Growing up in a harsh northern climate, Mordecai's life was difficult from the start. Raised alone by an alcoholic father, Mordecai passed time by picking pockets of travelers passing through his village while his father was off serving their lord in the army. Mordecai's father, Cade, grew increasingly angry and bitter as the years went on and he struggled to provide for his family, frequently drowning his sorrows in alcohol. On one drunken night, Cade stole designs for a prototype weapon and was expelled from the army.

Done with suffering under his alcoholic father, Mordecai slipped away on a cold night, taking the stolen plans with him. He eventually used these designs to build the first firearm the world has seen; a feat that has both helped Mordecai in his travels and inadvertently doomed the world, for foes that survive Mordecai's barrage of bullets retreat with anger in their hearts and a destructive weapon fresh in their memories...