Grognak Ultor-- a Free Skyrim: a Skyrim character backstory

  • I've seen that people have begun to post their characters' backstories so I thought I would make one up quickly, I've never really cared about my characters' pasts in other Elder Scrolls games, I tended to focus on what I was doing and what I was going to do in the game, but now that I am simply obsessing over Skyrim and I have time to formulate a past for my character, I thought that I might as well.So here we go

    Grognak Ultor (yes, that will be his name) was a simple Nord boy who grew to manhood in Cyrodiil, on the outskirts of Bruma where he and his father Bortok lived in the shadow of the Jerall Mountains. There they worked, mining ore at the foot of the mountains to smith weapons and other wares and also cut timbers for their furniture and to keep the fires burning year round. One day they even went into a nearby dungeon to loot the ruins when Grognak was twelve,as they entered his father handed him an ax of fine iron and there, in that dark,dank,dungeon, he killed his first goblin, even at this young age he was more than a match for the skirmisher he saw before him in the dark, he could have just taken it out from behind and the goblin wouldn't have been the wiser, but his father had always told him, "that's a cowards way of fighting" So young Grognak raised the ax above his head, it felt as if it was just an extension of his arm, then he let out great battlecry that seemed to rattle the ancient cavern walls. The goblin swiveled and rushed toward Grognak, but before the beast could lash out with its mace, its arm fell to the cold ground, it let out a shriek of pain, but before it could finish its cry it was cut short as the next thing to fall to the ground was the creatures head. It was one of the happiest days of his life. His father praised him, said he was proud of his strength and laughed a hearty laugh. That was the first time he had seen his father chuckle like that in a long, long time, the last time was when Grognak had tried to cook some venison stew when he was very young, he had seen his mother Ralphine cook it dozens of times as it was his father's favorite. He wanted to try his hand at cooking.The pot boiled over and stew flew all over the kitchen, pieces of potatoes, carrots, and venison chunks spewed everywhere just as his parents walked into the room after smelling the smoke of the cooking fire. His mother just laughed at the sight of her only son covered from head to toe in stew, his father started laughing his same hearty laugh, Bortok could never help but bust up when he heard his wife laughing. Ralphina bent down to Grognak and put her finger to his stew-covered cheek and tasted the concoction," hey! not half bad!" she said.

    That was back in a happier time, back when the Ultors still lived in the the Talos plaza district of the Imperial City. His mother was one of the great Nord artists in all the lands and his father had worked for a local smith at Hack 'n Slash in the market. Grognak's Parents had originally met in Skyrim in the village of Riverwood where they agreed to become bonded as man and woman. Soon after, they moved to Cyrodiil where Nordic art had become all the rage and where Ralphina's work would be very successful. They loved the time they spent together with their son, until one cloudless night Mortus Ivernus, a vampire, stole into the Ultors' house. Ralphina fell prey to Mortus's forbidden hunger, but Bortok awoke while Mortus was still feeding. Bortok rose from his bed and cursed the intruder, then set upon his pale imperial frame. He brought Mortus to the ground with his hands clasped around his neck and squeezed until the wretched life left his body.

    Bortok knew he and Grognak couldn't stay in the city or he would be sent to jail or worse for the murder of Mortus, he was a member of a rich merchant family in the city, and an Imperial. So that night, Bortok packed their things and looked upon his wife's beautiful face for the last time. He took Grognack up in his arms and brought him outside, then he lit a torch and threw it into the house that he had flooded with lantern oil. 

    That is how Grognak and his father came to reside at the foot of the Jeralls, far from any Imperial guards. After that day in the dungeon; normal, happy life seemed attainable again. The father and son lived in relative happiness and comfort for years, until Grognak reached his nineteenth year. His father and he had traveled to town to sell some of their wares and stock up on essentials when a party of Imperial Watch guardsmen entered through the east gate. The man in the middle of the party was clad in golden armor encrusted with what looked like soul gems. Bortok and Grognak looked around the crowd nervously and realized that they were surrounded by Imperial legionaries. Then the man in the ridiculously ornate armor finally spoke(the crowd had fallen silent) " I am the Imperial inquisitor and I carry the blessings and the authority of the Empire, all citizens of the Nordic race are to vacate the city and submit to imperial inquisition you will come with us to the detention camp at Fort Dyreath."

    The Nords--which made up most of the crowd-- were whipped into an uproar, shouting and cursing; one woman even spat on one of the legionaries. At that moment, every soldier surrounding the crowd drew there swords, the archers on the city walls also knocked arrows and took aim on the furious crowd. Something stirred inside of Grognak at that moment, something buried deep inside of his being forced these words out of his mouth" We will never submit you Imperial pigs, you don't have the right to take our freedom from us like this!" The inquisitor made a quick motion with his fingers and an arrow flew from one of the archers on the wall. The arrow sped toward Grognak's he was prepared to face his foe, head on, just like his father had taught him, he didn't budge. Swift as the mountain wind, Grognak's father jumped in front of the arrow to protect his last link to his beloved Ralphina. The shiny, silver, arrowhead sank into Bortok's back as he dove in front of his son. Grognak grabbed his father and slowly fell to his knees. The crowd went from anger to fear as the townsfolk ran in terror from the soldiers that had begun slapping all of the Nords in irons. "Son...you have to run....NOW!" said Bortok, amongst his laboured breathing. "NO! Never retreat! never hide! that's what you always said right!?!" "Forget what I said then, listen to what I'm saying now! You have to go north over the Jeralls. Go to the village of  Riverwood once you cross the border, that's where*cough*.. that's where me and your mother met. Find the Stormcloaks, my friends back in the homeland tell me that they oppose this false empire." No, I won't go without you, I won't give up!" said Grognak, almost yelling. "You have to go!*wheeze* you're special, I can tell, ever since that day with the goblin in the dungeon. You have power, these rebels, these... Stormcloaks, need your power if they are going to change things for us, for all Nords, so this doesn't happen again....never..again." That was it, his breath left him.

    Heeding his father's dying wish; Grognak ran, toward the north gate, as fast as his feet could carry him. The archers opened fire, remembering their leader's previous order. As Grognak ran he knocked over a small weapons stand, he saw a small dagger fall to the ground with a *clang* and quickly snatched up without slowing his speed. One of the guards finally got lucky and an arrow struck Grognak's left forearm, but he did not falter, he did not slow, the words of his father still resonated in his head, he had to run, and not stop till he reached Riverwood!

    He finally made his way through the north gate where one legionary stood posted as a sentry armed with a silver katana. Grognak cursed at him and took the dagger and threw it toward the guard, the Imperial blocked the shoddy dagger with his metal bracer, it skittered onto the ground. The soldier drew his blade and swung toward Grognak, but he had picked up a nearby barrel and blocked the strike. The katana became embedded in the barrel and Grognak tossed it aside, the katana still stuck in the barrel. Both unarmed, the men clash on the ground, rolling around in a frenzied tangle with fists flying until Grognak came out on top of the soldier. He knew he needed to end it, so he snapped off the pointed end of the silver arrow from his forearm and drove it into the exposed neck of the legionary.

    With his path clear, Grognak grabbed up the katana and ran for the mountains. He climbed and climbed and then tumbled down and then climbed back up until he reached the top. There it was... Skyrim, the land of his father, his new home and the place where his destiny would be realized. 

     

    -Yourfather13

    Thanks to anyone who actually stuck it out and read the entire thing, comment and let me know what you thought.

    Skyrimblog rocks!

     

     

Comments

7 Comments
  • Justin j
    Justin j   ·  October 27, 2011
    great backstory. i like the fact that you tied in some major spots from oblivion.
  • Yourfather13
    Yourfather13   ·  October 23, 2011
    I didn't want to speculate on how you get to jail at the time,because I wanted to make the ending triumphant and satisfying. But I would say this, that some of the local guard patrols found Grognak Ultor resting against a large rock by the roadside on his...  more
  • Bayne Valarus
    Bayne Valarus   ·  October 23, 2011
    Great backstory. Didn't want it to end.
  • Batman
    Batman   ·  October 23, 2011
    wonderful story, I was captivated right until the end.
  • Ponty
    Ponty   ·  October 23, 2011
    Yet another great backstory. This Grognak fellow sounds pretty badass :D
  • Blake O'Rafferty
    Blake O'Rafferty   ·  October 23, 2011
    It is a good story, I want to know how you end up in jail though...
  • Yourfather13
    Yourfather13   ·  October 23, 2011
    P.S. I know I said "quickly" but this actually took me like 3 hours to think up and write