As I am about to trek into Morrowind for my first time on my PC, I'd like a little help on history for my character. See, like Oblivion, I like making a coherent backstory and personality for my character before I hop into the game so I can make influenced choices from the get-go. Did it for Oblivion, made the whole deal that much more fun.

But I've finished F:NV and learned the valuable lesson of learning your lore before you make a character willy-nilly, because that whole trip went sour when my backstory for my character started to severely contradict lore (such as: in lore, character went to Utah and has no idea what the hell a fish is. In backstory, character never left Nevada and is perfectly knowledgeable on the topic of fish). So I had to scrap that character. Don't want to do the same here.

So to sum: before I make my male Dunmer, I'd like to know from those who have played Morrowind: is there any specific history factors that are already established in the game? (ie: in Skyrim, you start off as a prisoner of war who was caught crossing the border, in Oblivon you're a prisoner who did an unspecific crime, etc?) Spoilers are okay.

Hello!

In Morrowind, you are a prisoner being shipped from the Imperial City to Morrowind for an unspecified crime. Your parentage is uncertain, and you are considered an outlander whether or not you are a Dunmer. I don't think anything else about you is specified, at least that I can remember.

That said, if you want to have an established family line or something else that contradicts the premise, it's not too hard to suspend disbelief. I always enjoy the drama of pretending I'm a temple priestess who's been sent by the ministry of justice to infiltrate the Nerevarine Cult and Dissident Priests, only to start defecting as I learn more. Why do they call me "outlander"? Well perhaps I'm faking an accent as part of my cover.

Enjoy Morrowind, it is truly something special.

There's really not a whole lot that's established about your dude or dudette in the beginning, other than that you're an outlander, and you were a prisoner for an unknown crime and the Emperor specifically released you for something, which you find out about during the main quest.

EDIT: Why do these forums not have a thing saying someone's posted while making your post...

Any reason as to why you were in the Imperial City in the first place? And why are you going to Morrowind specifically? And what do you mean by "uncertain"? You don't know who your parents are?

Right. It is a specific plot point that your star-sign is known, but your parentage is not. They don't tell you what your crime is or what you were doing in Cyrodiil. You are sent on a prison ship to Morrowind on the order of Uriel himself, for reasons you will eventually discover...

Okay. So I don't know who my parents are (is that just a thing or is there a specific event that happened that made you forget?) by I do know my star-sign (which I can pick?). Okay.

So I could say Mr. Star Sparkles was born under the sign of the Shadow in Chorrol and lived in a wooden box but doesn't remember anything about his childhood and one day he stole too much cabbage from the Count of Skingrad and got shipped off to Morrowind and that would make sense in lore canon?

Also, what would a realistic age zone be?

Haha well it wouldn't contradict anything.

Whether you were orphaned or abandoned or had amnesia isn't specified.

No reason is given, but it's part of the Lore in the story that you came from "an uncertain parentage." It's not a big deal though, you can roleplay around it easily.
And yes, you pick your Birthsign during character creation.

It does. You might have just missed it, as the notification fades away in few seconds.
Either way, you can always refresh the thread to check

You can be as old or as young as you like. (Well obviously there are no child meshes in Morrowind, but you know what I mean...)

Wait, I suppose you'd have a bit of lore-trouble if you were older than...um....3543 years old I think?

Har har.

You laugh, but I'm serious