Nordic Hero Character: Aegon Targaryan

This is my current RP character that I've been using for a while. I've spent a pretty extensive amount of time in designing him and making sure his back story is credible and that it blends well into the beginning of the Skyrim story line. I've toyed with the idea of writing some fiction(fan-fiction, admittedly) based on different elements of Elder Scrolls lore, since there is such a wealth of it. Alas, I haven't really done it because there seems to be no shortage of that type of thing and if I did end up writing it, it would be purely for my own enjoyment. With this character, however, I have thrown together alot of what I was intending to do with the story I was going to write. He is a Nord, though not your average Nord, and he has little foundation to go on other than his will explore and unlock the mysteries of his past. As you will read from the passages below, he was raised and orphan. This give a certain ambiguity that allows a lot of room for the the peices within the game to fit in, but also gives enough descripton and back story to express his motivations and the justify his desisions which, in turn, are MY desisions but I am not thinking with my own mind(pulling from real life, personal experiences) but his through my own...if that makes sense.

That's really what the joy of roleplaying is about: stepping outside of your mind and thinking, moving and problem solving from another's point of view. It not only is fun but teaches us empathy when we can find reasoning for decisions we might not necessarily have made by understanding the factors in which this person conciders when making it. I know I'm rambling at this point, so without further hesitations I present to you the back story to my own personal RP character: Aegon Targaryan(yes, I did get that name from George R. R. Martin's series, A Song of Ice and Fire...tis badass)

AEGON TARGARYAN - THE BEGINNING


* Date/Place of Birth: 4E 179, Unknown

Aegon Targaryan was raised an orphan in the city of Windhelm by two foster parents who had lived there for generations. He spent most of his life not knowing who his true parents where, where they were from or, in turn, where he was from. He generally assumed he was Nord, but of no great lineage or line. His foster parents refused to even hint at any details regarding his past, as well. His foster father was Cerwyn Karstark, who served as Master-At-Arms at Windhelm and also trained Aegon in the ways of combat, which he quickly became very skilled at and showed an aptitude for greatness. However, this is the only respect in which his foster father show much interest. He did not try very hard to become a prominant figure in his life, perfering to treat him as more of a tenant, or apprentice that anything else. This is where his foster mother, Elgred, came in. She showered him with love and affection but not to the point where it softened him or prevented him from becoming his own man. Aegon's foster parents reasoning for most of what they did concearning Aegon was mostly due to their inability to have children. That was they premise for their adoption of Aegon(as they tell him) and would explain their contrasting behavior in raising him. She is closer and more nurturing because she had no one else to give those emotions to, and his foster father knew he would have no "heir"(though they were not house of respect or wealth and Aegon would essentially inherit a small cottage and the tiny patch of land just outside of Windhelm that was their home) but knew that Aegon was not his trueborn son and would never treat him as so.

Due to the neglection of the only potential father figure in his life and his need for one, Aegon eventually became more explorative and searched for ways to be himself and things to hold his passion aside from combat training. He began to wander farther and farther from his home into the woodlands and lush green pastures of the surrounding terrain and soon developed a love of nature and all the activities that come along with it(e.g. hunting, fishing, horseback riding, etc.) He very quickly became an accomplished outdoorsman, capable of reading tracks and navigating in rough terrains, as well as living off the land. He would often, the older he got, disappear into the wilderness for days and return as happy as he could be(much to the dismay of Elgred). As he approached his mid to late teens he took up Smithing, as well. He became an apprentice with the local Smith in Windhelm and spent alot of time developing this skill. However, he never stopped training himself physically and became a excellent swordsman.

One day, when he was the age of 17, he told Elgred he was taking a trip to a local creek to catch fish for dinner. He foster father wasn't home at the moment as he was training soldiers for Jarl Ulfric, whom Aegon never met but heard much about of late(including hearing many call him Ulfric "Stormcloak", which was the name of the local militia determined to make Skyrim a independent province). After saying goodbye he left and began his journey. He started out early in the day because the trip would not be a short one and he estimated he would be able to arrive home just in time for dinner. After spending the expected amount of time fishing he had caught a good many fish and was ready to for the return journey. The sun was setting as the city loomed into view but something wasn't right. Plumes of smoke were rising from the battlements and the faint dim of fighting, steel on steel, could be heard in the howl of the wind. He dropped the fish and ran, checking his hip to make his sword was well in it's scabbard and fingered the string on the bow he had slung over his chest. By the time he reached the gates it was well over. He came to his home to find his sweet Elgred dead, and her body ravaged beyond recognition. He went to the armory where his foster father trained the soldiers and found many of his pupils dead as well, including his foster father. Dropping to his knees he screamed, but it was drowned by the tolling of bells.

What truly happened was an invasion by the Imperial Legion, enforcers for the Empire. They came to destroy the occupation of Stormcloaks that inhabited Windhelm and, most importantly, Jarl Ulfric himself. In the end more peasants and uncapables died and anyone else, a few good Stormcloak soldiers, not least of all Tybold. The Stormcloaks regained control and killed the Imperials and drove what remained of them out of the city. But all this did was enflame the hearts of their most devout and drive Jarl Ulfric to become Ulfric Stormcloak for good and all...

After the sacking of Windhelm, Aegon remained in the cottage for some time trying to pick up the pieces where he could, but many things had changed forever and not only in his life. They city began to change, as more and more recuits came in to join the Stormcloak revolution and the city swelled and swelled with soldiers. The tension mounted to balance the exisitance of commerce and everyday life for it's people and the mustering of an army and resisitance that would be able to size up to one like the Imperial Legion. Aegon, at first, felt an urge to join the Stormcloaks and avenge his foster family but as the resistance grew in momentum he realized that revenge through violence in that means would get him nowhere and there were better ways of fulfilling his destiny. He woke one day and went for a walk through woods he knew so well. Even then he had never ventured too far, but all of the sudden he had a strong desire to go and never come back to that cottage and that city, and so he left and didn't look back.

Over the next three and a half years he explored other provinces and grew more akin to the lands than ever. After first leaving Skyrim he set out east from Windhelm and it was a short distance to the border to Morrowind, though the land was thought to be inhospitable for common folk, especially those who were not Elves. Despite that, he traveled to the northern city of Blacklight and the land around it. From there he struck south and lingered on the western side of the mountain range leading southward from Blacklight, never venturing too far into the heart of Morrowind. Eventually he crossed west again, into Cyrodiil. This is where he spent of most of his time until he returned to Skyrim. Cyrodiil provided a good terrain for travel and beautiful topography. He became involved with a few folk in Cheydinhal and Bruma, prefering to remain in the northernmost parts of the province. He had a few short-lived loves and made a few true friends but somehow his heart was always calling him back to his homeland. Thought he wasn't aware of it at the time.

In the year 4E 201 he was exploring the northermost mountain range just above Bruma, he had recently heard rumor of someone in Skyrim named Ulfric, who had allegedly just killed the High King Torregg(and by "shouting" him to death, no less). This news touched him in a indefinable way but he had no desire to investigate into it. To him, it was just some rumor about a man he never knew from a home he wasn't a part of anymore. He kept to himself after hearing that and walked north to surround himself in nature and sit with his thoughts. He kept walking after a time, letting his feet lead the way, not concentrating on the direction or distance. The rumor about Ulfric was slowly creeping it's way back into his mind and he suddenly cared. Questions appeared in his thoughts like: Why would he murder the High King? What has he to do with the Imperial Legion? What are they planning? These kinds of thoughts went on and on, uninterupted until he heard an unfamiliar sound: footsteps. From a distance he heard the sound of many footsteps, actually, and the crack of sticks, rustle of leaves beneath the many feet. He looked up. "Where am I?", he asked himself. The land around him looked similar, but not familiar. He realized he had traveled a deal farther than he intended to and had no clear notion of how far. The sounds where getting closer and mingled with light voices, but many of them. Aegon ducked behind a cluster of stones and found a viewpoint as to see who these men where.

They went on foot and to his surprise their uniforms displayed the familiar colors of deep blue and a faded brown. Stormcloak colors. "I have crossed the border into Skyrim", he thought with a groan. It was a small garrison of them, yet none he recognized. They seemed to traveling at a leasurely pace and to the northwest. Likely heading to a fort or to invade a nearby hold under Imperial control. For a wild instant Aegon concidered showing himself and joining their cause, but he held back. Suddenly another noise from another direction grabbed his attention. It was not coming from directly behind, but a close enough. The whinny of horse and a loud cry sounded. The Stormcloak soldiers, who were almost on him now, paused and looked around, grabbing the swords from their scabbard and notching arrows to their bows. Like lightning, well armed men in deep crimson armor burst from the surrounding wilderness and attacked the Stormcloak band. Many fought bravely and many and more died. A few were taken prisoner and thrown in wagons that had pulled up from the road when the battle was winding down. Aegon was just thinking he had lingered much too long and got up to retreat back south to Bruma when a man's voice growled behind him.

"Weren't thinking of escaping, now were ya?"

Aegon had just enough time to turn around before he felt the blow to the side of his head, knocking him unconcious and then he knew no more...