John grew up in Astrya with his parents, a single child with free will to explore the city. As a young boy, he snuck into taverns and watched how the bartenders worked; serving and throwing out drunks was his thing to watch during the day and sometimes the odd night when he snuck out of the house. His father was a blacksmith and his mother a tailor, both of whom worked hard to keep money coming in for food. He'd sometimes get dragged into the forge to help his father, but he got bored quickly and escaped back to the tavern for entertainment from drunks. Unfortunately, one night his parents were caught in the blaze of fire at the homeless cookhouse. A homeless man was enraged that he couldn't have more food than his ration and started a fire behind the building. His parents were killed while saving others out of the building.
After that night, he was in the tavern more often than the local drunks... One night, the tavern landlord came up to him and said that he'd noticed John in there all the time. He offered him a job of glass collecting, and from there he rose up to run the tavern after the landlord died.

After hearing news of the Headsteads planning a journey out into the open seas, John was instantly hooked on the idea. His dream was of a faraway land and his own tavern serving drinks and hosting events. John sold off the tavern and invested in the Headstead Voyage. He now arrives on Alphos looking to start his own tavern as soon as possible.