She grew up content to serve in her brother's shadow.  As father and son worked in the Combe Lumber Camp and foraged in the Chetwood Forest, she and her mother bartered in the market and cooked for the men as they returned home in the evenings.  Her father had fought in the past however and knew at any time they might have to defend themselves, so he taught both mother and daughter the basics of wielding a sword or fighting with a dagger.  As a child in Combe, she often found herself picked on for her freckles and red hair, both Dale land traits rare in Breeland.  At first her brother defended her, but with age he urged her to defend herself.  She did so with gusto, becoming known locally for the power of her voice.

Then came the assault on Archet.

The town was fully under siege, roving bands of Blackwold Brigands pushing south past Bronwe's Folly and Archet's farmlands.  Word spread that they were nearing the Combe gate and a defense line was created to stop them from breaking through into Combe.  Laurwhyn's family fell into one of the sections of this line, her father and brother fighting while she and her mother tended to the fallen.  As they made their way among the wounded, she first came upon her father.  He had been leading their part of the defense, and that responsibility had now fallen to her brother.  Before she could finish tending to the large gash in his leg, her brother was brought in pierced by three arrows.  He gripped her by the hand and told her she must get ready to flee.  The defense was faltering.

On the line, having lost their leaders, the men had begun to fall back.  The Blackwolds eagerly pressed the attack, seeing the line about to break.  Suddenly a voice cried out, a woman's voice that commanded their attention and roused their spirits.  Laurhwyn had taken up her brother's sword and come to lead the attack.  With the same determination she had defended herself against the bullies of her childhood, she led some of those old bullies in pressing the attack back onto the Blackwolds.  For her, flight was not an option.  The line held, and a reputation was born.

The men of Combe travelled to assist in the rebuilding of Archet.  Laurwhyn's father and brother joined them.  They were still healing from their wounds and not ready yet for combat, but they were well enough to labor.  Meanwhile, she was approached by Constable Sageford to help in continuing to push back the remnants of the invasion.  Laurwhyn has her own sword now, and the blessing of her father, brother, and all those who she inspired to rise again in the defense of their homes.  Due to her reddish skin tone, her freckles, and that fiery spill of hair, she had come to be referred to as Laurwhyn "the Red."  That title now has come to include her spirit.