lord Haxyn made it known that is was for besmirching his sister’s character that he had challenged young Vandal. Privately, Haxyn was worried that Vandal and his sister were plotting his death so that they could claim the vast Artega fortune for their own.

A veteren of many military campaign, Lord Haxyn was renowned throughout the land as a master of the blade. Vandal on the other hand, while not an unskilled swordsman, preferred to let his gold settle differences for him. Gold would not buy his skin this time though. Haxyn was out for blood and Vandal knew that he would have to face the vengeful Lord or suffer banishment.

And so, on a grey morning, the two men met on a field near the Church of St Augustus the Purifier. The duel was about to commence.