I'm having a hard time creating a good back story for my character

[Astrokitten13]

Hello :)

 

I honestly love roleplaying, and it has been going pretty well for me in Skyrim so far, but I'm trying to figure out a good backstory for my new character and I just can't think of anything! It's driving me crazy and I'm not sure why I can't think of anything good enough to satisfy my imagination. Maybe I'm just not all that creative :S

 

Anyway, I would really appreciate it if you gave me any tips or suggestions for my characters backstory. I'll tell you about my character and then we can see where it goes from there.

 

My character's name is Mara, and she was named after the goddess. She suffered through some sort of traumatic event as a young child that made her forget what her real was name and who her real parents were. She can either be taken in by someone, or left to fend for herself, I'm not sure which idea I like more. She has long, raven hair and yellow eyes, and she has a sort of quiet personality and is very mysterious, as you are never really quite sure of what she is really thinking about. She is very strong, loves the thrill of the fight, and she craves adventure and hates standing around doing nothing. She is 18 years old, loves hunting, is skilled in pretty much everything from the warrior branch. She knows a little bit of magic but is not a big-time magic user, and she does absolutely nothing that involves crimes such as thieving or murdering. Although she seems pretty cold and distant, she is actually very is compassionate towards people and wants to be a protector of the public instead of harming them. However, because of the pain that she experienced in the past (I don't even know what it is even) she can tend to lean towards choosing power over doing the right thing, such as when she is faced with choices in Daedaric quests or other things like that. She does have a darker side that she does not show to the people, who all see her as a strong warrior, hero type.

The first thing that I want her to do is to join the Companions as soon as possible, but what would be her motivation for joining them? I was kind of thinking that she used to belong to a different place like Jorvaskr that housed the Companions from a young age (because the harbinger took her in) that housed about 100 Companions instead of just 9 (it would be in another country like Valenwood), but it got destroyed with a dragon attack that signals the "coming of the dragons" (instead of at Helgen) and the survivors were left scattered across Tamriel until a handful of them decided to relocate to Jorvaskr in Skyrim. Mara would die from her injuries trying to make it to Skyrim, but she would enter Sovengard and Tsun would send her back to the land of the living in order for her to fulfill her destiny. Mara would then head on down to Jorvaskr and try to rejoin the Companions, who are now extremely strict about who they let join them ever since the dragon incident. I know that's a lot that I've made up already, but I sort of want to scratch that idea because I don't feel entirely comfortable changing the story of the Companions and the main story (I sort of want to skip Helgen because I'm soooo tired of playing it again and again) and I just honestly don't think that it's the greatest idea out there. She will definately be a werewolf, either before or after I start playing (starting as a Companion would allow her to become a werewolf before I start playing) or she could even just be born as a werewolf.

 

I'm seriously stuck here and, like I said, I would really appreciate it if I could have some ideas here and suggestions or whatever. Thank you :)

[IsharaMeradin]

hmm....

 

I'm just rolling with what you've given and trying to fill in the blanks

 

Part of it is difficult without a chosen race... picking that could help flesh out some details but here goes

 

Mara was born to a wealthy noble family who were tied up in the politics and machinations of their country. One night when she was a little girl just making those few tentative steps, their home was invaded by assassins in the employ of a rival house. Her father fought them and bravely fended them off while her mother charged a young serving girl to take young Mara to safety. As the serving girl ran into the night with Mara staring back at the house over her shoulder, Mara could see her parents stabbed repeatedly and the house set ablaze.

 

Having ran for their lives the serving girl reached the Temple of Mara and in a panic knocked on the door and left poor little Mara alone on the steps as she ran off to her own family. The priestesses soon came to the door and saw little Mara and took her in. They cared for her as best they could and gave her the name Mara in honor of the Goddess who watched over her and brought her to their doorsteps.

 

As she grew, it became clear that the life of a priestess was no match for young Mara and so with a little training in healing magics the priestesses sent her to live with the family of the high priestesses' cousin. It was here that she enjoyed her life the most. She was taught how to hunt and defend herself as well as the more practical arts of cooking and mending.

 

Unfortunately the fates were not with Mara, for one day as she was out hunting she saw smoke on the horizon. That was where home should be. She ran with all haste, but arrived too late. Her adopted family all gone. The house burned. She salvaged what she could and buried the few remains she could find. Then struck out on her own. She headed north hoping to leave all this behind her. Two tragedies, one fresh and the other a distant memory from what seemed a lifetime ago.

 

Hungry and desperate for food, she does the unthinkable and approaches a camp full of strangers. As they are alerted to her presence and are focused on her, the entire area erupts into utter chaos as soldiers rush the campsite, killing any who fight back. Not having the strength to fight, she easily gives in and is bound and put on a cart for a destination unknown.

 

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okay so it still ties in to the whole Helgen thing but I don't know how you'd plan to work around that, but maybe it gives you a few ideas at least for the rest of her backstory

[CasperTheLich]

i'll take a stab here.

 

mara's parents were traveling healers, her father was a retired legion healer & her mother was an alchemist. being followers of mara her parents named their only daughter after the goddess they worshipped and also explains why her parents went around healing the sick and injured. as a child her parents stumbled into a camp of talos worshippers who had been pursued by thalmor soldiers. many people at the campsite were injured and her parents stopped to offer them aid. shortly after they started treating those injured people the thalmor caught up to the camp and started slaying people indiscriminately. the thalmor killed both of her parents brutally before her eyes; however one of the fleeing talos worshippers rescued her from the clutches of the thalmor and looked after the poor child out of respect for the girl’s parents, who had died because they tried to help his friends and loved ones. her new father forced to flee from thalmor operatives escaped by boat to morrowind, then the pair headed north to the island of solstheim. he and his daughter originally hid amongst the untamed wilderness before taking up residence in the legendary mead hall thirsk.

over the years her adopted father grew restless and became fedup with hiding so he headed back to cyrodil and found old friends to put up his daughter while he was gone. he then headed up north to skyrim intending to join the stormcloak uprising. mara didn't want to let her beloved father leave her behind so she followed without her guardian’s knowledge or consent. Her father came upon the stormcloak expedition by chance, just before they fell into the imperial ambush. Her father was killed during the initial skirmish before the small force of stormcloaks surrendered to the imperials.

 

---edit

after some thought i've had an idea about the companions issue

 

her new father fleeing from thalmor operatives escaped to morrowind then headed north to the island of solstheim, where he and his daughter originally hid amongst the untamed wilderness before taking up residence in the legendary mead hall thirsk (the companions reminded me of the nords there). i've made some additions to the backstory.

Edited October 20, 2012 by Invisible Man