J'kaga was born small and sickly (nearly blinded by a fever as a babe) into a prosperous Jackal tribe, long before the Empire scattered it from the mountainous range of The Peaks. The Jackal were great and spiritual during the period of her sire's lead, using every advantage Azeyma had given them. J'Kaga's character forgave the shortcomings of her health and stature, adapting to a relatively normal life despite her failed sight. She also had the spoils of a sire who involved himself in the upbringing of all his young, and who favored her greatly; she conquered his heart with spirit, no placid pup but one of mischief and playful innocent wiles. The women knew, it was made obvious by the fresh locks he twisted from his daughter's head, mirroring his own, and by the beads he withdrew from his mane to fix in hers - a new one given to her for each name day.

A Nuhn is not commonly long-lived, however. She was a decade old when upon her sire's death, the violent result of a Tia's challenging. J'kaga set herself down the mountain in mourning and fiery indignation. She avoided her mother, aunts, and sisters, her running legs carrying her further into the wilds. It was during this brief isolated period that she was set upon by an Antlion, and lucky enough to have been rescued by a Highlander woman. A mercenary. She took the miserable miqo'te into her arms, and J'kaga left with her across Gyr Abania, back to Ala Mhigo, where the robust Hyuran lived. Here J'kaga chose to abandon the indicative sound pronounced before all names of people of the Jackal tribe, opting to go by 'Kaga' alone. When a surname was required, she would offer up her birth-mother's name, an act of further self-inflicted ex-communication from the tribe; she would continue to honor the memory of her sire with her dreadlocks and her beads.

When the Empire moved in to take control of the city-state, J'kaga was guided by her adoptive mother out, the two joining the drove that fled their nation and wound up in Little Ala Mhigo. Here J'kaga reconnected with her root love of animals, family, and hunting. She was able to pick up and refine old skills learned when she was younger, such as fletching, sewing, weaving. She learned to skin, to prepare and tan leather, to debone, to cook. Piteous with a bow for obvious reasons, she picked up a yakutian and polearm, learning from lancers of the Ala Mhigan legion.

After The Calamity rained fire over the desert sands, she was inspired to leave her home and her Ala Mhigan family to enlist within the Flames, the grand company had played a critical role in protecting those beyond Ul'dah from the rampage of the elder primal. As an officer, she dealt primarily with affairs between The Shroud and Thanalan, though did return to Gyr Abania to storm the gates of Ala Mhigo. Once this day was won, she felt both tired yet fulfilled enough by her service that she decided to turn her tall, green hat in. She then chose to seek out a less demanding occupation, one in which she might stand the chance to focus on other aspects of life.