Lhain was born into a family of little note in the city port of Kai Shan, his father a burglar and fence for the Tsui Tong, and his mother a whore to the same employer.

With little of a family legacy to inherit, Lhain inevitably walked the same path as his father, turning to thievery to sustain a living. In his formative years he soon turned to alcohol as an escape from the disenfranchisement thrust upon him by the Tsui Tong's grasp on his life and family.

Escape became habit. Lhain began to spend more time inebriated than sober. To relieve his frustrations, he would lash out at fellow patrons and became no stranger to a tavern brawl. Before long the local watering holes were filled with more enemies than friends, and Lhain knew he needed a way out of this life.

One day brothers of a monastic order inside the city were escorting a group of children, taken from their homes to be inducted into the care of the monks. Lhain threw himself at their mercy and begged their guidance and aid, offering them his talent with his fists. Tentatively, they obliged.

For years, he served the order and walked The Path of Enlightenment with a strong sense of duty, channeling the talents of his former life into the martial way of the drunken fist.

Even in the monastery, however, he could not escape the grasp of the Tsui Tong: when the order fell on hard times, its leader refused to continue to pay an extortionate 'protection' tribute to the organization, who in turn razed the monastery for this perceived insult.

Escaping with his life, Lhain found himself again without home or cause. Refusing to simply return to his old ways, he traveled with a merchant ship to the other side of the realm of Faerun, to the city of Neverwinter. The arduous journey took it's toll, and he arrived in the city back in the clutches of alcoholism, brawling and burglary.

After a particularly vicious scrap in the streets outside the Golden Apple, Lhain was approached by a dwarf going by the name of Gundren Rockseeker. Appreciating Lhain's martial prowess, he extended the offer of a job for which he required manpower. Seeing steady companionship and honest work as an opportunity to return to The Path, he accepted.