Etch 'awoke' in the middle of a hunt, aware of himself suddenly as a beast of the night lunged for his then-master and creator. His awakening slowed his response, which should have been swift and automatic, to interpose himself between the beast and hunter. Instead, he stood awkwardly as the werewolf slammed, claws and teeth first, into the hunter. The hunter dead, the mongrel turned towards the awakened-automaton and charged. Ten seconds conscious and Etch killed a werewolf.
His master and creator dead, Etch had little to guide him forward. The hunter's pack contained a collection of books detailing a variety of night terrors, their habitats, hunting patterns, and physiology. There was a writ, sealed with wax, from which Etch learned they were beast hunters, with sanction from the local lord to do what they must to save the villages of his realm from werebeasts.
Etch continued the hunt. One particularly evasive beast drew him well beyond the borders of the land the writ, but as Etch knew nothing of sovereign territory, this fact never occurred to him. Eventually, he found himself in Neverwinter. Their reaction was less than friendly, and the stoic warforged took to wearing a hood to conceal his metal face. While seeking a purpose, Etch found a posting that had recently been removed from a job board and discarded to the waste, a worn note asking for assistance. It was, as with the writ that had previously guided his purpose, eloquently inked upon paper. This, he decided, meant it was a formal request for aid. A new task in hand, he set out on the road to Phandalin to find this 'Gundrin Rockseeker' and assist him in whatever way was possible.