After a good two hours of brainstorming, I present to you my latest character...
Name: Gylfi Razor-Wind
Gender: Male
Age: 26
Race: Nord
Height: 6"1
Weight: 158 lbs
Family: Both of Gylfi's parents were Talos-devout Nords who were killed in the great war. As such, is an orphan and didn't know either (he was born in the year the war ended, 4E 175).
Background: Our young, scraggly Nord grew up as an orphan on the streets of Skingrad, southern Cyrodiil. He would spend his days begging for food and, on the rare occasion, eating it. He would sometimes be caught pick pocketing out of desperation but the locals would always turn a blind eye out of pity. He had nobody to call his family and had barely any friends as the other beggars were all too self-concerned. Long story short - he was all on his own. Until...
One day in the year 4E 182, when Gylfi was seven, a wandering merchant passed through the town. The young Nord noticed a loaf of bread sticking out of his pocket and decided to go for it. He was close to nabbing it, but, like with most other events in his life, he failed. The merchant caught him and turned around, striking instant fear into Gylfi's eyes - then, he laughed. He gave him his loaf of bread and sat with him against a wall. The merchant asked about him but he was too busy devouring the food to be able to speak. Afterwards, Gylfi told him the whole (brief) story, from how his parents were allegedly killed to how he'd grown up alone. Something struck a chord with the merchant and he decided to 'adopt' him, taking him around on his travels as he wandered from city to city.
Over the course of the next few years, Gylfi wandered around Cyrodiil with the merchant, stopping at various places to scavenge for anything of value. Forests, ruins, ancient tombs - anything unused was fair gain, as, like the merchant once told him, "Whatever are the dead going to do with gold? Buy some new linen wraps?" Aside from the occasional wild animal or bandit, time flew by relatively peacefully for the duo.
One night, whilst travelling along the edge of a river in the wilderness, a storm waltzed in out of nowhere and started wreaking havoc. The crashing lightning and blistering rain meant they faced a very real danger and they would need to be on the tip of their toes if they were to make it through. The merchant decided to look for cover under a tree but Gylfi advised against it, noting how a simple jolt of electricity could set it alight and burn them both to a crisp. They decided to look for a cave instead, heading towards the bridge which crossed over to the other side of the river. Something inside of the young Nord gave him a bad feeling about crossing yet they had no other option.
His gut feeling proved right and, in the blink of an eye, a bolt of lightning severed the rope at the one end of the bridge. The merchant slid into the rapids below, unable to do anything to help himself. Gylfi managed to grip on to the bridge's side just in time, and, holding on with one hand, he looked downwards. As he watched the merchant's body rush down stream, he was devastated. The one person who he considered family had died and, just like that, he was all alone again. Gylfi eventually managed to scramble across to the other side but passed out on the floor shortly after. Everything faded to black but he didn't care - what was there to live for now?
He awoke a number of days later in a warm bed. At first he was dazed but, as soon as he came to his sense, his sat up and immediately looked around, wondering where he was and how he'd got there. A woman on the other side of the room came over to him and led him down again, telling him to rest. She explained how she'd found him out cold in some long grass whilst she was out hunting. They were in a small mining settlement, located somewhere in northern Cyrodiil. One day, Nott, the woman's name, was about to head out on a hunting trip when Gylfi decided to go with her - he'd become pretty efficient with a bow ever since the merchant bought him one at a fletcher's. Besides, he'd been in bed for too long (about a week) and need to flex a little muscle.
She immediately took note of his skill, being able to skewer deer in between the eyes from a good distance away. On that first trip, he didn't miss a single shot. They headed back to the settlement and, after Nott told her father, the settlement's chief, of his hunting prowess, he was offered a place to stay along with food and drink if he could supply them with leather and meat.
Over the next three years, Gylfi and Nott fell in love and eventually became engaged, with her expecting a child. By this stage Gylfi had become an integral part of the community, renowned for his archery skills and wily charms. Him and his soon-to be wife were extremely close. Anyway, one day, he was out hunting when he accidentally dropped his amulet of Talos (the settlement consisted entirely of traditional Nords). He noticed as soon as he got back to their house but gave it no thought - the Thalmor patrols never ventured this far north and he didn't think he'd be in any danger at all.
At midnight, there was a knock on the door. Gylfi slowly got out of bed to answer it, not wanting to disturb Nott and their soon-to-be-child. He opened the door and, much to his bemusement, Nott's father was stood there. "I think you dropped this..." he said, reaching into his pocket and revealing the amulet. As Gylfi went to reclaim it, he noticed how something was wrong. There was something in her dad's expression. Something was off. He took the amulet back with an air of caution before he noticed them - outside, just peeking into view, their were too shadows, obviously of people pressed up against the wall, out of sight. He could just about make out the hilts on their swords. Realizing what was up, he slammed the door shut before reaching for a chair to barricade it. He awoke Nott but before she could come to her sense, the two Imperial officers had broken the door down and stormed in. They went straight for Gylfi, overpowering him before forcing him towards the door.
Realizing that he husband's life was in danger, Nott rushed out of bed and tried to stop them. She pushed one of the officers out of the way before he regained his balance and pushed her back, albeit with tenfold force. As Gylfi noticed what was going on, he quickly broke free and turned to face her, only to see her crumpled body stacked up against the wall with a large pool of blood forming, motionless. She'd hit her head on the hearth and instantly died. Time had seemingly slowed for Gyllfi - what was going on? After a short while, the grief eventually sank in and he snapped. He unsheathed the dagger from his hip before taking Nott's too and, turning, he stabbed the two Imperials in their guts, incapacitating them. After they fell to their knees, he rushed over to his fiance's body in the brief hope that she'd still be alive. She wasn't and he broke down on the spot, there and then, crying for the first time in his life. Crying because she'd died, crying because it was his dropping of the amulet that had triggered all of this...
After paying tribute to her, he mournfully made his way out of the settlement, heavy of heart and weary of eye. It wouldn't be long before somebody noticed that the Imperials had gone missing and in his current condition, he was no match for anybody. He ran towards to closest city, Bruma, where he intended to stay low for a while. Whilst in Bruma, he caught whispers of something called the Stormcloak rebellion. Apparently there was an uprising up north, in Skyrim...how he'd love to get revenge. Perhaps in the future. One day, whilst sat in the inn, a party of Thalmor walked in the door with a wanted poster. The barkeep who, coincidentally, was also a Nord, noticed that Gylfi was the wanted man and let him slink out the back door. He ran north, knowing that he was no match for them and that Cyrodiil was no longer safe as he was a wanted criminal. Whilst crossing the border he was hit over the head from behind and woke up in a carriage...
Personality: Gylfi is, at best, a charming people's person who's a hoot to be around. Those days, for now at least though, are long behind him. He only has one goal. He's an antiscoail, hate-fueled machine driven by revenge. He gained his speech skills through interacting with shopkeepers during his earlier years. His hatred and rampant desire for revenge comes from his parent's deaths in the war, his shunning by the people of Skingrad as a child and the killing of his one and only love by the Empire. At this stage he is cold and treacherous.
Goals & Ambitions: Revenge on the Empire. He plans on joining the Stormcloak rebellion to achieve this but he doesn't care about the politics - he just wants his way and will do anything it takes to achieve that. However, underneath the doom and gloom, he is searching for acceptance and family. His subconscious is hoping that he can find that in rank with Ulfric's lot. By gaining revenge on the Empire, he will be seen as a hero of the Nords and, for the first time in his life, he will truly have somewhere to call home. Skyrim.
(That was hard to explain, but I hope you get the idea. Aiming for revenge with the subconscious ambition of finding acceptance.)
Likes: He likes hunting, as it gives him a sense of purpose. He also enjoys luxury foods and drinks like honeynut treats and Black-Briar mead, as their tastes are exotic and exciting and very much different from the scraps he was forced to eat as a child.
Dislikes & Fears/Phobias: Even the mighty Nords feel fear. Gylfi is shook to the core by thunderstorms and will never go outside in them, he'll wait it out indoors. He's also scared of bodies of water/rivers and will always try to look for a way around them, only going in/through them if absolutely possible. Both fears steam from that one night with the merchant. The Empire and Imperials are the obvious other things.
Prejudices: Imperials. He thinks they're all weak, cowards. He will only venture into their cities and barter with them if necessary. He looks down on them as scum.
Habits & Quirks: He has a remarkable nose of danger and can tell whenever it is near. This 'skill' was gained whilst travelling with the merchant, as, being a man-boy team with little combat experience, they'd need to navigate around the perils of the wild. He'll loot anything that'll aid him in his quest and this too, stems from the merchant's resourcefulness. Urns, coffins, the lot. As mentioned previously, he also enjoys eating fine food and drinking find drink. He buys it whenever he can, coin permitting.
Other: I have an over-arching plan for Gylfi. He'll start off as a Stormcloak before (hopefully) winning the civil war. Afterwards, he'll begin to regret taking all of this lives - "Was it really worth it?" He'll undergo a change of character here and will try to make amends by helping out, possibly becoming a priest of Mara. His hatred of Imperials will diminish and in its place will be a hatred of the Thalmor, after having learnt about their hand in the war. Beyond that I don't really know, I've got to get there first...
Gameplay: One life character. Master difficulty. Naturally I'll have to be extremely cautious and only venture out when prepared. The other standard hardcore rules of RPing apply, such as eating three meals a day, sleeping, only opening his map indoors/when it isn't raining (wouldn't want it to get damaged), bringing spare clothes, limiting weight and so on. I can't be bothered to list them all.
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That's it! If you've made it this far, I'm impressed. Thank you for reading! I'm going to begin him now and will maybe start a journal/an accompanying fanfic. I'm also considering signing him up to a forum roleplay so if anybody's interested, let me know.