Batbaian was a noble Khamorth, the son of Targitaus, Khagan of the Wolves. He was, at first, a mere boy, but was captured during the battle between the allied Khamorth clans and Varatesh's outlaws. He was one of the prisoners chosen to be left with one eye, and lost only a single eye to the blinding. Upon his return to the camp of the Wolves his father, Targitaus, suffered a fatal stroke from the brutality of the prisoners' treatment. Days later, he and Viridovix were tending an outlying herd when Varatesh's riders massacred the survivors of the clan.