Santino was born in the region of Abruzzi, Italy, in the town of Scanno, on November 16th, 1762 as Santino Marcone. The Habsburg Emperordom had control of many of the city-states of Italy, amongst which were included the Kingdom of Venice and The Grand Duchy of Tuscany. Abruzzi was in the Kingdom of Sicily, and was free from Austrian Control, but there was ever circulating talk of ridding the Austrian Control, and reuniting the city-states, and the core realms that had made up the Empire of Rome. The French Army of Italy moved in in 1796, striking first at the Kingdom of Sardinia, Napolean began his efforts of freeing Italy from the Austrians. However, it was Napolean's intent not to free Italy but to have it for his own, as he went about building a French empire. After only a year, there would be an uprising against Napolean. However, between Napoleans invasions into Italy, the people didn't have the power to fight back. Soon state after state was annexed by either France or Austria. In 1806, Napolean invaded and conquered the Kingdom of Naples. In 1809, Napolean took Rome, and exiled the Pope. Afterward, he'd annex all of the Italian states he had conquered to the Italian Republic, and named it the Kingdom of Italy. In 1813, after his failures in Russia, and at the Battle of Leipzig, the Kingdom of  Italy sided with Austria and turned against Napolean.

Santino was 34 when he heard of the invasions starting, 36 when he joined the military to try and fight back against Napolean. Despite it, in 1806 he found himself in a land he knew all his life, but under French control seemed foreign to him. He would not abandon the military, and in the years to come did all he could to help fight back against Napolean. It was 1807 on a ship heading from the south of Italy, north to France. A storm at night through it off course, and in the morning, the ship was wrecked on the shores of an island. They assumed it was Sardinia or Corsica, but weren't sure. They salvaged whatever they could from the ship, and began to plan how to get off the island. While exploring the island, Santino came across an odd man. He was an African, or perhaps a native to the island. He wore clothing that appeared tribal in nature, gold with black markings on it that looked like the spots of a leopard. His head was completly bald, but he wore a hat of an odd design. He had haunting eyes, and before Santino could say anything, the wind picked up, and knocked him off his feet. He went spiraling backward, and hit the sand before his mind went black.

In the evening, the next day, he awoke with an insatiable hunger. But the fruits he plucked from trees bore no taste, and he merely spat them out. He would find the odd man once more, and learn his name was Matu. That evening, he tasted blood for the first time, and would learn what he was, and what would happen from then on. After learning about Matu, he would return to his crew the next night, and would find a way to the mainland once more. He kept himself secluded from the rest of the military, but would at night do his duties for the unification of Italy. He would steal a few french people at nights, to sate his hunger, and continue to serve till that day in 1813. By 1814, Italy was divided again, taken once more into Austrian control. He wondered why, in the end, the war was fought, and went off by himself, to return to the rural town of Scanno in Abruzzi. He had seen much of Italy in his service, as well as France and other parts of Europe, he had even under Matu's guidance seen the northern edges of Africa, and the islands in the mediterranean between Europe and Africa. It was in this time that he learned most of what he was now capable of, because of what he had become. He would over the years learn of his control over the sands.