I was considering that his father was a scholar working on writing a book about the funeral methods of Tamriel and how the dead was honored in each ancient culture. His father died before he could finish his work, so my character sets off to finish his father's book and makes his way to Skyrim, where he is "assaulted" [lol because phrasing it like that makes it humorous] and is taken to the chopping block.
A dragon appears and he flees in absolute terror, even passing Haldva and Rolof. lol. He finds comfort in ancient ruins and near crypts, but that doesn't mean the dead are very comfortable with him. The dead quickly turn against him at all the wrong times. And he has to flee. He wouldn't be much of a fighter, hiding behind his conjured dead to fight for him and "supporting" them until they get fed up with him.

