Elktar Talonblade hails from far off Deepingdale situated within the Dalelands. His father, a bright and powerful man, was both a ranger and warrior of some renown within the lands of Deepingdale. It is said that once, during a raid by the elven warriors of Deepingdale into the Dun Hills, Felgar Talonblade saved the life of the late Lord Lashan whilst slewing a band of orcish raiders. From that day forth both Felgar and Lashan had become the greatest of friends until his mysterious death (or disappearance?) from the lands of Deepingdale. During Felgar's life in the Dalelands he had traveled much of the vast forests and woodlands surrounding the small villages and towns. His skill as a ranger grew as did his love for a certain woman named Cylia Vanehaven whom lived back in his homeland of Deepingdale.

As time progressed the Dalelands settled into relative peace with one another and except for small random orcish and goblin raids very little occurred for many years. It was during this time that the great Felgar Talonblade was wed to the beautiful Cylia Vanehaven and a son was born, Elktar Talonblade. Elktar was a very strong and healthy child as he grew and was learning much in the ways of the ranger (taught by both his father and many of the residing elves of Deepingdale who had befriended his father). He excelled greatly with the use of swords (especially that of the long sword) and was nearly adept as an outdoorsman, all at the early age of 14. As any other child his age and living within the dales, he would often leave for many long trips through the vast woodlands only to return days later with plenty of winter game and sometimes an occasional orcish or goblin weapon.

Suddenly on a very cold wintry night two years after the death of his wife, Felgar Talonblade returned home from his crusades against the Tuigan horde and the rest of the Dalelands. The (then) ruler of Deepingdale, Lord Lashan, had requested that Felgar go with him and his company of elven warriors to do battle in an attempt to conquer and eventually unite the Dales under his name. Very little of this day does Elktar remember, his father was wounded in battle and brought home by an elven friend and father Hasicor Danali, a follower of the ways of Oghma. In his hand Elktar’s father gripped tightly a strange medallion with a black stone set in the middle. Before his father died he handed Elktar the mysterious necklace and told him that he must protect it from all hands of evil. Elktar (against his wishes) was quickly placed on a convoy of traders and priests headed for the Swordcoast as per the last request of his father, Felgar Talonblade. With the weight of sadness weighing heavily upon him Elktar rubbed the mysterious stone between two fingers and looked back at the horizon and the lands he once called home

The days rolled by slowly as the caravan made its way away from the Dalelands and through the lands of Cormyr towards the Swordcoast. The nights were cold and sometimes violent storms of snow and ice would rip through the trees and downtrodden paths. For Elktar the nights were colder yet. Even through some of the counseling words of father Danali (whom had decided to accompany Elktar to Candlekeep to keep him and the Obsidian Storm safe) Elktar could not find enough peace in his heart and mind to sleep fitful nights or enjoy the beautiful whiteness of the land. Many nights he lay in the threshold of sleep and wakefulness with nightmares of his father’s death raging through his mind. Some mornings he would wake with a start only to find his hand torn and bleeding from unconsciously gripping the medallion tightly throughout the night. Life had seemed to lose all meaning for Elktar as he sojourned against his will towards a land he never heard of and an undetermined future

It came without warning. He was in a fit of overwhelming depression when the first arrows hit the caravan and robbed the life of those traveling alongside. Chaos ensued shortly thereafter as hordes of raiders poured down out of the trees of The Reaching Woods. The caravan guards drew their swords and held the ground in front of each carriage as the convoy came to a halt and quickly readied for the coming assault. Elktar was shaken from his thoughts as an arrow found its mark deep into the wood of the carriage next to him. He quickly jumped down and drew his father’s sword and looked around the unfolding scene. Bandits clashed with guards and merchants everywhere around him as arrows zipped through the air or landed with solid "thunks" into both people and carriages. Elktar suddenly spotted father Danali with his powerful two-handed sword cleaving away at a pair of thieves nearly two carriages down from him. Quickly he made a bolt in that direction expecting to intercept and dispatch one of the bandits making his way behind the paladin Danali. However, before he made it even halfway there a brigand wielding a short sword intercepted Elktar and made a desperate (and incredibly fast) swing for his head. Elktar quickly dropped to the ground in a roll and came back up in a crouch all the while pivoting on his feet to face the bastard that just nearly killed him. With his sword out before him Elktar sent a jab into the chest of the brigand only to have it quickly parried away with a slap of the short weapon. Using his longer reach as an advantage Elktar deftly parried and poked trying to draw the first blood in the face off. Suddenly an arrow zipped by from the tree line and almost skewed Elktar through his legs; Elktar quickly dove to the ground in another short roll and nearly found himself embedded in the end of a short sword. Again quickly coming up from a crouch Elktar used his advantage and quickness to swing his sword in an arc which cleanly severed both muscle and sinew in the thief’s right arm. He quickly dislodged the weapon from bone and leather armor and brought it inside in the form of a quick under-extended jab into the brigand’s chest area dropping him with a yelp of pain.

Elktar looked up and tried to spot father Danali in the crowd of combatants when a sudden burst of pain and colors dropped him to the floor. With what little strength remained in him and solid gasps for breath Elktar looked at the source of his immense pain; someone must have gotten a clear shot at him and was able to sink an arrow into his upper chest. Fighting for breath and struggling to crawl under one of the many carriages while holding his own blood from pouring made Elktar incredibly weak and light headed. He never made it to the nearest caravan, instead his consciousness slipped from him and he fell to the ground in the deep red snow as the sounds of battle started falling further away and the dreams of a faraway life returned

Many days later (or perhaps just a few?) he awoke in a strange dimly lit room with many books and scrolls littering the immediate area. Looking around for the first time in what would become a long time Elktar Talonblade saw his new home, the great library of Candlekeep.