Hal Hawkshaw

Hal lost his parents in a sea raid when he was young. By the law of Blackrift, he became a ward of the king and spent the rest of his youth in the military academies of Kragwall, Where the national Ideals of discipline and strength were beaten into him. When the cold and cruelty became overwhelming, Hal found Solace in the open sea - eventually becoming a skilled sailor.
Hawkshaw is an old salt and mercenary of fortune. He was a warrior of Blackrift in his youth, sailing forth with their dread sea reavers to spill blood in the name of the king. Unlike his peers, however, the ceaseless bloodshed and cruel edicts of their ruler sickened him. When the opportunity presented itself, Hal fled the country with nothing but his axe and the shirt on his back, choosing a life of exile in the Greenwold.
His skill as an able and daring sailor made him a natural smuggler, and job by job he built himself up from a penniless vagabond to the proud owner of his own ship. Unfortunately for Hal, his last job went badly and the smuggler lost his entire cargo, leaving him deeply in debt to a prosperous merchant.