A difficult childhood; Dunan Archridge spent his early years navigating the slum districts of Martos. His father was a seafaring man and his mother sold textiles for a living.

By his twenties, Dunan was a boisterous young man. He was known to frequent the underground fight clubs where he made a name for himself as "Dunan the Desolator." Perhaps it was for the better that he had taken to such a violent sport. He caught the eye of one of the spectators who later turned out to be Nimbus Paragon, then the Headmaster of the Navale Academy.

Nimbus challenged the young Dunan to a drinking competition on the condition that if Dunan lost, he would follow Nimbus back to the Navale Academy. Clearly, we know who won. When anyone asked why Nimbus decided to approach Dunan that day, all Nimbus would reply was, "Well, I was thinking of retiring and I needed someone with a mean right hook to keep the students in line."

Dunan eventually left his rambunctious past behind, and progressed to an instructor at the academy for years. When the time came to select the role of Headmaster, Dunan and his close friend, Madame Gardos, refused the position. Either said they would only accept on the condition that they both assume responsibility of the academy. This broke tradition and effectively established the first dual-head leadership of the Navale Academy.