I am going to make a new character utilising a race, play-style and perk set I have never played with before. I am going to play as a Dunmer assassin/thief who utilises Illusion for the stealth spells and the ability to cast all spells silently, Conjuration to summon a bow when necessary and One-handed for the use of two daggers. I need some ideas for a role-play. I am thinking of making him an immigrant from the eruption in his homeland. I also want ideas as to how I can do both the Dark Brotherhood and Thieves' Guild quest as these two factions have opposing ideals on violence and I want to role-play accurately from the lore.

Also, can anyone offer any tips to make sneaking more enjoyable as my last attempt certainly wasn't?

He could've grown up in post-Red Year Morrowind, when everything was in chaos. He learned to make a living in any way he found possible, whether that meant stealing from everyone he could, or killing people in back alleys for their possessions, or killing people on contracts. His reason for going to Skyrim could be to run from the law in Morrowind, and go into hiding. However, he was picked up on the way (explaining why he was to be beheaded), and tossed in with the other criminals. Once he escapes Helgen, he could join both the TG and the DB just to get the good money they pay.

Edit: How have you previously tried sneaking?

Thanks for the suggestion. I will work out a proper RP story later. What are Dunmer views on the Empire, Dominion and what is their religion?

The Dunmer, historically, have not been large supporters of the Empire. Judging by the Dunmer in Windhelm, though, they support the Empire more than the Stormcloaks. The tattered remains of Morrowind are still part of the Empire. The Dunmer hate the Dominion, too. Traditionally, the Dunmer worship the Daedra, mainly Azura, Boethiah, and Mephala.

Aren't the Dunmer mer like the Altmer and Bosmer, so why do they dislike the Dominion? Also, which city would a dark elf most likely settle in? I thought the Daedra were evil also?

The Dunmer don't worship the same gods as the elves of the Dominion. The Orcs are elves, as well, and they don't support the Dominion, either. The Dunmer don't have a good history with the Altmer and Bosmer, either, mainly due to the difference in worship.

I'd say Riften, if only because of its proximity to Morrowind. It also houses the Thieves' Guild, so that's a plus.

Edit: Most of the Daedric Princes are considered "evil" to the people of Tamriel, but there are Good Daedra. The Dunmer worship the three Good Daedra that I mentioned earlier.

Okay. What quests so you recommend?

TG and DB, like you said. At least do the Daedric quests for Azura, Boethiah, and Mephala. I'm not sure of any specific ones you'd want your character to do. Plus, I don't remember a lot of quests, to be honest.

Thanks. So, do you have any quest recommendations and also how long ago was this eruption in Morrowind? What exactly happened?

Perhaps you could do any quests you can to help out fellow Dunmer, like helping out that merchant in the Grey Quarter with his stolen merchandise problem, or helping Brand-Shei with finding out his parentage. The Red Year occurred about 195 years before Skyrim, if I'm remembering correctly. However, as the mer live longer than men, your character could easily have been born in the year or so after the Red Year and still be alive by 4E201. The Dunmer used to worship 3 demigods known as the Tribunal. The three gods were named Vivec, Almalexia, and Sotha Sil. They got their power from the Heart of Lorkhan (Lorkhan was the god-creator of the universe). At the end of the game Morrowind, the player destroys the Heart, so the Tribunal begin losing their power. Vivec had been using some of his power to hold up an asteroid that had fallen towards Morrowind, so, after he began losing his power, he disappeared, and the asteroid fell a few years later. It created a huge crater, and the shockwave from the impact caused the Red Mountain to erupt, blanketing much of Morrowind in ash. The Argonians took this opportunity to invade Morrowind, as revenge for millennia of the Dunmer enslaving the Argonians and Khajiit. The Argonians kicked the Dunmer while they were down, and annexed the southern part of Morrowind, and left the rest in ruins. By 4E201, Morrowind has rebuilt somewhat, but it's still very poor and ruined.

So, from a RP perspective, how old should he be?

Around 190 or so would probably be good. You could even make him around 200. Brand-Shei is a Dunmer who is 195 years old, and he still seems pretty young. Mer can live for hundreds of years, as long as they make sure to get to a healer every once in a while. Powerful mer mages can even live for thousands; Divayth Fyr from Morrowind was a Dunmer who was over 4000 years old.

Edit: You could make him younger, if you wanted. He could have grown up in post-invasion Morrowind, as it still would've been a horrible place to live for a while after everything, while they were beginning to rebuild.