Character Backstories?

[FennecFyre]

I was just wondering if anyone else enjoyed thinking up histories for their Skyrim characters. Personally, I think immersion is a pretty big part of the game, and finding myself drawing up a backstory for my Khajiit is pretty good proof that I'm well-immersed, lol.

 

Feel free to ramble about your character's backstory here, I love reading what other people can come up with.

 

Oh, and you're fully entitled to calling me a nerd for writing up my characters' stories.

 

My own backstories (Spoilered for size reasons)

Sivari (Chaotic Good Khajiit)

 

I imagined Sivari as starting out in a farming village in Elsweyr, maybe along the banks of a river near the jungle. She had a younger sister, Dar'cheaynn (My RL sister's character, actually) and for the most part, her life was pretty quiet. When she was around six years old, however, the local Thalmor tax collectors/agents began to get more belligerent. First they accused the village of smuggling skooma, and then went on the accuse them of harboring anti-Thalmor rebels. And one night, they came in full force and basically burned the whole place to the ground. Sivari's mother was able to escape to Cyrodiil with her two children, but Sivari lost her father in the raid that night.

 

Once in Cyrodiil, they took up residence with her uncle's trade caravan, where Sivari's mother took care of most of the cleaning and cooking of the caravan, unwilling to accept charity. She was a bit odd for a Khajiit, and tried to raise her children to be totally law-abiding and good. The fact that the caravan often had to steal food during leaner times and that her uncle taught Sivari and her sister various ways to pick pockets and run cons didn't help much. Disease eventually took her when Sivari was twenty-four, and Dar'cheaynn eighteen. They mourned her, but life continued for the caravan, until the Khajiiti sisters ended up getting between a drunk-off-his-ass Thalmor and the barmaid he was hitting on in a tavern one night. He attacked and got a knife in the gut, and the sisters got bounties on their heads. Without even having time to tell their uncle what had happened, they fled north into Skyrim, got separated in a Stormcloak-Imperial fight, then met up later.

 

Dives-Deep (True Neutral Argonian)

 

Diver's story isn't quite as deep. He worked as a bounty hunter in Black Marsh in order to support his family, but one of his marks found his family first and murdered them. Out of grief, and to save his own skin (for which he still feels ashamed of)) he traveled to Skyrim to do bounty work there. I also like to imagine that he got some training with the Companions, but left when he learned of their werewolf secret, as he despises Daedra. A group of bandits ambushed him at one point, mugged him, and left him barely alive in a roadside ditch. Sivari and Dar'cheaynn found him and bandaged his wounds, and he's stuck with them ever since.

 

[thenobody0]

My character is a lone Breton mage. He enrolled in the Mages College but quickly grew tired of it. He's an animal lover and wants to explore all of Skyrim's creatures. When the Dragons returned he was thrilled and ventured out to study them. He quickly learned that most dragons are hostile and terrorize all of Skyrim. Very few were doing something against this menace so against his will he became a dragon hunter, still in the hopes that the next Dragon he encounters will be different.

Edited July 18, 2013 by thenobody0

[JimCass98]

Well. On my first playthrough of Skyrim, I had an Imperial Battlemage. Sword in one hand and a magic spell in the other. I didn't really think up much of a backstory because I really just wanted to play through the game. However, on my next few characters I did think up the stories. Here are a couple:

 

(NOTE:I'M USING ALTERNATE START:LAL SO THIS IS WHY THE STORIES DON'T INTERTVINE WITH GETTING YOUR HEAD CHOPPED OFF IN HELGEN)

 

Za'Kir:Khajiit Ranger(Retired)

As a child, Za'kir was never particularly wealthy. He lived with his family in Elsweyr, in a small house with his brother and sister and his parents. Although it wasn't an ideal life, Za'kir grew up with great parents. His older brother taught him to hunt, along with his best friend Akhaziir(courtestly of the Akhaziir Khajiit Follower Mod). After Za'kir grew to be a teenager, his father had to leave to go hunting for food. One day, he did not return. His mother and brother were worried sick, so they went looking for him. His sister, Akhaziir, and himself sat down, hoping that they would find Father. Hours later, the door blew open. Mother returned with three other Khajiit, who helped her find Father. They brought him inside the house. He was badily wounded and on the very brink of death. Due to the fact that mother was a Class A alchemist, she whipped up a potion that would heal him. Although they managed to save Father, it came at a price. The Price was the life of Brother. Turns out that Father ran into an Ancient Wolf, bigger than a bear and faster than a Sabrecat. It wounded him badly, and as it was going in for the kill, Mother and Brother found him. Brother sacrificed himself by stalling the Wolf. He was no match for the beast. Luckily, the three Khajiit neighbors stepped in and killed the Wolf, but not before Brother lost his life.

 

As the years passed, Za'kir came of age and decided to become a guard for a Khajiit Caravan going into Skyrim. For about a half a decade, he guarded them. He had been so hoping for adventure. His time came when the Caravan hired a new guard in order to give Za'kir the ability to go adventure. He met up with his best friend Akhaziir, who had luckily made it into Skyrim himself. Him and Akhaziir continued their adventure throughout Skyrim, hunting animals just to make it through the night. They had to work in order to live. But only on that day when he entered Helgen, to see a black dragon flying by, would his life change. Soon after, he woud embrace his destiny as the Dragonborn.

 

Azzan Talib:Redguard Sword and Shield Alik'r Warrior(Current Playthrough)

 

Azzan grew up in Hammerfell, with a rich family. His father was a member of the Alik'r, and his mother was a beautiful women who any man would want to bed. He lived in a luxurious house, with many amenities and a great overall life. His father, however, was always travelling. He didn't see much of him, but when he returned, he would always teach Young Azzan the ways of the Alik'r.

 

As the years passed, Azzan became a talented warrior. He was always big and strong, and could take on an average man in combat without breaking a sweat at the mere age of a teenager. He was destined to become an Alik'r just like his father and his father's father before him. Azzan eventually grew up. At the age of 15, he was premitted to join the Alik'r, due to his outstanding combat mechanics and his father's influence. They trained him, and he soon became the talk of his village. HE was an extremely talented warrior, with skills like no other. Then, it happened.

 

As the family was sitting around the fire in their home, the door burst open. The Thalmor had come to invade Hammerfell. Desperate to protect his family, Azzan's father bought time for Azzan and his mother to flee. He singlehandedly fought off more than a dozen thalmor, but a thunderbolt crippled his leg, making him fall. The Thalmor ordered him to bend to them, but he refused and was then executed by a Justiciar. Sophia(Azzan's Mother) led him to the stables. She mounted him on a horse, and told it to ride off as far away as it could. She said goodbye, and kissed his teary cheek as she went off excepting her fate as a victim to the Thalmor.

 

 

Several days later, Azzan woke up in a secluded desert. He was surrounded by other Redguards. It turned out that they were members of the Alik'r. However, these members were special. They were part of a special unit, used for infiltration. They wore different armor, and were far more skilled than regular Alik'r. Being Azzan's only place of comfort, he trained with these solitary Alik'r, and soon became the most talented warrior of them all. As they planned to pass through Skyrim, the Thalmor attacked. Although these Alik'r were far more skilled, the Thalmor had many more in their ranks. Azzan and his Alik'r brothers fought valiantly, but the Thalmor eventually prevailed. Those who weren't slaughtered, were captured and taken to Skyrim, where they would stand in front of Elenwen, who was presiding over the Executin of Ulfric Stormcloak in Helgen. However, the carriage got caught in a furious thunderstorm, and Azzan broke his binds. He slaughtered the Thalmor, and freed the only 2 surviving members of the Solitary Alik'r. With no family to love, and nowhere else to go, he decided to renounce as a member of the Alik'r and stay in Skyrim, vowing vengeance against the Thalmor, wherever they may be present.

[Roane]

Original character and her clone (due to problems with original's saves caused by my ignorance of how the Skyrim reacts to repeated mod installation/removal)

 

After Martin Septim resolved the Oblivion problem, a good many women claimed their bastard offspring were Martin's. So, Martina takes the family 'history' of being descended from Martin with a grain of salt, like most of her relatives. The tradition of naming the firstborn Martin or Martina persists mostly as a joke.

 

Martina's Imperial mother was wooed and won by a Nord; after his death (in battle, of course), she took her children back to Anvil. Years later, they receive noticed that a farm had been left to them by an uncle. Martina traveled to Skyrim to oversee the sale of the property. However, she's gotten sidetracked. And she now suspects the family legend may be true.

 

Alternate character

 

Nord, born and raised in Cheydinhal. She has dreamed of being a famous, well-respected mage since childhood. The kids gave her the taunting nickname 'Elfspawn,' which she adopted as her surname after leaving home to head to Skyrim, to Winterhold specifically. Where else would a Nord mage study?

 

Unfortunately, she's pretty much an airhead, sweet and kind and gentle, but none too bright. Very forgetful, prone to being 'starstruck' in the presence of greatness. She's the poster child for 'Shiny Thing Syndrome,' so easily distracted it's a wonder she remembers to eat. Elfspawn forgot about telling the Jarl about the dragon in Helgen. Overhearing others talking about it, she decided the Jarl already knew and is far too important for her to disturb. Eventually, she'll get around to apologizing to him, and that will be interesting. Does Skyrim really need a Dragonborn with the attention span of a gnat?

Edited July 19, 2013 by Roane

[modder3434]

I've had many characters over the past couple of years, and constanly changed thier backstory to suit the arrvial of mod weapons, armor and locations. However I did have one charater who stayed consistent.

 

Name: Balian

Sex: Male

Race: Imperial

Alligence: The People of Whiterun

 

Balian was a blacksmith in the Imperial City following the Great War, having been a child thru the conflict, he now was 15 and a man in the eyes of his master and granted leave to start his own smithing business. With a loaded pack, a sword he had crafted and a map of Cyrodil he left the city with a song in his heart headed towards Bruma.

As he was traveling, Balian encountered several highwaymen who attepmted to extort 100 gold from him. On prinicipal Balian declined and was forced to defend himself. Having crafted weapons, Bailian had also learned to wield them, as his master believed that being capable witha blade helped you make better weapons. Because of this Balian was victorious until he encountered a highwayman with friends a mile from Bruma. After refusing to pay, he was beset on all sides and recieved slashes to his face, shoulder, and thigh. He was saved only by a timely intervention of a Legion Forester and a two man Bruma Scouting Party. After thanking his resucers and gettign patched up Balian arrived in Bruma tht evening. Much to his chagrin, while he had been assualted, another journeyman smith had arrived before him and had taken the position of Bruma's Smith.

A few years later, Balian had become quite the adventurer around Bruma and Northern Cyrodil. However he longed to return to smithing as his primary form of income and upon hearign of war breaking out in Skyrim, he headed there..only to be captured and accused of treason. Long story short (too late) he escaped when a dragon attacked with Ralof and made for Riverwood. He did some free-lance adventuring for the various townsfolk and got some work from the villiage smith to forge some more complex armor and weapons for a traveling noble. As the summer began to end Balian went to Whiterun and began working there as a veggie picker, wood gatherer, and worked on some specialty gear that he sold to Warmaidens for quite a few gold. A month after he arived he heard of a bounty for a bandit leader, called Singar the Cycolps. He bagged the leader and upon reaciving the bounty became somewhat famous to the people for his willingness to help, and he has been serving the people of Whitreun since...

[theklorch]

My character is a Breton Mage based on the character from the Night Angel Trilogy

Viridiana(Chaotic Neutral) was born in Wayrest, and, like all Breton children, was tested for magical ability, which indicated that she was enormously talented, especially with Restoration and Illusion magic. She was kidnapped and forced to train as an assassin for the Thalmor, but she escaped, and, wanting to get as far from the Thalmor as possible, went to the Chapel in Cheydinhal to study Restoration. She is a kind, generous person, but she was too emotionally detached from her assassin training to be good at healing others. That said, she is capable of surviving near fatal wounds herself. After leaving Cheydinhal, she went to Skyrim, where she was captured and brought to Helgen. After escaping, she went her oqwn way for a while, completing tasks just for the sake of doing something. Eventually, she was forced to deal with the Dragon Crisis. After the end of the Dragon Crisis,she aided the Blades in their quest against the Thalmor, but never wwanted to become a Blade herself, bbelieving she was too callous and undisciplined for that kind of dedication.

[Amberlyn0007]

My character's name is J'Kiro, he's a Furian the result of a Khajiit father and a Nord mother. He's never had a real home always on the move as his 'existence' isn't taken to lightly, causing him to be an outcast. His father Ra'Jani was a great warrior who'd traveled to Skyrim to rescue a friend from slavers. He not only rescued his friend but J'Kiro's mother as well, Olivie a priestess of Dibella. Their relationship was more than just frowned upon as Ra'Jani was a great warrior from Elsweyr and Olivie was the Sybil of Dibella. Never the less they at least spent the night together, which resulted in the birth of J'Kiro. For five years of his life he'd spent his time between the Khajiit caravans to meet secretly with his father and hidden within the temple of Dibella to stay with his mother. Eventually though they were discovered, on a night when Ra'Jani had returned home to Elsweyr and they'd fled the temple in the night.

The chase given by the locals had trashed the temple killing some of the priestesses within which ended with it being burnt to the ground. When Ra'Jani had returned he'd thought the both of them dead and mourned their loss, dedicating the rest of his life to the warrior life never to return. They had escaped though and found refuge among the Khajiit caravans, hidden among them as one of their own. They'd taken a boat to Skyrim to find refuge and even though it was a hard, often immoral and plagued with misfortune he was content. It was with the caravan he'd spent his life until his eighteenth when they'd run into the ambush set up by bandits, everyone even his mother had been slain and he'd been left for dead. It was this that fed fuel to the fire of his survival instinct, reacting violently to whatever tries to end him or his freedom. He's a survivor and he does what he must to live free.

 

(This of course is a mod story ^.^ still, I luvs it.)

[lolreal]

Zirkhaan: Lycanthrophic Nord Warrior

 

Zirkhaan was born into a powerful werewolf clan, infected with lycanthrophy at a young age. He was taught to feed so that his power might grow, and that he did, becoming one of the most powerful hunters in his clan at the age of 20.

 

It was not long before the Vigilantes of Stendarr attacked his home, and much of the clan was wiped out. Zirkhaan managed to escape with his father and several others, spending several years evading the Vigilantes. He and his kin hid in the wilds, preying on travellers in the dead of the night. Zirkhaan soon discovered that the Vigilantes were not the only ones after their lives, as he witnessed the death of his father and several others at the hands of another group, calling themselves the Silver Hand. Zirkhaan survived the ordeal, developing a deep hatred for the Silver Hand and the Vigilantes of Stendarr.

 

Plagued with the terrifying memories of his loss, Zirkhaan struggled with the beast within him for several more years, close to the point of going feral. One fateful night, on one of his rampages under the fullmoon, Zirkhaan stalked an Imperial scout back to his camp where his predatory instincts immediately kicked in, the beast charged into the camp, wiping out the legionairies while sustaining crippling injuries of his own. Zirkhaan eventually passes out near Darkwater Crossing, where he was found the next morning by Stormcloaks. The Stormcloaks eventually discover the remains of the Imperial camp, convinced that Zirkhaan had single handedly wiped out the Imperials (they had no idea that he was a werewolf) and brought Zirkhaan with them across the border.

 

Zirkhaan eventually regained conciousness, his wounds miraculously healed ,and finding himself bound with several others onboard a cart. Little did he know, that he would soon have another close call with death itself.

 

Well that's my backstory, I probably broke lore more than once here, but I think it makes sense.

 

[Matth85]

Matth, the old one.

Race: High Elf

Age: Unknown

Power: Absolute.

Fighting style: Destruction magic and sword. Battlemage.

Aligment: Himself.

Goal: Unknown.

 

Matth is a character of power and of no aligment. He is a High Elf of extreme power, yet nobody have seen his full wrath.

Matth started his journey in daggerfall. His last memory is of the dungeon he finds himself in. Though something happens, and he gains his freedom.

 

Though his memory is lost. Throughout the game Daggerfall he looks for his identity, but to no avail. What he does find out, however, is his lust for power and his ease of learning the art of magic.

Yet again he finds himself imprisoned, this time it was after a fight against the King of Worms. He is shipped towards Morrowind. His power sealed, yet is does not bother Matth one bit. It's like this was all part of his plan.....

Matth searches the land of Vvardenfell for whatever clue there is, about his past. He knows something is wrong with him, yet can not explain it. His strength regains throughout his journey, and he finds out he is the Nerevarine. A hint at last!

With knew knowledge, he keeps searching, manipulating and fighting. Always making deals with the daedra, always gaining more power.

 

He gets in a fight with a small imperial camp, for unknown reasons. He is sent to the imperial prison. Though something is odd. He smiles yet again, knowing what is going on. Using his arcane arts, he changes his face. His cell is "luckily" the same cell the escape route goes for Uriel.

He grins as he gets out of there, holding a very special amulet. He finds himself at the heart of Cyrodiil. He decides to play innocent -- weak. Nobody suspect his power at all. He search for knowledge, and end up getting a closer look with the daedric princes. In the end Martins sacrifice had a side effect; The manifistation of Akatosh loosened up Matths memory a slight bit. Showing him a little.

Following the next period he goes underground, changing his appearance rather often. Not being fond of the Thalmor, yet never truly striking against them. Though every time the Thalmor was struck, Matth would have something to do with it -- indirectly.

 

He cross the border, hoping to see who this "shouting king-killer!" were, and gather knowledge of this power. As he approach, he is captured together with Ulfric. As they move him towards Helgen, he looks toward the sky and says "*exhale* Today... today will be good."

 

And there we go. As you see, I simply made my character out of 2 concepts:

1. To allow me to use all skills, without it feeling immersion breaking.

2. To have 1 character to use in all games.

I must admit, I have not played him in Morrowind yet, and not enough in Oblivion. So that I must do. Though he got plenty of time in Daggerfall and Skyrim :smile:

His story isn't exactly "lore-friendly", in the fact he is such a powerfull creation. Though he is inspired by many of the elves that lived for thousand of years due to magic.

The concept itself is something I got from Darksiders 1 and Darksiders 2. There is a demon called Samael there. Somebody who is most likely the most powerful demon of them all, yet never shows his power. Nor does he fight for anybody other than himself, and never gives a reason to why he does what he do. It's.. intriguing?

 

Now, what does Matth gain in Skyrim, and what happens then?

"The elder scrolls tells of timetravel. Hmm... Timetravel you say? That surely will yield some information about my past!"

 

Matth

Edited October 23, 2013 by Matth85

[dweldy]

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one nerdy enough to create a backstory.

 

My current character is a Breton Ranger. Not from High Rock though. Her parents migrated to Chorrol before she was born. They owned a small but thriving alchemy shop and she grew up in the highland forest helping her folks gather ingredients and learning quite a bit of woodcraft in the process. She probably would have followed in their footsteps had she not caught the eye of a wealthy young noble and gotten married very young. But the handsome young man was not nearly as charming as he had seemed. When he was drinking, which was quite often, he would fly into fits of rage over nothing and beat the poor girl unmercifully. In one particularly violent fit, and fearing for her life, she stabbed him with a kitchen knife. Knowing his wealthy family would have her jailed for murder, she fled to Skyrim. Where she was sure nobody would care what happened in Cyrodiil. It was her bad luck that she stopped at a Stormcloak camp for a hot meal and a warm bed just as they were surrounded and taken prisoner by Imperial troops. They assumed that she was one of their new recruits who hadn't gotten outfitted yet and sentenced her to the headsman block. You know the rest of the story.