u/-Great-Scott-

I know it's a tired trope, but I chose the (modded) starting option "I was attacked and left for dead," and I'm roleplaying that it left my character with amnesia. I'm actually writing my story inside the game as journal entries using the Take Notes mod and I'm almost at 40k words already. Over time as the story unfolds, I plan on revealing more of my history to both my character and to the reader.

The first small bit of backstory has been revealed by the modded NPC Inigo, who told me we were partners working on a job together, hired by the youngest son of a wealthy family to assassinate his two older brothers so he could inherit the family fortune. Unfortunately, according to Inigo, in the process of fulfilling our contract I was killed (or so he thought, hence the "attacked and left for dead" start) and he blames himself for my death.

While I definitely have some plans for how to fill in more of my backstory as I go (flashbacks, strange dreams, recovered memories, people from my past showing up), I plan on letting the backstory unfold as I go. Right now, it's like a blank slate and the seemingly endless possibilities makes it really exciting to keep writing.

I have a large part of what I've written so far posted online, if you'd like to read it, you can find it here.

As an example, here is the first entry from my journal:

Sundas the 17th of Last Seed

I woke up with my head pounding. I didn't know where I was, how I got there, or even my own name. Trying to remember was like looking back into a thick fog. I was lying next to a carriage. Its draft horse was dead, as was a Khajiit man whom I assumed was the driver. Another Khajiit, a woman, was propped up lifeless against a road sign that pointed to two places I'd never heard of: Windhelm and Riften.

Who were these people? Was I traveling with them or did I just get caught up in whatever terrible fate they suffered? What would I say if someone came along and started asking questions? Would they believe me to be the cause of their deaths?

I decided it would be best if I didn't stick around to find out. I quickly gathered what I could from the wreckage: a rucksack, an iron dagger, this unused journal, a fine quill, and a generous supply of ink.

Interestingly, in the pocket of the woman, I found a letter to Tanita written by someone named Lajjan, warning her to reconsider attacking any travelers.

Was Tanita this dead woman? Was she slain while trying to rob this carriage? Was the dead man one of her gang? I'll be on the lookout for someone named Lajjan. Maybe they'll have the answers I need to help me remember who I am.

Weston flooded

This old photograph we found while replacing our oven

I'm creating my character's backstory as I go...