Early Life
Maxwell Redanne was born in one of the nicer parts of the South Ward of Coin; to a tile maker and his wife. He was the first of their two children, the second being a girl, named Julia. As a child Maxwell lived a comfortable family life, provided for by his father's skill and his mothers home-making. His early life was mostly worthy of little note, he was a happy child with friends, work and an education provided by his parents. In all, he had a privileged life, compared to many, in the city. His father had always wanted to be considered a wealthy man and he treated his children as if they were the son and daughter of noble birth.

Teenage Life and Leaving Home
During his teen years, Maxwell and Julia became almost inseparable. Together the two of them would roam the South Ward, exploring the back alleys and rooftops seeking adventures, within the confines of the city. He was always very protective of his sister, though she rarely needed his protection; being a capable scrapper herself. Likewise she was always protective of him. As he grew older, his features made him popular among the neighbourhood girls. Julia was always very good at dismissing the those who outstayed their welcome. As she grew older and began to draw the attention of other men, Maxwell's protective nature would often cause him to start brawls in the streets. Julia would always join the fray at her brother's side. They would return home, clothes torn, faces bruised and cut, to receive a proper scolding from their parents, both of whom abhorred violence in all regards.

It was this protective nature of his that led to the biggest upheaval in Maxwell's life. While at work, making tiles, one day, Maxwell's father told him that he had found Julia a husband. It was a fine match, very advantageous for the family, he was told. The man his sister was to marry was a man of noble birth, he would elevate the Redanne family to great heights. He knew that his sister was at an age to marry, but that didn't make hearing the news any easier. Maxwell and his father argued that day,loud enough to draw the stares and whispers of the neighbours. That night, he went to Julia, to talk about the arrangement. Unsurprisingly, she was less than happy about having her marriage arranged for her, but strangely, she seemed resigned to it, rather than fighting their father on the issue. When Maxwell suggested she run away, she blankly refused to do so.
Maxwell accompanied Julia and his parents to the nobleman's house for dinner, a few days later. It was a nice house, though far from the nicest in the West Ward and in dire need of repairs. The nobleman had servants to wait on him, though far from enough to keep the house clean and well presented. It was clear that the nobleman's family was not as wealthy or important as it had once been.
It wasn't the house that Maxewell disliked, it was still nicer than his family home and anything he had ever been in before. It was the man, himself, who bothered him. He was still relatively young, maybe in his mid-twenties and had a natural physique which would have served him well as a soldier or warrior, though excesses of wine and spirits had covered his frame in a layer of fat and tinged his cheeks permanently pink. With the alcohol came his temper. Throughout dinner, he would curse and shout, seemingly at random, and every time he did, Maxwell noticed that his servants flinched in fear, some gripped themselves as if tending bruises beneath their clothes. As he looked closely, he could see dark bruises poking out from under cuffs and collars. That night, back at home Maxwell and his father argued once more.
This argument was far more explosive than the previous one. Their voices woke the entire street and reduced his mother to tears. Julia, however, stood silent throughout it all, almost dazed. After hours of shouting and crying and screaming, Maxwell cursed at his father and stormed out of the house in a fury.
He spent the next few days staying with friends, at inns or boarding houses, refusing to go home. When his money ran out he began to look for work. In his anger, he took to the recruitment office, a job as a soldier would most annoy his pacifist parents.
Shortly after completing his basic training, Maxwell received a letter from one of his childhood friends. It contained the news he had been dreading; Julia had been wed to the nobleman. He never wrote a single letter to his parents, after that.

Military Career
Maxwell struggled through basic training. He was not a strong person, nor was his endurance anything to brag about. Somehow he completed training and was assigned to the 3rd Company of the Army of Three, as a foot soldier.
As an infantryman, Maxwell fought alongside his comrades and friends, he patrolled the roads, scared off bandits and scrapped with goblins and other humanoids threatening the countryside.
(Expansion to come)

Magic
Magic had never been anything that he had experienced and especially not something he thought he would ever be able to control himself, but Maxwell found, much to his surprise, that he did have the gift. One evening in the rec hall in one of the many forts north of Coin, Maxwell and the other soldiers were drinking and playing cards, as they were wont to do, after a day's patrolling. The cards were not in his favour that night, and he was looking at losing a large part of his wages to Lignes, another footman. From somewhere on the other side of the room, someone started singing, quietly at first, but slowly more and more soldiers joined in the well-known song. Eventually the song made its way to the card table and one-by-one the soldiers joined in the rendition. As Maxwell sang out the words to "Long is the Unknown Road" he noticed that the other soldiers were beginning to peter out. Usually this meant that a senior officer had just entered the room, but looking towards the entrances he saw no-one. He followed the gaze of a few people around him, hoping to find the cause of the disturbance, and found that slowly, all eyes were turning to him, glazed and unfocussed. Bewildered, he waved a hand in front of the faces of some of the other players and, on getting no response, quickly shifted some cards about to improve his own hand. As he sat down and let his own voice drop to silence, the din of the room picked up again as if nothing had happened.

After talking to his commanding officer, a well-learned and fair commander, they reached the conclusion that Maxwell's voice had command of magic to influence others. He was asked to test it out in training, chanting a battle hymn for the others, spurring them on to greater feats. As he stood at the side of the training square, feeling foolish but singing out regardless, he watched as his friends and allies did fight harder and shrug off blows that would normally see them yield and need to rest. Quickly, he proved that his voice did have some power to it and Maxwell was granted a role much more important to the company; standard bearer and battle chanter. He was granted the rank of Ensign, to accompany these new responsibilities.

Return to Coin
Nearly six years after he joined the military, Maxwell handed in his papers. At the end of his rotation he would become a civilian again and return home to Coin. The journey home was filled with sorrow more than joy, but a calling had told him that it was time to strike out on his own. He had made many friends in the military, who he was leaving behind, though some were accompanying him, eager to spend their back-pay in the city. He was returning to a city in which he had no home, his friends were unknown to him now and his sister was married to a man he despised. He was determined to make the next chapter of his life one to be proud of.