I would really enjoy reading about people's backstories

My current character, http://www.truancyfactory.com/mods/skyrim/images/lunalor.jpg, is a female Dunmer, created specifically to become a vampire. I'll warn you ahead of time that the story is very dark, to justify her later decisions.

Lunalor is an only child from a once wealthy and powerful branch of House Indoril in Mournhold. Her parents were very old when they had her, and both her father and mother were deeply religious and pious. She was raised by a nanny who dabbled in 'black alchemy', and though the nanny never shared her secrets with Luna, being a bored and inquisitive child, she often spied on her nanny as she brewed her potions late at night. Luna, unstable to begin with (too much inbreeding, probably), quickly descended into madness and used to stage elaborate and 'tragic' death scenes with her dollies: one day, a man might murder his wife, another, an entire family might die of the plague. On sunny days, Luna would practice archery on her dollies in the courtyard. When Luna became a young woman, she murdered her mother and father in their sleep by cutting their necks with a poisoned razor. To avoid suspicion, Luna showed the authorities her nanny's collection of poisons and black market ingredients and the old woman was blamed for the murder of Luna's parents. Naturally, Luna attended her nanny's hanging.

Luna was taken into custody by her uncle, who was not a fool like her parents. He didn't trust Luna at all and believed that she was the one behind her parents' murder. He hired some thugs to kill her en route to his estate, and to make it look like a bandit attack, but Luna escaped, receiving a nasty scar in the process. Her uncle knew that she would try to flee Morrowind, so he notified the Imperials to be on the lookout for her at the border. Luna did indeed attempt to make an escape and was apprehended. Luna is currently trying to lay low and avoid assassins and generally sleeps in caves and dungeons. The people of Skyrim are her new 'dollies'. She does her best to keep up her archery practice.

I have a whole http://j-u-i-c-e.hubpages.com/_esforum/hub/skyrim-interesting-character-builds submitted by readers for one of my articles. It's well worth reading the comments. There's some interesting stuff in there.

Name: Marcus Black
Age: 24 years
Race: Breton of High Rock
Class: Vaquisher/Wanderer
Appearance: Rather tall for a Breton, he always felt out of place towering above his smaller, less imposing kin. Slim, but strong with a seemingly melancholiac demeanor, though his mind is sharp and his combat ferocity nothing less than devastating when ignited.
Personality: Quite pessimistic but not at all an evil man. Capable of great bravery and affection but rarely shows it. An opportunistic survivor above all else now. Won't hurt or kill people for amusemant.
Background Information: The last remaining member of a royal family from High Rock that was stripped of it's nobility and dissolved into nothing. Exiled from his homeland of High Rock after tauntingly being given the choice to fight his conquerors or flee, when issued the challenge of trial by combat he uttered the words "I have nothing left to fight for.." and was never seen in High Rock again,
Skills: 2h sword, crowssbow, heavy armor, block


Notes:
- Was able to escape High Rock with a sack of gold pieces and the ancestral blade of his Family's house "Spellfire"
- Fled High Rock and is now looking for a purpose in the world, some small part of him burns to avenge his family and reclaim their land, but he buries the notion, aware of the absurdity since he has no true allies or power, save for himself and the steel on his back.
- Traveled throughout Tamriel, serving in local militias and carrying out small tasks for a living. During this time he spent his days in the employment of the common folk, hunting low-life criminals and fugitive prisoners with the blade of his House, constantly reminded of the menial business he was carrying out with a blade of such royal status, as such he is humbled several times.
- While living in a very small apartment on a forgotten street in the Imperial City of Cyrodiil he learns of the Stormcloak Rebellion. (why this is motivation is my main problem, I'm hoping to tie something in with who deposed his family back in High Rock)
- Lost everything, including Spellfire and all but the clothing on his back when he was captured by Imperial Soldiers and falsely accused of being associated with the batallion of ambushed Stormcloaks that were marching nearby his camp.
- Escaped custody of the Empire and beheading, seeking a way to prove his innocence as he is now considered a fugitive. Considering joining the Imperials and fighting in the Civil War to gain favor, but is wary of showing his face in any major holds as it'll most likely result in his immediate beheading.
- Looking for his family's sword to regain some small honor. Figures it's in the Imperial Capital.

---


Now, this is where I'm stumped. I tried to read as much as I can on the Bretons to get a sense of what my pre-dispositions to the races of Tamriel would be. I'm having the most trouble with figuring out who would be responsible for over-throwing my characters family and taking their dynasty's valuables. One half of my wants it to be a politcal coup orchestrated by another Breton family, and another part wants it to be a raiding party of Nords that had been watching the family's keep for some time and sacks it in the night, their leader challenging the last-surviving 15-year-old boy of the house to a duel to the death, which he declines and flees from.

Also, why I'd be heading to Skyrim is another part that I'm having trouble with. At first I wanted it to be a situation where the Skyrim Civil War would be an opportunity for my character to weaken Nordic position and set up the cards for re-taking his family seat. It's very tough figuring out a reason for me why a Breton would be traveling to Skyrim.

pointless spam removed

I actually started writing a short story around Raven and a couple other characters of mine....but its far from polished and I'm embarrassed to post it! So, .

I will say however that Raven was born Branwen of Rorikstead before the civil war. He elder brother Ulthane left to Whiterun as a teenager to apprentice as a blacksmith, leaving Branwen to pick up his chores in the small town. Her parents were both priests of Talos who had stopped by on a pilgrimage, and decided to stay for a number of years and help the farmers. Eventually Branwen came of age and decided to take up the cloth and go on her own pilgrimage. She journeyed to Cyrodiil, making as far as Bruma, where she heard the news of Ulfric's rebellion. Returning home she is picked up by the Imperial raids, but makes good her escape before they arrive at Helgen. She returned home only to find that shortly after she left her parents were arrested for Talos worship by Imperial soldiers and taken to Solitude, where they were publicly beheaded with several others.
Her story slowly goes further down hill from there, and she becomes quite the villain. At least in my opinion, lol. Thief, Assassin, Vampire Lord, and actually enjoys her new line of work.
Her brother goes opposite her and becomes a heroic person. He has ties with the companions, and was given "the blood". At the time of the rebellion he joined up with the Stormcloaks and fought alongside a few of his Shield-Brothers, until the civil war came to a stand-still and his pledged term of service came to an end.

Mind you, this all takes place over the span of several action packed years .

This is one of my characters Dax:

Dax Meltone is a Breton from High Rock, he grew up in Shornhelm with his mother and father, who were quite rich as his father was a nobleman. He never knew how his father became rich, but that he was in the trading business so his father was gone for weeks at a time. His father was not a faithful man as he slept around, resulting in Dax having a brother he does not know about in Northpoint named Dris Meltone. The two are only months apart in age as while Dax's mother was pregnant with him his father slept with the other woman in Northpoint. Dax studied magic throughout his childhood, and most of his teens, and then when the Civil War broke out in Skyrim he decided he wanted to join the Empire so he decided to head Cyrodiil to join the army.

While travelling through High Rock his carriage was attacked by a werewolf, and knocked over. The werewolf killed the driver, and as Dax climbed out from under the carriage and drew his silver sword, the werewolf leaped on top of him. As the wolf leaped on him he lunged the sword through its heart, but not before the werewolf scratched his shoulder. Dax moved the werewolf's body off of him, and got up only to fall back down and pass out, after three days Dax was awakened by a strange dream of a person in the distance changing into a werewolf, and he noticed that the person was him. After realizing that he was now a werewolf, Dax knew he could not return home so he wrote a fake letter from an anonymous person saying that he buried Dax's body after finding it mangled from the werewolf attack. He did this so someone would find the letter and tell his mother and father. After experiencing his first transformation, he decided he would continue his journey to Cyrodiil, not to join the Legion, but instead to look for those he called "his kind". He made his way into Cyrodiil, and looked for rumors of werewolves in Chorrol, but was unsuccessful, so he moved on and headed south to Skingrad. He was mesmerized by the beauty of Skingrad, and decided to make his home there while he searched for other werewolves.

He was unsuccessful, until one morning after a full moon he woke up naked next to a woman named Alyssa. She explained that she was a werewolf also, and he quickly grows to trust her. After spending some time with her she reveals she is part of a group named the League of Shifters, a group of werewolf assassins, she convinces him to join and they began to train him in Illusion magic as they believed fear and deception to be powerful allies. After months of training he was told to assassinate a rogue thief, but refused as the thief was trying to help people, as a result the leader of the League of Shifters, Rerlas Gulitte, attempted to kill him but was stopped by Alyssa who burnt the Sanctuary to the ground. She saved Dax at the last minute by pushing him out of the secret entrance door, and that was the last time he saw her. Thinking Alyssa was dead, Dax moved back to Skingrad for a year before he finally decided to use his gifts to fight for the Legion, and when he heard that General Tulius was in Skyrim he left Skingrad, and made his way to Skyrim.

pointless flame removed.

We apologize sire for having an imagination and not having a boring mind! Please, we're not worthy of your presence! You should go somewhere else and be almighty powerful there!

RPG - Role-Playing Game

If people are not interested in the background of other player's characters, then please find another thread. Posting off-topic spam or pointless flames isn't a good idea.

I truly regret my inappropriate expression. I am not trifling.

I like to tie in all the games into one story, so I thought it'd be nifty to make all my characters one family.

Currently for Skyrim, I play as an Argonian named Zeekar Black-Bone, "The Champion of Skyrim." His father, Z'tar Black-Bone, was known as "The Champoin of Cyrodiil." Which, should be obvious, is the character I play for Oblivion. "What about the age factor for the two?" Well, I thought it was clever (or just a good idea) to include vampirism. In the PS3 version of Oblivion (what I initially played on), there is a glitch that makes curing vampirisim an impossible task. So, I thought incorporating that to the family story would be a fun idea. "But Zach, doesn't that mean Zeekar would need to start as a vampire?" Well, possibly. But the Black-Bone family believes in free will and choice. So it's tradition for any child to be born of vampirism (or a similar disease) must be cured at an early age so the child may grow and make the life-altering decision for themselves. It seems that each installment of the Black-Bone family begins to realize their destiny after imprisonment, and each are destined for glory and power. I have yet to play the first three Elder Scrolls games, so the legacy will be built on in the future.

With that said, how about the actual story?

"Zeekar Black-Bone, born of Z'tar Black-Bone, lived an almost dull life. Raised by his father, 'The Champion of Cyrodiil', Zeekar heard much about the Black-Bone family legacy and his father's adventures. Throughout his life, he was told often of an unknown destiny he must fulfill. 'Every son of Black-Bone since my great-grandfather has rose to create a legacy for our family. Each gaining power and defending Tamriel from what evil challenges it's peaceful existence. You, my son, will also rise one day to defend your home. Black Marsh, Cyrodiil, Hammerfell or whatever land you wish to call such. Your people will look up to you, need you, rely on you and entrust their lives to you. But you, my son, will destroy this evil. And you will one day rise and call yourself a true hero.' His father spoke frequently of this vague and yet exciting prophecy. As the child grew, he became more restless to discover his potential. Leaving home at the early age of seventeen to wander Tamriel. Many times being arrested and imprisoned for many different crimes. Sometimes intentional, sometimes accidental. Yet he never did find the tale his father spoke of. After years of searching for an adventure that almost never seemed to come, he had almost given up hope. Traveling north along the border of Skyrim, he was ambushed trying to cross the border. With nothing but the rags on his back and exhaustion from years of searching, he gave no fight and was quietly imprisoned again. After a short ride from the point he boarded the carriage, he realized what was intended for him and those with him. The chopping block, to him, signaled the end of his quaint life. Figuring the legacy ended with his death. Regreting he could not make his ancestors proud. But, then something unexpected happened...

And so begins the tale of 'The Champion of Skyrim.'"

Some good stories in here. Interested in reading more of them.

Although I do some minor role-playing, I don't often create long back stories before starting a character. It usually takes me some time to play the character and really recognize what path I want to take them down. Knowing that helps me create their history.