Lara's backstory has changed dramatically over the course of the series. During the first era, game manuals describe the character as the Wimbledon, London-born daughter of Lord Henshingly Croft (Lord Richard Croft in "Legend" and its sequels). She was raised as an aristocrat and betrothed to the fictitious Earl of Faringdon. Lara attended the Scottish boarding school Gordonstoun and a Swiss finishing school. At the age of twenty-one, she survived a plane crash, which left her stranded in the Himalayas for two weeks; the experience spurred her to shun her former life and seek other adventures around the world. Croft published books and other written works based on her exploits as a mercenary, big-game hunter, and master thief. These provided her with a replacement source of income after her father disowned her over her change in lifestyle.