The Lords of Tyr started back in October 2002. I still have the email that Brian (aka the Dark Lord of Bartlett) sent out with his address. The group really came about by Rob (aka A Hero) overheard Brian and I talking about GenCon one day at work. Brian, Chad (that's me), Rob, Bob, Kazi, and Ashby all worked in IT at a very large financial institution together. Ashby and had already been very involved in Ultima Online as well. 

Once Rob new that Brian and I both played D&D, the idea just grew from there. Rob had a group of guys that he had played with on and off since high school (and some even earlier than that). That included TJ (aka Hiregoon), Todd, and Tony. Bob also brought a friend, John. This formed the core of our group at the beginning.