Sylvar grew up in a small forest elf village. He trained, like his peers, to become a skilled warrior in defending his home. He officially received his warrior's mark when he was twenty and continued to fulfill his duty for years to come.

However, his home began to change as more humans started burning down trees to make room for farmland and industry. Because his village had sworn secrecy from the humans, there was hardly anything they could do against the destruction of their habitat. One day, a terrifying demon warlord descended upon his village one day and seemingly assumed full authority. As it turned out, however, this demon ended up driving the human construction away and restoring the environment. Sylvar befriended this demon, whose name he learned was Akupheles.

Seven years prior to the events of WPI, Akupheles found an abandoned half elf-demon child and brought her to Sylvar. Being sympathetic towards the child, Sylvar adopted her, named her Leilatha and has been raising her since.

During the start of WPI, Sylvar learned about the resistance against Akupheles and tried to warn his friend, but it was already too late when he reached Aku. The resistance had no idea where they had truly banished Akupheles, only that he is no longer in the magical world. Thus, Sylvar began his search for Akupheles by traveling to the human realm.