Krom the Nord (First playthrough after 16 years)
Krom is a Nord.
As a child, he lived in a small raider-hunter settlement in the Reach. His clan was a clan of war, plunder, and honor. They rejected scholarly magic and were devoted worshippers of Talos and Kynareth.
His father, Eldrik, chieftain of the clan, was obsessed with finding the legendary sword Stormfang and bringing glory to his people. From an early age, he taught Krom how to fight.
When Krom was nine years old, a powerful tribe of witch-warriors descended upon their village. Their strange sorcery devastated the settlement. Almost the entire clan was slaughtered, while a handful of survivors were taken captive.
Krom and his grandmother, Talis, were forced into slavery. They labored in the cold mountains of the Reach, sleeping beneath the open sky and enduring brutal conditions. The hardship tempered both Krom's body and spirit.
When he was twelve, Talis died from exhaustion and exposure.
Krom's grief exploded into a fury unlike anything he had ever known. With a roar that echoed through the mountains, he shattered the chains binding his hands and feet. The cry awakened the entire camp.
Like a beast possessed, Krom tore through his captors. He slaughtered witch-warriors left and right while carrying the body of his grandmother, fleeing into the wilderness.
Deep within the forests, he survived alone beside her corpse. Unwilling to part from the only family he had left, he buried Talis but kept her skull as a memento.
In his childlike mind, the skull became his companion.
It seemed to guide him, whispering to him in moments of fear and loneliness. It soothed him when rage threatened to consume him. Sometimes it even whispered strange spells, teaching him how to call upon the spirits of the wild to grant him strength.
For years, Krom wandered the forests.
He survived by hunting, scavenging, and fighting like an animal. He battled wolves for territory and food, gradually losing much of his ability to speak. His body grew larger, stronger, and harder with every passing season.
When he was fifteen, a group of Redguard pirates found him fishing along the western coast of Haafingar.
They were amused by the savage boy's ferocity and animal-like behavior. Capturing him was difficult, but eventually they brought him aboard their ship.
The captain, Hashir, soon took a liking to him and welcomed him into the crew of The Kiss of Leki.
Krom's size and savagery made him invaluable during raids and boarding actions. For the first time in many years, he felt happiness again. The freedom of life at sea, the thrill of battle, and the loyalty among the crew reminded him of the values his father had taught him.
Hashir taught Krom to read, improved his swordsmanship, and introduced him to the many cultures of Tamriel.
At the age of twenty, disaster struck.
Near the coast, an Imperial fleet ambushed The Kiss of Leki. The Imperials had been waiting for them.
Hashir and his crew fought bravely but were overwhelmed by the sheer number of legionaries.
Driven by desperation and rage, Krom fought with unmatched fury, cutting down Imperial soldiers by the dozen. Eventually, however, he was gravely wounded and captured.
He was the sole survivor of The Kiss of Leki.
For three years he rotted in a prison cell. His muscles weakened from inactivity while he spent his days speaking to his grandmother's skull, his only remaining companion.
Then, for reasons he did not understand, everything changed.
One day he awoke aboard a prison ship bound for Morrowind.