Original Founders Of The Honor Guard

The first five members of the mercenary group which later became known Rashorian Honor Guard consisted of four former lower officers of the talian army and one ranger roaming the continent the last three decades. They all knew each other from their previous endeavors and were united by their drive to change the world for the better, or at least to not fight for corrupt monarchs and leaders anymore. All of them were fierce fighters in their own right, having been trained at The High Academy Of Mighty Uyor in their youth.

Garian Blackthorn

Being born as the fifth son of an old noble family from Cairn, Garian Blackthorn was sent to the academy in Rashor shortly after his fifteenth birthday, as his parents wanted him to join the talian army to bring honor to their name. In his time at the academy, he specialized in combat with spears and lances, while also learning the needed tactics to lead a battalion of foot soldiers. After ten years and a finished martial education at the academy, Garian immediately joined the talian army and quickly rose through the ranks. Only five years later the ambitious soldier was awarded the rank of captain and was leading his own regiment.
But soon he grew weary of being used to demonstrate the power of the empire over it's population and tried to bring change to the military. After being reprimanded for his behavior and his unwillingness to mistreat beggars and farmers, he was expelled from the army without honors. As he could not go back to his own family without the shame of failure looming over him, he made his way back again to Rashor.

Kaela Stoneheart

Kaela Stoneheart grew up near Rashor in a small village of hunters and gatherers, being born into a a poor family with two younger brothers. When she was only eleven years old, both of her parents dies of a plague tormenting her home. While being devastated by grief, she quickly learned to hunt whatever she could, to feed both herself and her brothers. A few years passed by in which the small family barely made due and during a bad winter, her brothers were caught stealing from the nearby army camp. The leader of the battalion stationed there knew no mercy and sentenced both of them to death. As none of here pleads for mercy were acknowledge, Kaela watched as her brothers were hanged for their crimes.
Since nothing kept her at home anymore, she left the small village and set out to find a way to never feel this helpless and powerless again. During a festival in Rashor, she participated in a bow and arrow contest, as she was desperate to earn any money to survive. To the surprise of both herself and the spectatores, the sixteen year old girl came in second place in the tournament, only bested by a master from the High academy. As he recognized her talent with the bow, he vouched for her at the university, thus granting her access to it and began training her. She gladly accepted the gift, as it both gave her a roof over her head and a way to not feel helpless again. In her ten years at the academy, she was always eager to learn and to become a better fighter, but never made any friends with her fellow students, which earned her the name Stoneheart.
After her training was finished, she started to roam the continent, helping the poor wherever she could. As she still felt the fire of hate against the talian army, she had a few unfortunate run ins with the military, which often resulted in violence from both sides, but with her excellent training, she always came out on top. After travelling the continent for over thirty years, she arrived back in Rashor nearly at the same time, like it was fate, as the other founders of the mercenary group.

Drogan Ironfist

Drogan Ironfist first became known to the world as a street fighter and a champion of many tournaments, where he mostly competed in hand to hand combat competitions. He traveled from town to town, or rather from carnival to carnival, always looking for the next fight to win. While he wasn't unbeaten, he bested most of his foes and thus raked in quite a large sum in winnings. At the age of 26, it seemed he decided that there is more to life than to fight in tournaments and stopped competing for good.
A few years later he enrolled as a student at the High Academy in Rashor, specializing in close quarters fighting. During the next decade, he not only learned how to enhance his fist fighting, he also became quite good with the sword and discovered that he had a talent in leading small groups. Due to his capturing personality, he made friends quite easily and built an extensive network of companions all over the continent.
After finishing his education at the academy, Drogan joined the army of the talian empire, believing that he could use his talents for good there. While he rose through the ranks and soon commanded his own attack group of soldiers, he clashed often with his superiors, mostly about his unconventional style to solve problems. During an exercise in The Amber Plains, he repeatedly disobeyed the commands of his captain and was soon released from his duties in the military. 
Afterwards he joined the Academy of Uyor as a teacher and lived his rather peaceful life in Rashor. Only after he met the others of the founders and started to believe in a greater cause to help people again, he left the university and joined with his brothers to establish the rashorian mercenaries. 

Lyris Shadowblade

Lyris had a different career in the military than the other four fighters as we was recruited as a little girl. Not much is known of her early life, but in her work as a spy and assassin in the army, she earned herself the name Shadowblade, as she moved unseen through the night. At the age of 23, after nearly 15 years in the talian army, she decided that her previous lifestyle was not what she wanted out of life, as Lyria at least wished to known why her enemies had to die. 
She put in an official request with her superiors to switch to a normal position in the army, so she eventually could become a captain and decide the fate of others herself. Her officer only laughed in her face and commented that there was no place in the military for a girl like her and that all she ever will be good for is to kill out of the dark. Devastated by this answer, and unable to change it, she quit the military and soon after joined the High Academy to perfect her sword skills. 
Here, she met Drogan, who worked there as a teacher already and grew quite close with him over the years, as they shared the troubles of a darker past. Soon after she finished her decade as a student, she joined up with the other founders and became part of the mercenary group.

Torin Redbeard

Torin Redbeard, a man towering over most of his equals, joined the High Academy at a young age and learned everything and more there was to learn about how to use armor and shields perfectly in combat. He even stayed for two extra years at the university to perfect his craft. 
At the age of 27, like so many other young man, he enlisted in the talian army, and used his skills to quickly rise through the ranks. After nearly two decades serving, he even was promoted to become captain of his own garrison near Rashor. Only then, when he tried to serve the empire and to protect his own men at the same time, he began to realize how broken the system was and how quickly it used the men and women without regard for their well being for the gains of the empire.
  After another twelve years trying to change the system from within, he was approached by an old soldier of his, Garian Blackthorn, who left the army in the mean time and wanted to create a group of mercenaries, which would not work for their own gain but would try to help the helpless of Tal'Lyra.