InsaneJournal

BEAUTY: How does your character tend to their appearance? Do they wear any special armor or clothing during their day to day activities?

When traveling, the Dragonborn wears a set of light armor. He likes to be quick on his feet. Heavy armor might offer more protection, but it just slows him down and it weighs more. When at home, he typically just wears a white tunic and brown pants with some comfortable boots. As for hygiene, Skyrim is in no short supply of lakes and rivers to take a little swim in. Since he’s a Nord, he runs “warmer” than other races of man so the otherwise cold temperature of the water doesn’t bother him in the slightest. If he has no time for a swim, he keeps a linen handkerchief in his pack which he dampens in stream water to wash away dirt and impurities.

COMPANIONS: Does your character have any close friends or traveling companions?

Not counting crossovers, or his Housecarls, he has plenty of friends and traveling companions in Skyrim to choose from. He’s made quite the network for himself around the province and has at least one person in each Hold that is always eager to travel with him. One of his favorite people to travel with is Teldryn Sero of Raven Rock - a Dunmer battlemage/mercenary.

GOLD: How does your character make their money?

The Dovahkiin makes his money in a variety of ways. Typically it’s through errands and missions he runs for people. But he also acquires a lot of money through fights in the wilderness with bandits, dragons, random attackers, what have you. He loots a lot of gold from old Dwemer ruins and Nordic barrows and catacombs. There’s also the gold he gets from selling unwanted merchandise such as weapons, armor, and spell books.

JARL: How does your muse address royalty? Would they carry out an order at the request of a Jarl?

When addressing a Jarl, the Dragonborn refers to them as “my Jarl” or “Jarl [insert name here]”. Seeing as he has Thaneship over several strongholds through Skyrim, he definitely does a fair bit of work in service to the Jarls of Skyrim. The first city he became Thane to was Whiterun, and the title was granted to him as a reward for protecting the city from the dragon Mirmulnir, which is when he discovered his role as the Dragonborn. He typically refers to Whiterun’s Jarl as “Jarl Balgruuf”.

QUILL: How much writing does your muse do? Do they keep any journals or have they published any books?

A fair bit, though around half of that is for organization, to keep track of all the things he needs to do, and to reflect on the things he’s done already and what steps to take next. The other half is a lot of him documenting his experiences specifically as the Dragonborn and how it affects him, personally. Dealing with the sossedov (the inborn power & nature that comes from the dragonblood), writing down his experiences with Dovahzul (the dragons’ language), a written “check and balance”, if you will. Paarthurnax warned him about the things he would feel, so his “Dragonborn” journal may serve as a sort of memoir. He may publish it, as he realizes it would be a major artifact of history when he’s finally passed on to Sovngarde.

READING: Can your muse read, if they then what’s their favorite book?

He can in fact read, and you’d be hard-pressed to find someone in Skyrim that can’t - even among the lower class. A lot of people in Tamriel are staunchly religious and worship the Eight/Nine Divines - one of which is Julianos. Julianos is the God of Wisdom and a patron for the literary arts, so education is taken very seriously in Tamriel. There are even childrens’ books (such as Kolb & the Dragon), which is a pretty strong piece of evidence to support the idea you go through some form of education. It’s likely our equivalent of homeschool. A few of his favorite books are “Living with Lycanthropy”, “On Stepping Lightly: The Nordic Ruins of Skyrim”, and “The Book of the Dragonborn”.

WAR: Has your character ever fought in any wars? If they haven’t then what’s their opinion on the current affairs in Skyrim? Do they back the Imperials or the Stormcloaks?

He fought in the Imperial Legion during Skyrim’s Civil War. He doesn’t like the Thalmor or the Aldmeri Dominion any more than the Stormcloaks, but the difference between him and the Stormcloaks is that he realizes more than anyone in Skyrim that the Thalmor are to blame, and not the Empire. The Empire did what they had to do to preserve the lives at stake due to the Great War. It was either that, or refuse and be completely overpowered by the Dominion’s forces. The White-Gold Concordat is not an ideal situation, but signing it at least kept the Dominion from obliterating Skyrim and her people without mercy. Though he may only be a Legate of the Imperial Legion, he’s also the Last Dragonborn and has quite the vendetta against the Dominion.

ZZZ: How soundly does your muse sleep at night? Is there anything they fear within the darkness?

As a healthy person, he gets as much sleep as he possibly can. If he is traveling and doesn’t already own property in whatever stronghold he’s passing through, he’ll rent a room from an inn. He typically sleeps rather soundly. When he was afflicted with Lycanthropy, he didn’t get much restful sleep at all. His “bedtime” varies each night but he tends to rise just after the sun has come up over the mountain ranges.