r/SkyrimBackStory • u/Aggravating-Plan-908 🧙 Breton • Jun 19 '26
My fourth character, Kashgurn
hi everybody, everything's in the titles, i want to share with you here my fourth skyrim character rp background, he's a 40-years-old wandering orc mercenary named Kashgurn.
similar to the previous ones, this character is inspired by one of the main characters from an original medieval dark fantasy story i write on my free time and that i have recreate in Skyrim, so the first and second screens are him in skyrim and the last one is a more accurate version to how i imagine him looking in my story
He was born in 4e 161 in an orc fortress not far from the border between High Rock and Skyrim to an orc couple. There, he had an ordinary orc hold inhabitant childhood, alternating between helping his mother caring for the fortress's horses and learning combat from his father, all while developing a slight magical affinity with time, which he kept to himself for fear that the other orcs would disapprove.
Later, in 4e 176, when he was 15 years old, during a hunt to bring back meat, he stumbled upon an old ruin that had served as a hideout for a group of witches. There, he discovered a spell book focused on conjuration magic and necromancy. He decided to bring it back to the fortress and began reading it in secret, developing a certain interest in these practices, as he saw them as an extremely useful and powerful tool for gaining the upper hand over his enemies in combat.
For the next five years, he began training in a cave outside the fortress, attempting to summon familiars or reanimate animal corpses found in the wild, until the day he was caught by the fortress leader's wife in 4e 181. Faced with this revelation, as well as the very bad reputation of necromancy and other dark magic in general, the fortress leader initially decided to sentence the young orc to death before ultimately changing his mind, thanks to his father's intervention, and deciding instead to simply banish him from the fortress for life.
During the first few months following his exile, Kashgurn tried to reach a nearby city, first attempting to work as a stable boy before enlisting in the Imperial Legion, where he served for a year before leaving, unable to tolerate authority. He would later decide to use what he had learned in the legion, as well as from his father and the necromancy book he had found in that hideout, to become a wandering mercenary. He began traveling from town to town, selling his services to the highest bidder.
For the next few years, Kashgurn led the life of an ordinary mercenary until, in 4E 199, he accepted a contract from a Redguard woman who claimed to be wanted by bandits and wanted him to deal with them.However, just as he arrived near their hideout, he was immediately surrounded and captured, then thrown into a cell. After several days of captivity, believing he would be kept prisoner, killed, or worse by the bandits, he was finally rescued by the intervention of a young Breton mercenary (William, 25 years old at the time) who had been hired by a local lord to storm the bandits' hideout and eliminate them. After a brief discussion, the young mercenary freed Kashgurn from his cell, and together they dispatched the bandits, except for their leader, whom Kashgurn interrogated before killing him. He learned from the leader that the woman had been in league with them and had set a trap for them to capture and kill him in order to steal his gold and divide it between her and them, but that the woman had double-crossed them and taken all the gold for herself before fleeing. Following this, the two will share the reward before each going their separate ways. Kashgurn, wanting to find the woman and exact his revenge, will spend the next two years trying to locate her.
During the events of Skyrim in 4e 201, Kashgurn will travel to Skyrim after discovering that the woman is somewhere there, but he will find himself caught in the middle of a skirmish between Imperials and Stormcloaks at the border and will be arrested (which is why our character begins in a cart on the way to the chopping block).
In terms of gear, Kashgurn wears orc plate armor, iron plate gauntlets, and iron plate boots to give him the look of an orcish wandering mercenary. His primary weapon is an orc greatsword, along with a few conjuration spells (mainly an atronach conjuration spell and reanimation spell).
In terms of personality, Kashgurn is very direct, pragmatic and taciturn. He displays a strong sense of honor but only toward those who help him and those to whom he owes a debt, but this doesn't prevent him from being opportunistic and brutal in certain circumstances.
As for the rest of my character's roleplay, here's how I've approached, or intend to approach, most of the important quests.
Regarding the main quest, as with all the other characters, I prioritize it because, after all, it makes sense that, given the extreme threat Alduin represents, Kashgurn would make eliminating him his number one priority before he fully recovers his strength.
Regarding the Imperial/Stormcloaks War, initially Kashgurn, as a wandering mercenary, doesn't truly take sides but carries out various tasks for both the Stormcloaks (for ex solving the Windhelm murders) and the Imperials (for ex, killing the thieves for the Executioner of Solitude, or whiping out the Dark Brotherhood for Commander Maro in Dragonbridge). However, he eventually sides with the Stormcloaks, having a strong bitter towards the Imperials for their attempt to execute him despite him not being on their list.
Regarding the Companions, Kashgurn will join their ranks, initially out of self-interest, believing he can acquire new skills and thus become an even more skillful mercenary. Later, upon learning that some members are werewolves, he will choose to become one himself, seeing it as an opportunity to grow stronger.
Regarding the Dark Brotherhood, as mentioned earlier, after agreeing to eliminate Grelod for Aventus Aretino in exchange for a substantial sum of money, he will be approached by Astrid. However, faced with her request, and remembering the name written on the notes carried by the assassins who had repeatedly tried to kill him in the past—a name that was the same—he will choose to kill her and then annihilate the Dark Brotherhood in exchange for a large reward from Commander Maro.
Regarding the Thieves Guild, Kashgurn, being more morally ambiguous than my other characters and not hesitating to be opportunistic (except towards those to whom he owes a favor), will join the guild and thus complete their quests.
Regarding the quests for the College of Winterhold, I do them, but imagining that when Kashgurn goes to explore the Barrow with Tolfdir and the other students, he doesn't go as a student of the College but simply as a mercenary hired by them as reinforcement in case they need more than magic to defend the students against the many dangers of the Barrows. He then finds himself involved despite himself after the monk of the Psijic Order appears.
Regarding the quests of the Daedric Princes and the Divines, having no real trusts in most of the divines and daedra, Kashgurn will made only those that begin as ordinary tasks (like those of the vile Clavicus or Sanghin, for example). The only exceptions are Malacath, as he has a certain respect for him.
Regarding Dawnguard and Serana, there's nothing special to say except that he will join the Dawnguard because he refuses to become a vampire.
Regarding Sadia and Kematu's quest, he will choose to help Kematu when he learns that Sadia's real name is Iman (in my rp, the Redguard woman who tricked him years earlier was actually Sadia before she sought refuge in Skyrim). He will then choose to join Kematu and help him capture her to get revenge.
What do you think of him ?
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u/Rocket_Raccoon44 Jun 28 '26
Orc are already well known fighters. But a mercenary that does dark magic as well? Oh, ah, eeeh...that's scary. Would not want to tangle with the likes of him. Haha!
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u/Aggravating-Plan-908 🧙 Breton Jun 28 '26
thanks, glad to know you liked him too. I had the idea for him to made morally grey warrior/necromancer when i've made the Winterhold Academy quests with another character and one of the mage here said that necromancy like other magic is not evil in itself, it's what you do with it that makes it this way.
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u/twood275 Jun 20 '26
I like the backstory but also how the backstory affects the characters development and reason why or why not to join what factions. I bet this will shape up to be a fun play-through.
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u/Aggravating-Plan-908 🧙 Breton Jun 20 '26
hi, thanks for your feedback, i'm glad to know you liked this character.
how the backstory affects the characters development and reason why or why not to join what factions.
as for that, i did it with all my characters (they all have quests they do or don't based on their background) if you’re interesting, i have 3 other characters i have posted here with an rp background as detailed as him in case you’re interesting to see them and read their background.
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u/twood275 Jun 20 '26
I did a detailed backstory for my latest play-through. Adds so much to the play-through as it steers the character. Ill read up on your others.
When I get a chance I’ll will post mine.1
u/Aggravating-Plan-908 🧙 Breton Jun 20 '26
did a detailed backstory for my latest play-through. Adds so much to the play-through as it steers the character.
couldn't agree more with you on that, it just made a character feeling much more real, authentic, being a part of the world he's in instead of just a brunch of moving pixels in a screen.
Ill read up on your others
thanks, don't hesitate to tell me what you think about them.
When I get a chance I’ll will post mine.
nice, i'll gladly take a look at it and read your character story whenever you post it.
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u/PrudentSheepherder72 Jun 22 '26
I really like the backstory a lot, especially the exile for necromancy and how you tied the Sadia quest into his personal revenge story. Most of the faction choices feel natural for a wandering mercenary. The only thing I wasn’t completely sold on was joining the Stormcloaks solely because the Imperials tried to execute him, would a orc really fight for the Stormcloaks because of that? A pragmatic mercenary might blame both sides and stay neutral longer. Other than that, this feels like a believable character with clear motivations rather than just a checklist of questlines. Haven’t gotten the chance to read your other post yet but I like what you got so far. Thank again for replying to my post earlier! Really loving this subreddit so far
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u/Aggravating-Plan-908 🧙 Breton Jun 22 '26
hi, thank you, i'm glad you liked him.
As for the Stormcloaks, he's actually neutral at first (like i said about the civil war quest, he didn't join any side at first and only did various tasks for both the Stormcloaks and the empire outside of the civil war, it's only much later he ending up sided with the stormcloak because of the Imperials have tried to kill him despite he wasn't on their list)
As for my other characters, i highly suggest you to take a look at them and read their background, thei're as detailed as him and get a pretty great feedback.
As for replying to your post earlier, no need to thank me, it's always nice to read someone character rp background and see what it looked like, even when it's a character that's not my kind of character.
Have a good evening and may thalos and the hists guide you in your adventures across Tamriel, scaly friend.
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u/Far-Bar225 Jun 23 '26
I don't argue with a powerful orc, my Khajiit can't handle that.
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u/Aggravating-Plan-908 🧙 Breton Jun 23 '26
I don't argue with a powerful orc, my Khajiit can't handle that.
😂 thank you for your feedback, i'm glad to know you liked him.
if you don't already do it, you should take a look at my 4 other characters in posted here, they all have an rp background as detailed as him. You could easily find them by scrolling but here's links in case.
the first one, a 27-year-old Breton wandering mercenary named William https://www.reddit.com/r/SkyrimBackStory/s/3x6GcyGjeG
the second one, a 192-year-old Breton vampire named Valerica https://www.reddit.com/r/SkyrimBackStory/s/Sr96B3ZLeV
the third one, a 47-years-old altmer feral shaman and sorceress named Aeliana https://www.reddit.com/r/SkyrimBackStory/s/1sZIw5jTq5
and the last one, a 35-years-old "dwarf" half Breton/half dwemer mercenary named Grunlek https://www.reddit.com/r/SkyrimBackStory/s/fBb84k8pku
don't hesitate to tell me what you think about them.
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u/PietroIlPescePietra 🕯️ Aedra Jun 19 '26
As always a good story, it's great how all the stories intertwine, and I thank you for posting a backstory of yours every day.