Though it had been an arranged marriage, the tale of love between Feroz and Lacie had been a passionate one - both finding a surprising amount of things in common with each other that allowed them to forge a strong, never-failing bond in record time. It was no wonder that, not even a year after they got married, Lacie gave birth to a darling young boy. They both agreed to name Matthias.

Matthias' early life was a sheltered one - coddled by both of his parents, he turned out to be quite the spoiled brat, rambunctious and unruly. Neither parent truly disciplined him, and he somewhat bullied the surrounding children and his servants. Thankfully enough, he began to grow out of this personality trait when he was 11 or 12 years old, though he remained somewhat forceful and a little self centered all of his life. He was, after all, taught that he was better than the rest. And why would his parents lie?

He was 14 years old when war began anew between Plegia and Ylisse. At first, it hardly affected the boy - though he lived through the first war, it had hardly affected him. He was too young to remember it, and his parents did well to shield him from the more gruesome aspects of the holy war waged into Plegia. However, he was older now, more capable of understanding such news, and it wasn't long until he decided he wanted to join in the war efforts. His father was appalled. Having lost so many of his friends to the first war, he vetoed the thought without question, and it was only after plenty of prodding from Lacie that Feroz acquiesced with a gruff 'You can go to war, [i]after[/i] you learn how to use a lance and sword, boy.'

It was a smart move on Feroz's part, as much as it frustrated Matthias at the time. Risen were growing in number, growing stronger, acting smarter - and they tore at the edges of Ylisstol and at other towns, with a viciousness that was unhuman. The mysterious tactician leading the Shepards was a brilliant commander, losing only a few of their men, yet all the same the news of the loss of the Exalt came in like a slap to the face for Ylisstol. War was taxing and terrifying, and Feroz knew that well. However, as much as his father tried to warn him, Matthias barely listened. He was already set upon it, and he didn't let doubts deter him. This time in Matthias' life was most defined by that desire, and the frustration of not being able to fulfill it. Looking back on it, it was a silly fixation - and one that ended up eating up all of his time and attention, leaving none for anything else. And perhaps, just perhaps, if Matthias and his father weren't so wrapped up in arguing with each other and training, they could have avoided what came next.

One day, Matthias' mother went out to visit a close village. She knew that her husband and son were training, and was convinced it would be a short visit - she just wanted to check in on a friend and give them a birthday gift.

She didn't come back.

They never quite found her body. They found chewed up, mutilated remnants of men, women, and children - they found the village destroyed. They also found plenty of her personal belongings, but never her.

The experience ruined Feroz. He blamed himself for not stopping her, especially in such dangerous times. The war may have been wrapping up in Plegia, but Risen were still a threat to daily Ylissean lives, and he should have forseen it. So concerned about his son's life, he never thought to be concerned about her - he had simply assumed she would be a constant within his life.

Matthias, on the other hand, settled first into a state of denial, and then into depression as the realization sunk in. He had honestly adored his mother - general teenaged frustrations with parents aside. He had no idea how to cope with such a thing - and so he didn't, trying first to simply cover up and disengage from his emotions. Not helping matters was how his father began to treat him - with an almost uncharacteristic harshness, as if Feroz blamed him for his wife's death. And maybe on some level he did - it only worsened the relationship between father and son, already strained by the issue of going to war.

As cruel as it was, though, life went on. Matthias continued to train, nursing a deep hatred towards Risen. He was around 16 when war began anew - a threat from overseas, and then from Plegia. Matthias once more had pressing obligations (his father) that kept him from joining the war against Grima, though he did join the Ylissean guard, managing to keep back the Risen and hopefully avoid another tragedy like his mother. Furthermore, it kept him away from his father, who simply couldn't move on, even after several years. It was perhaps at this time that Matthias began to realize that the Risen were controlled by someone, and not just anyone - they were controlled by Plegians. He had just turned 17 when the Fell Dragon plunged into the sea, taking with them the current noble family, and all of their allies.

It was a dark time for Ylisse. They won over the fell dragon, but at a terrible cost. The nobles began their infighting. It wasn't long afterwards that Feroz died under mysterious circumstances - the leading rumor was that his own son was the murderer. However, Matthias was extremely tight lipped about it, even rebuffing those that dared ask - and, quite frankly, Ylisse had far more to worry about (practically in the throes of civil war) than to investigate the death of one measly noble. By now, Matthias had a goal in mind - after sorting out the final things to do with his inheritance, he set his sights on the position of Steward.

It was simple, really. The majority of the lords were focused on the title of Exalt, not the title of Steward. With the freedom to act on his own and do whatever he wanted with his father's assets, he bribed some and had others assassinated, even doing some of the dirty work himself. It was a long process, decades of work. Matthias wasn't willing to rush things. In the meantime, he married a young woman - named Gracelia, and had several children with her. However, it hadn't been 3 years before she grew thoroughly sick of him. He was not a loving father, nor a loving husband, and he simply treated her like an asset. Because she was.

She disappeared shortly before Matthias became Steward - taking all of the children with her. He covered up the split with a terrible story about how the Risen likely got them - after all, he could simply say that he had personal experience with losing people to Risen already, and nobody would want to bring it up.

And finally, with the position of Steward acquired, he could work on his real goal. By day, he would be the same diligent, hardworking, disciplined and humorless Matthias that everyone knew and tolerated, and by night he would fund bandits to attack, to spread fear, and to instigate war. He was going to wipe Plegia off of the face of the map - both to reunite Ylisse against a common enemy and to remove all fear of Grima ever rising again. The Knights of Cydonia, the warring lords, lowly bandits, even the plegians themselves would be his pawns - as was rightfully so. And, you know what? They were all going to suffer.