@Oghren was one of the best warriors of his generation and a member of House Kondrat in Orzammar, and in his youth he became quite popular (especially among women) due to his many victories against decorated veterans in the Provings. He became interested in a young woman of the merchant caste named Felsi; but before they were able to pursue a relationship, his house betrothed him to a woman of a wealthy smith caste family named Branka. Oghren's family, believing the match to be of benefit to both families, pressured him to marry their choice. Even though she was eccentric and seemed more interested in smithing than in her new husband, the first months of the union were relatively happy and peaceful.
Within a year after their marriage, Branka was declared a living Paragon and founded the noble House Branka. Soon after its founding, House Branka absorbed the entire House Kondrat. Normally he could have been a deshyr on behalf of his new noble house but the stress of Branka's Paragon status put a heavy strain on Oghren and Branka's marriage. As the marriage crumbled, Oghren began drinking heavily; Branka began an affair with his cousin Hespith. The couple stopped talking to each other and Branka's disdain for Oghren influenced the rest of his House; Oghren found himself shunned by even his own family.
Over Oghren's objections, in 9:28 Dragon Branka took her entire household, with the sole exception of her husband, into the Deep Roads in search of the secrets of the legendary Anvil of the Void. They were not heard from again.
Oghren, left behind, became a laughingstock. In a failed attempt to forget Branka, Oghren tracked down Felsi and began a relationship with her that soon foundered as he was no longer the man she fell in love with. When Oghren made a scene at her father's funeral, Felsi broke up with him and left for the surface to join her mother.
Oghren began drinking even more heavily than he had been, making his situation even worse when one day the youngest son of Lord Meino mentioned that it was impossible for Branka and her house to have survived for that long in the Deep Roads. Oghren considered this as an insult to the Paragon, challenged his honor, and killed the man in a first-blood match while drunk. Oghren was stripped of his house name and barred from bearing weapons within the city—a punishment considered worse than exile for a warrior.
Oghren has spent the last two years trying to convince the Assembly, or anyone else who will listen to him, to look for Branka in the Deep Roads—often in a drunk state. Because of his insistence, even when told that there would be no rescue, Oghren became something of a pest in the Diamond Quarter.