so how did your character end up in skyrim. my current character an altmer by the name of valen septim. he is a travelling spell-sword crossing the border however upon getting put into the carriage to get executed suffered serious head trauma. he lost all knowledge of his skills his destruction and conjuration mastery for example. he gains his memory as time goes by and has regained most of it by the time he kills alduin.

so how did your character end up in skyrim and why? also why did they choose certain skills?

my khajiit was traveling into skyrim, he was selling skooma, he had 23 bottles to sell he heard some talking, assumed it was a neaby village, he went there and it turned out to be the stormcloaks, they asked me what i was doing there that is when i saw the horsetheif (forgot his name, it was the one who tried to escape helgen) he stole the stormcloak horse, then the imperials came, took all of us.

That is my story i hoped you enjoyed it.

She...teleported there...for reasons she will uncover on her own.

Nicolette (From Nobel birth in the Imperial city) was returning to Cyrodill after traveling to Whiterun to pick up a valuable Ayleid Artifact she Purchased from one of the Companions. while she made camp, a young Nord named Lokir offered to give her a Lift across the Border. thinking it would save time she agreed. Suddenly an Imperial Convoy approached, escorting a large force of rebels.. she was named an accomplice of Lokir, and was arrested for Horse Thievery.
she tried to use her family name to be freed, but all that did was have the Legion send a message to her Estate in County Chorrol, and her family quickly disowned her.

after this event, she lost all interest in returning to her birth place, and has used her exceptional Rhetoric skills to become a master Thief and Con Artist

Have two characters now:

360 Meleineth Elbenin: A Bosmer who fled his homeland because of the Thalmor and their purges and made his way to Skyrim hoping to get away from them comlpletely. Found to his disappointment however that their agents are alive and well here which he has been trying to remedy. Meleineth found sword and shield to be comfortable as well as light armor. Using a bow suits him just as well also. He is also a cautious type and tended early in his career to cultivate a silent approach to his enemies which he has mastered. Picking locks he also found to be a necessity since he doesn't like leaving loot behind, he'd sooner leave an arm behind. Sneaking and picking locks however he has never had any formal training in (No Lockpicking perks though stealth is heavily perked up to shadow warrior). He has recieved training from Sylgia in picking pockets in case he ever needs to use the skill but that is unperked as well. Since he became archmage he found it necessary to master a magic skill so he chose conjuration and achieved that mastery (Though it is also nearly unperked) . He loves smithing and enchanting his own equipment (Has mastered smithing and almost done the same in enchanting)

PC Olaf Regnivald: A Nord warrior. Olaf is the Great, Great grandson of the Nord CoC Alan Regnivald who retired after many adventures (NOT including Shivering Isles) and found the area of Bruma to be a wonderful place as he tends to high mountains and snowy wastes. Alan had lived between Bruma and the Imperial city but after going there on hhis adventures found Skyrim and its snowy wastes to be calling him home so he journeyed north after retirement and settled in Riverwood.

Olaf's father however took a different route and traveled south to Cyrodill where he settled near Alan's former home. When the family in the south found out that the family homestead was now available in Riverwood, one of his father's sisters and her husband both dead and with the remainder of the kin scattered across Skyrim Olaf decided to travel north and claim it. (I have the Riverwood home mod). Upon entering Skyrim though he was dressed warmly Olaf found out he was ill prepared for the journey and seeing a number of campfires decided to stop as the day was waning. The camp turned out to be tended by a number of soldiers who called themselves Stormcloaks. He also noted a commanding figure talking with one of hhis men but didn't know who he was.

Of course before Olaf could leave int he morning an Imperial trap snapped shut, killing most of the men and capturing the rest, one of whom turned out to be a Jarl from the city of Windhelm. Olaf escaped helgen with Ralof even though the Imperial was welcoming as he feels closer to his Nord Stormcloak 'Brothers".

Olaf favors a sword, shield and heavy armor and is conversant with a bow. He prefers straight up combat though he will slip quietly into an area if he feels he is greatly outnumbered. He will eventually lean to smithing as well but not to enchanting though he may take up alchemy. He has been gathering ingredients to one day sell in bulk to alchemists but with alchemical apparatus so easy to buy... well he has to have something to do in his spare time.

Edit: nevermind

After becoming a vampire in Cyrodil and refusing to feed on other mortals, he became deranged from the lack of blood and became a recluse. Later he finds the cure given to him a long time ago by the count of Skingrad and one thing led to another and...here we are!

Silvia (My Imperial character): She deserted and murdered her superior due to sixual harrasment. On her way to Skyrim, she was facing some Nord bandits who wanted to do the same. Weaponless, she ran to the ambush Ulfric was. She got stunned and took along. She simply decided to let herself getting killed, as she knew that's basically the same fate that awaits her if she got caught in Cyrodiil. After escaping Helgen and persuading herself that humans, elves and beasts are the real monsters, she became a vampire.

Land of his fathers, and in wartime mercenaries are in high demand, perfect reason for a nord to return to skyrim

My current character, a dunmer by the name of Vulyn Indrano, used the inheritance from his deceased parents to secure passage out of blacklight in the hopes of studying at the college of winterhold.

My character I played the most, my Altmer wizard who wasn't affiliated in any way with the Thalmor, ended up being stuck there whilst researching the Dwemer ruins due to the fighting but he was given more reason to stay than not when he realized just how much the College of Winterhold really needed a proper teacher.

Well, I might as well repost my older post about Conner's background.

TL/DR: Conner the son of my two former Heroes. His father went to Skyrim to stop Dawnstar's nightmares, but went missing, so Conner went to find him, but then DRAGONS!

As for why he fights like he does (Sword + Shield, Bow), mainly it's due to necessity. Like in the above spoiler, the only real skill he improved was his archery, which of course comes in handy fighting things that fly. The sword and shield came later, again by necessity, during the fight with Mirmulnir, when he picked them up from a fallen guard after running out of arrows.

My Dunmer and my Imperial both went to join the Legion and put down the Stormcloaks.

My Khajiit was Skyrim-raised, so he was on his way home.

My Redguard was a sellsword, looking for adventure.

My Nord was just born there (I'm RPing that she wasn't at Helgen).

And my Altmer is part of an anti-Thalmor organization from Summerset, who intends to weaken the Thalmor by eliminating their presence in Skyrim.