Dahlia Thorne grew up in a small village outside of Crystallis with her mother, her father and her little sister, Iris. When she was ten years old she was walking with her sister from their home to their father’s workshop in town when their village came under attack. Not knowing what else to do when giant men and beasts began to invade Dahlia grabbed her sister and ran as fast and as far as she could. They were chased to the edge of a tall cliff and as the beast chasing them went to attack Iris, Dahlia stepped in his way. Angered the beast threw her from the cliff. The last memory Dahlia has from that day is hurtling towards a large jagged rock jutting out from the cliff face.
She woke up several days or even weeks later in a small strange hut. Confused and terrified Dahlia ran from the elven man who had saved her. She ran all the way home, only to find that nothing remained of the village she had grown up in. Not knowing what else to do Dahlia found her way to Crystallis, hoping someone there would know what had happened to her family, but her family was gone along with her home. From then on Dahlia raised herself on the streets of Crystallis. Being young and trusting when she arrived in Crystallis she had taken help from a man named Jeremy Goldstein, only to later be informed that his help was never free. Stuck in a never ending cycle of trying to pay off a debt that would never be repaid, Dahlia made a name for herself in the fighting pits. Dahlia had grown up wanting to be a dancer so she was quick and light footed from the training she had gotten. With a sword in her hand making money in the pits was easy. When the money from fighting wasn’t enough she’d often take on mercenary gigs, which is where she named her nickname, “Nails”. She was given the nickname not just as an ode to the phrase “tough as nails” but also because being in the same group with her was almost assuredly “the final nail in your coffin”. By luck, coincidence or grand design, Dahlia was often the only surviving member of her group when she went out on mercenary missions. It was out on one of these missions where she met Iolanthe, Farron, Madislak, and Zelle and her life would change forever.