The son of a wealthy Linhian factory owner, Walter was a strong-minded child accustomed to always having his way. From a young age his parents indulged his headstrong nature by striking deals, and so, when he found himself languishing under the isolation and limited social circle of home tutoring, he prevailed upon his parents to send him to school with other kids his age. Though it was more a method of killing time than any serious attempt at education (the insufferable private tutor was his parents’ end of the bargain), Walter was hugely popular with his class for being witty and fun. But the economic disparity between himself and his friends grew increasingly apparent as time went on, and soon it seemed his entire circle of friends was either a gang member or somehow otherwise involved. By his mid-teens, his parents became aware of these unsavory ties, and sought to remove him by sending him to relatives in Koben city. Though he initially resisted, resentful of their attempts to police his relationships, each rebellious remark only served to confirm their anxieties that he was being led down the wrong path. By the end of the month, he was very unhappily wrangled into a Koben-bound carriage.

Perhaps the only thing that made the change in environment amenable to Walter was being with his elder sisters again. They had been close in his earliest years, and they worked wonders on the poor attitude his friends had bred and encouraged. Through their regular attendance to concerts and the opera, Walter developed a deep love of music. But passion, Walter was acutely aware, was not the equivalent of talent. He knew that he could never make a proper career of music, as even with the best of his efforts, he was incomparable to the pros. To the relief of everyone around him, he resolved to keep music a hobby, and at 18 attended a university in Koben to study law. His diligence at school was middling at best, and with extended time taken off here and there to indulge his musical inclinations in Bratkowice, he spent a long 6 years in the academic trenches.

Upon graduation, Walter immediately returned to Linhythe- for while on the surface he had shaken off the questionable influences of his teens, he was still very much privately in touch with his old school friends. Though he kept a polite distance out of consideration to his parents' image, he was always available as legal counsel, and was instrumental in a number of cases. In return, his insider information enabled him to backpedal at the first signs of danger. When the gang wars in the city came to a head, it coincided with the misfortune of an ill-gotten child dumped onto his plate of responsibilities- so Walter swiftly changed career paths, switching to the safer realm of helping administrate his father's factories. By the time the dust had settled, the majority of Walter's friends were dead- and what remained had been splintered.

But there was no respite; The attack on Linhythe left him injured in a revenge attack when the corsairs wreaked havoc in the city. His family's wealth and connections managed to spirit them out of the city before the Miran attack, but he himself was too deep in the battle zone to be immediately retrieved- and so he was resigned to spend over a week in the skeletal remains of the heart of the city with the other wretched survivors. He had the fortune of being whisked away before the situation truly devolved, but this short period of time left a deep impression on Walter, who had plenty of time to ruminate was convalescing on his brother-in-law's estate away from the city. For three months his family managed to insist on his staying put, but he was eager to be with the survivors who had helped him. He returned to Linhythe, determined to put his rusty bard skills to use- while also working to help rebuild the city with what was left of the government. While martial law was effective in the city by that time, Walter was keenly aware that the system would eventually need to be replaced when the military withdrew- and so secretly used his influence to aid in the creation of a new organization. With the covert cooperation of this new, unified gang, the transition from martial law to independence was mercifully smooth.

Two years on, with Linhythe's successful return to stability, Walter readied himself to return to Koben City for a much desired sabbatical, fully intending to soak up the last 15 years worth of opera and concertos. But the sudden disappearance of the governor stalled his plans. Without so much as the slightest hint as to where the governor had gone, the Linhian offices scrambled to find an interim replacement and put out a story to deter the story breaking to the public. But as time went on and no leads presented themselves, it became clear that a more permanent solution needed to be found. The city's appeal to the crown for a new governor was sent on the eve before the seas churned out a new land- and in a whirlwind of activity, the seat of governor was set on the back burner as the city went into a frenzy to help the Koben navy mobilize. With the new land safely in their grasp, Koben at last settled on the task of selecting a new governor-- someone who would be able to deal with newly displaced Bratkovan farmers, and develop of the new frontier. Uniquely one of the few Linhian officials with experience in Bratkowice and relatively popular thanks to his hands-on response to the attack three years ago, Walter was identified as a possible candidate. With perhaps a little unwelcome aid in discouraging his competition from the gangs, the appointment was settled.