» Fri Aug 12, 2011 10:30 pm
THE BITTER OLD DUNMER SURVIVOR
An old Dunmer character who met the Nerravarine as a child, survived the Oblivion crisis, and the slow apocalypse on Vvardenfell between the time of Oblivion and Skyrim. He was a forward thinking youth, and vehemently against slavery. However, to the Argonian van he was just another Dunmer. They killed the remainder of his house put him into bondage and sold him into slavery himself. So now he sees Argonians as treacherous, cold, and perhaps deserving of their former predicament as slaves.
THE POST COLONIAL ORCISH PHILOSOPHER
He comes from a half wild remote mountain clan who's brutal tribal existence was changed the day Imperial Surveyors showed up. Turns out they lived right on top of an iron mine. They put up a little resistance but were subdued and dispersed. Living in the wilds with his shaman uncle, he was taught that freedom was a privilege, not a right, and bestowed only on those strong and wiley enough to seize and maintain it. The defeat of his clan was divine punishment to show the Orcs that they had crown weak and complacent. Strictly speaking, he is not a racist, but he has disdain for those unable (or rather unwilling) to live free by the strength of their own arms and minds. This is usually mistaken as racism towards those races most victimized by slavery.
THE IMPERIAL TRAITOR
(this one will really depend on how the Skyrim backstory unfolds)
So Skyrim is in the middle of a civil war and the Empire is losing its foothold in the territories. An Imperial officer stationed in Skyrim has been "going native" for quite some time. He and his men have spent so long with the locals around their small fortified post they consider it more "home" than their former homes in Cyrodil. Some have even married Nord women. Unfortunately, their post was on the wrong side of the civil war. The Empire has taken sides. Orders have been given to dispatch and disperse the town and provide assistance to an incoming group of hostile nords. The officer and a few of his men break rank and refuse their orders. A brave stand is made and they are soon overwhelmed by both hostile Nords and reservist Imperials. The locals are slaughtered. So now he's the last of his garrison, imprisoned for treason. He hates Imperials.