LE A beggar PC?

[ClonePatrol]

I've never really liked how at the beginning of the game PCs seem like they've been septim-less beggars up until that point. Yes, at the beginning of the game you're a prisoner in Imperial custody, and when you're arrested in game your things do get taken, but I always found it odd that the PC can never try and get any of the stuff they presumably had back. In Elder Scrolls games the Imperials and city guards always hold on to that stuff so they can return it later.

 

Unlike in the last couple games the PC in Skyrim seems to have just entered Imperial custody when they arrive in Helgen, rather than having been in it for who knows how long. In Morrowind you're fresh off a ship from Cyrodiil, and in Oblivion you're in the Imperial Prison, suggesting you've already been sentenced for something and have been in custody for at least a decent amount of time. The PC in Skyrim however was caught in the ambush the Imperials were laying for Ulfric Stormcloak before Ulfric arrived, and ended up on the same cart with him on the way to the nearest Imperial outpost in Helgen. The Imperial Hadvar (if saved) even says that you likely wouldn't have been sentenced to execution if you weren't on that cart with Ulfric. Even if they took your things and bound you before Ulfric arrived, they should still have your stuff handy.

 

As an aside, I seem to recall hearing somewhere that the PC was illegally crossing the border into Skyrim, which seems incredibly weird to me. Is crossing the borders of Imperial provinces regulated in Cyrodiil? Or is the border only supposed to be locked down while the Stormcloak Rebellion is going on in Skyrim to keep it from crossing over? It always made more sense to me that when the PC came across the Imperials setting their ambush they were taken in to custody on suspicion of being a spy, as the Imperials had to make sure they didn't warn the Stormcloaks. If they thought the PC might be a spy it would also make more sense that they were sentenced to execution. The PC, not actually being a spy would have had little reason to resist the arrest, if nothing else they'd get a free wagon ride to Helgen where presumably if no proof was found that they were one they'd be sent on their way. Why would they think they'd be taken straight from the wagon to the headsmen's block?

 

Essentially what I'd like to see is a mod that allows the player to return to Helgen at the beginning of the game to try and get some of their stuff back. I don't mean super-great items either, just things it'd have been reasonable for a low level character to have had before being captured while crossing the Pale Pass from Cyrodiil into Skyrim. Low level armors, some septims, etc. Maybe the loot could have to do with whatever guardian stone is active, or maybe it could be an assortment of things and not just the PCs stuff.

 

This could be as simple as sticking a chest on a burned wagon named similar to the ones in prisons, or an entire quest that involves why the character showed up in Skyrim in the first place. I always figured the character must have had some reason for entering Skyrim, but it's never really touched upon. The PCs motivations for coming to Skyrim need not be complex: they could be an adventurer seeking opportunity in a new area, they could have received some kind of vague communication telling them to go there, etc.

 

Adding a little bit of back story could involve an NPC, journal, note, or letter in the chest along with the PCs stuff. If it was a journal, especially one that seemed to suggest the PC was innocent, it would make sense that the Imperials hadn't read it yet as they were busy with other things and that the PC wouldn't have been too worried initially about being arrested by them.

 

Personally, I always liked the idea that somebody sent the PC to Skyrim on purpose just like in the last couple games. My WMG on this is that it was the Nerevarine, who according to lore was last heard to have left Tamriel to go to Akavir (the very name of which means 'Dragon Land' in the native Akaviri tongue) for unknown reasons. Or maybe one of the Daedric Princes, Azura the Prince of Dusk and Dawn would be the most sensible choice as her sphere of influence is periods of transition and change, which is pretty much what all of the games involve.