Malkus's story begins with his father, Malakaus "Iron Fang", an orcish pit fighter with minor notoriety in the underground of Brevoy. He was well known for his vicious maw, as well as serving under the banner of a former warlord who has long since been quelled. Malakaus retired from war but never avoided battle, seeking his fortune in the illegal fighting arenas around Brevoy. He took a fancy with an initiate of Calistria and entered the faith, if only for carnal pleasures. That was when Malkus was born.
However Malkus did not have the pleasure of a mother's embrace, as shortly after his birth his mother was slain by a drunken patron of the churches services. Malakaus, angered at the lost of his lover, slew the drunken reprobate as Calistia permits, however the drunkard was also the son of nobility. The clergy of Calistria allowed Malakaus and his son to escape, but would provide no further protection for them beyond that.
Since then Malkus knew very little aside from hardships. He lived most of his life in a neighborhood known as "Old Prosperity", a ghetto populated by the dredges of urban society. By the time he was at least half his father's size he was made to fight, or at least see combat. He killed his first man at the age of 10, albeit he slew the dying man by slitting his throat, as his father had ordered him to do. He was raised in the arena under his father's brutal training, and as often as he could he would leave to heal his wounds.
Malkus didn't see much reason in his life until he met with a traveling vagabond. This human wanderer took note of Malkus's wounds and offered to patch them up, and not really caring about the intentions of the human, Malkus allowed the human to heal him. As he was being doctored Malkus told the wanderer a little of his life and his dissatisfaction with it. The human had little to say, but did offer Malkus advice: That he needed to live and grow stronger. There was no way for him to escape his life now if he continued to resist and wound himself. He needed to embrace the combative life style and earn his freedom. Additionally, the wanderer wanted to know where the location of the current underground fighting arena was. Malkus led him there, and witnessed his true strength.
The wanderer was a martial artist of some sort, relying on no weapons to defeat his foes. After he won his initial bout Malkus asked to learn from the man. He hesitated at first, uncertain if he should take the young half-orc under his wing. But he made a promise: A promise that if he could become better then the scum of Old Prosperity, he would be willing to teach Malkus. What this meant, the young half-orc did not know. Such questions as "What is evil" and "What is good" never really occurred to him.
However that is not to say that Malkus never had a sense of justice. While he debated the morality of right and wrong, he knew he lived among criminals and villains as his neighbors. A necessary evil, he always figured, as he had no ways of stopping them. But after meeting with the wanderer, Malkus decided that inaction was not the answer. Whether he was capable or not, Malkus had to stop these villains from polluting his home. So when Malkus began to train himself and his body, preparing to fight for justice.
Years passed. Malkus met with the wanderer again, a grown man. He no longer lived with his father; his old man had turned to a thieves guild to make ends meet, selling women and children to feed his desires. Malkus personally arrested his father and turned him into authorities, which ended in his execution. Since then Malkus has chosen to fight for justice, even if he had to do so outside the law itself. But he lived a double life: During the day he was a warrior in the Old Prosperity fighting pits, using the moniker "The Sleeping Dog". But at night, he would roam the streets and crack down on crimes, whether he needs to put the fear of death into the interlopers, or a solid fist to their heads.
The wanderer was impressed with Malkus's growth, but he noted that he still lived in the slums of Old Prosperity. Malkus hoped that he could somehow change his home for the better, using his own two hands if he must. This disappointed the wanderer; he felt that Malkus was too attached to Old Prosperity. Malkus himself has not changed at all; he was still the same angry youth from before. Even if he had done his part to not make his neighborhood worse, he's doing nothing for him or his community by staying. Malkus was angry at the wanderer, accusing him of telling Malkus to abandon his home. But then the wanderer asked him a question: If he left, would things get better? Malkus wasn't certain how to answer. He wanted to think he was making a difference. But in truth he was just feeding the same cycle of violence Old Prosperity has always had.
Sometime later the wanderer left, and Malkus was at a lost at what to do. On one hand, he still felt he could change Old Prosperity. But on the other hand, what he wanted was to change himself. He knew deep down that Old Prosperity was just as it's namesake implied; whatever greatness it had was long gone. Malkus was fighting for the only thing he knew he had left. And he didn't have much anyways.
But a chance arrangement occurred one night. Malkus had just finished a bout in the fight pits when he was confronted by a gang of thugs. They were a mix of rivals from the fighting pits, criminals that he had put behind bars (And obviously escaped) and vengeful people who Malkus had wronged at some point. On his own Malkus is quite capable of taking care of himself, but he was too outnumbered. That was when a strange woman arrived to his aid. Originally he didn't want her involved in his troubles, but when the confrontation turned into a battle he fought alongside the woman, who revealed herself to be a sorcerer, and fended off his attackers. Later he met with the sorcerer in a tavern where she asked for his company. Malkus refused at first due to misunderstanding, but even after clarifying her intentions Malkus was hesitant. He's never really left Old Prosperity before, and he did not know what life was like outside of the slums. Certainly no less dangerous then life within it. But reflecting back on the words of the wanderer, perhaps Malkus needed to leave Old Prosperity behind if he really wanted to know how much of a difference he could be making.
Eventually Malkus conceded and agreed to join the woman. Without much in his possession aside from the weapons looted from his recently defeated foes, Malkus followed the sorcerer to explore the Stolen Lands.