Character profile and backstory

[Alendra]

I've recently created a new character in Pillars of Eternity. Being an avid roleplayer, I've written a profile and backstory. I'm posting it here to show it, and I'd love to hear what people think!

 

Alendra Davar

 

Full name:  Alendra Eleanna Davar.

Birthdate: 2808 AI.
Age:  15-16.

Titles:  The Watcher.

Race:  Meadow Folk.

Class:  Cipher.

Culture:  Aedyr, Living Lands.

Background:  Aristocrat bastard (originally), Colonist.
 

Backstory:

The bastard daughter of Lord Santach of House Anuasal - an Aedyran noble family - and Gwreiddyn, a housemaid who died giving birth to her, Alendra was raised amongst the nobility for the first decade of her life. However, as she was a bastard, she did not receive her father’s noble name, taking her mother’s given surname of Davar instead. Alendra’s maternal grandfather, Caillte, was a Glanfathan tribal who, in the year 2784 AI, had been forced into indentured servitude in House Anuasal for reasons unknown.

At the age of 10, it came to light that Alendra had the mental abilities of a Cipher, and a powerful one at that. Filled with prejudice and fear of her abilities, Alendra’s “noble” father had her, without warning, unceremoniously thrown out of the house and onto the street one rainy autumn morning. Alendra was forced to survive for weeks and months, begging and stealing for food. Almost a year after she had been cast out, Alendra was found by a man named Anam Cara, a member of her grandfather’s Glanfathan tribe who had come in search of his long-lost kin, but found Alendra instead.

Anam Cara was a Glanfathan warrior and a Cipher like Alendra herself, and he took Alendra under his wing to foster her, teach her and train her in the ways of the Cipher as well as physical combat. With the help of an animancer, they also discovered that Alendra and her mother were essentially the same person; upon death during childbirth, Gwreiddyn's soul had immediately reincarnated into her daughter. However, Alendra does not possess any memories of her previous life.

Due to ignorant persecution of Ciphers, the two had to leave the heart of the Aedyr Empire. As Anam Cara did not wish to return to his tribe, they signed up with a group of colonists and travelled to the Living Lands while keeping their Cipher abilities a secret. Alas, a few years after arriving at the colony, they were found out. The colonists proved to be far more ignorant and fearful than even Lord Anuasal, and they gathered a mob, complete with pitchforks and torches, to lynch them. Anam Cara sacrificed himself, staying behind so that Alendra could escape. After these harrowing events, Alendra travelled the world aimlessly, with no destination in mind...that is, until she joined a caravan heading to the Dyrwood under the leadership of Caravan Master Odema.

 

Name etymology:

Santach; Gaelic word that means “selfish, greedy”.

Anuasal; a Gaelic word that means “lowborn, ignoble”. 

Gwreiddyn; a Gaelic word that means “root, origin”.

Caillte; a Gaelic word that means “lost”.

Anam Cara; a Celtic phrase meaning “soul friend”.

 

Credits:

Sathynae, for the image.

Edited December 26, 2019 by Alendra
Formatting

[Shyla]

This… I like this!

Thank you for sharing this, I really enjoyed reading the thought behind your character and her background. You really took my emotions for a turn on this and left me feeling for Alendra.

I have a question for you, by writing out your character's backstory do you find that it changes some of the choices you make in the game in order to fit your character better? Did this help you play as Alendra instead of yourself?

[Boeroer]

46 minutes ago, Shyla said:

I have a question for you, by writing out your character's backstory do you find that it changes some of the choices you make in the game in order to fit your character better? Did this help you play as Alendra instead of yourself?

Obviously I can't answer for @Alendra - but that's totally the case for me. If I put some effort into a backstory etc. it immensely affects my choices in the game. 

Edited January 7, 2020 by Boeroer

[Shyla]

@Boeroer That was what I was thinking, but it's never occurred to me. Something clicked reading this that I need to give this a try next time I start a game; writing backstories is one of my favorite things to do when playing tabletop games so it makes sense to try it here!

[Boeroer]

@Shyla: Interesting.

For me there's not much difference whether it's tabletop or computer RPG (in this regard). I never play myself but always try to combine a mechanically interesting character with a plausible backstory that explains his stats and numbers in a somewhat original way. And then roll with it.

Never thought about it to be honest: that people might approach those two forms of "role-playing" differently.

 

Edited January 7, 2020 by Boeroer

[Wormerine]

I never have defined my character as skillfully as OP (I hate writing my own bio, having to do the same for my character would be just as grueling). However, I do find it necessary to define who my character is (past, personality, personal believes and goals) to enjoy most Obsidian RPGs. That was the main hurdle I had to overcome when moving from Bioware games to Obsidian's. Never played or really knew about table-top RPGs at the time, so creating your character, outsided gameplay stats was an abstract concept for me.

Something I complained about was that I didn't have a character I would care about - while was invested in the conflict of Bhaalspawn, hero of Jade Empire or KOTOR, or Shephard, I found it difficult at first to care about blankslates of KOTOR2, NWN2. By the time I played Fallout: New Vegas, I read more about roleplaying, and decided to do a bit of an experiment, and defined my character before starting the game - and found the experience to be immensely engaging and satisfying. PoEs are probably first games I really tried very hard to roleplay, though it is still challenging for me not to metagame (for example I killed Llengrath in PoE1 because I didn't want to miss on the hardest fight in the game, even though reaching a mutual deal, was what my character would be more willing to pursue). 

When playing Outer Worlds I never felt a need to define who my character is, and I think that is one of the main reasons why it felt more like Bioware RPG, then Obsidian's - most decisions I made were based on what I personally believed was a better choice, rather then being based on my character viewpoint. Being able most of the time to find the morally superior middle ground only reinforced that playstyle. 

[Alendra]

Wow! I hadn't got any replies for a long time and so I didn't think I would get any, but I'm happy I checked again! Thanks for all your replies, it's lovely to read them and I truly appreciate it. Replies like yours are the reason I posted this here in the first place!

I have rewritten and expanded her backstory a little bit, but it's still mostly the same. I tried finding an edit button on the original post but couldn't find one, so here's the new version:

"Alendra Davar was born in the year 2808 AI in the Aedyr Empire as the bastard daughter of Lord Santach of House Davar, an Aedyran noble family and Gwreiddyn, a housemaid who died giving birth to her. Nevertheless, Alendra grew up in the household of House Davar, but was fated to never be a a full-fledged member of the family.

Alendra’s maternal grandfather, Caillte, was a Glanfathan tribal who, in the year 2784 AI, had been forced into indentured servitude in House Davar for reasons unknown.

At the age of six, it came to light that Alendra had the mental abilities of a Cipher, and a powerful one at that. Ignorant persecution caused House Davar to be exiled to an Aedyran Colony in the Living Lands. Her father kept her Cipher nature a secret from the rest of the colonists and though to train Alendra to be a weapon, one he could use to exact his vengeance on the other Aedyran nobles who had seen to his exile. And so, Alendra learned how to fight, how to kill. How to defend herself and to survive in a world as cruel as this one. She was taught and trained in subjects such as advanced swordsmanship and survival techniques, basic archery and the usage of firearms. With the secret help of an animancer, it was also discovered that Alendra and her mother were essentially the same person; upon her death during childbirth, Gwreiddyn's soul had immediately reincarnated into her daughter. However, Alendra does not possess any conscious memories of any of her previous lives.

Meanwhile, a Glanfathan tribal warrior and brîshalgwin by the name of Anam Cara grew tired of his tribe's unwillingness to find Caillte, their long lost kin, and so he set out to do so himself. He eventually tracked Caillte to House Davar, and subsequently House Davar to the Living Lands. When he arrived, he did not find Caillte, only Alendra. Alendra's father hired Anam Cara to train Alendra's Cipher abilities and teach her to control them.

Alas, shortly after Alendra turned fourteen years of age, the common folk in the colony discovered her Cipher nature. The colonists proved to be more superstitious, ignorant and uncontrollable than the nobles back in Aedyr, and they gathered a mob complete with pitchforks and torches to lynch the entirety of House Davar. Alendra herself would have been their victim as well, had not Anam Cara intervened and rescued her at the cost of his own life.

Alendra now travelled alone despite her young age. For a time she joined another colony, but the people there were as superstitious as the colonists of her home, and before they could catch her, she managed to sneak aboard a ship without caring where she ended up. The captain and crew discovered her unwanted presence in the midst of the ocean but were reluctant to throw such a young woman overboard, and so instead they made her work. They threw her off in the port city of New Heomar in the Free Palatinate of Dyrwood, where Alendra joined a caravan. This particular caravan happened to be travelling to the Gilded Vale under the leadership of Caravan Master Odema."

 

 

On 1/7/2020 at 8:10 PM, Shyla said:

This… I like this!

Thank you for sharing this, I really enjoyed reading the thought behind your character and her background. You really took my emotions for a turn on this and left me feeling for Alendra.

I have a question for you, by writing out your character's backstory do you find that it changes some of the choices you make in the game in order to fit your character better? Did this help you play as Alendra instead of yourself?

It definitely has helped me play as her more than myself! She's a mostly Benevolent, Honest and Rational person, but one also prone to being Passionate when it comes to injustice and Aggressive when confronting criminals and other evildoers. But I don't adhere rigidly to that and I make the choice that I feel Alendra would make in any given situation. But I agree, and I think you should write backgrounds like this when playing any RPG, not just table top! I have actually not played table top games, and I have solely roleplayed in computer games; mostly MMOs where I can roleplay with other people. But no matter if the game is singleplayer or not, I always write a backstory!

[Alendra]

2 hours ago, Wormerine said:

I never have defined my character as skillfully as OP (I hate writing my own bio, having to do the same for my character would be just as grueling). However, I do find it necessary to define who my character is (past, personality, personal believes and goals) to enjoy most Obsidian RPGs. That was the main hurdle I had to overcome when moving from Bioware games to Obsidian's. Never played or really knew about table-top RPGs at the time, so creating your character, outsided gameplay stats was an abstract concept for me.

Something I complained about was that I didn't have a character I would care about - while was invested in the conflict of Bhaalspawn, hero of Jade Empire or KOTOR, or Shephard, I found it difficult at first to care about blankslates of KOTOR2, NWN2. By the time I played Fallout: New Vegas, I read more about roleplaying, and decided to do a bit of an experiment, and defined my character before starting the game - and found the experience to be immensely engaging and satisfying. PoEs are probably first games I really tried very hard to roleplay, though it is still challenging for me not to metagame (for example I killed Llengrath in PoE1 because I didn't want to miss on the hardest fight in the game, even though reaching a mutual deal, was what my character would be more willing to pursue). 

When playing Outer Worlds I never felt a need to define who my character is, and I think that is one of the main reasons why it felt more like Bioware RPG, then Obsidian's - most decisions I made were based on what I personally believed was a better choice, rather then being based on my character viewpoint. Being able most of the time to find the morally superior middle ground only reinforced that playstyle. 

Thanks for the kind words! And I understand. I don't write down everything about my characters, just what I feel is what I need to get the game started, and then I let the character develop a bit more while playing the game. I often rewrite parts of the backstory after this point as well. Personally, I am very dedicated to the roleplaying aspect, and I try not to metagame anything. I play on the Story Mode difficulty, because the story experience is more important to me than challenging combat.

I, or I should say Alendra, struck a deal with Llengrath and helped the Alpine Dragon instead of fighting them because I felt that's what Alendra would do. While doing Berath's quest A Servant of Death, Alendra wiped out the Ethik Nôl; personally, in fact. She found them and their sacrifices so offensive that she told Edér, Aloth and the others to stay put while she went off to end them all by herself. It was rather simple, actually, as I am playing on Story Mode and was rather overleveled for the area. As for viewing it from a story perspective, I've been having a slightly difficult time justifying Alendra's combat prowess with her young age, but then I had the idea that since she's Awakened, maybe she remembers some of the combat skills and combat experience of some of her previous lives. She also wields Oidhreacht in her off-hand, and that stiletto supposedly gives the wielder memory flashes of the techniques and maneuvers performed by the original wielder, who was an elite duelist. Fun fact, Oidhreacht means "inheritance" in Irish Gaelic, and so I pretend that the original wielder of the weapon was one of her ancestors through House Davar. As for the pregnant woman in Blood Sands, I pretend that Alendra DID NOT kill her and only knocked her out with the blunt back side of Steadfast, or used her Cipher abilities to tranquilize her. But I digress! When I went to fight the next target of Berath's quest A Servant of Death, I didn't do it. Alendra thought that High Ovate Erona was not a bad person and did not deserve to die, so she decided to spurn Berath and walk away from the mission he gave her. I intend to never finish that quest.

But there are things that I do "metagame". An example is Ryona's Breastplate, the only soulbound armor in the game. I was always annoyed by the fact that only three classes could bind with it, and that neither was a Cipher. And, I mean....why is it only Paladin, Chanter and Monk? There's nothing in this Ryona's backstory that indicates she was one of those classes. And the wiki states that she was to appear in Deadfire as a ghost, and her class would have been fighter! Anyway. I specifically wanted Alendra to wear it, in part because of the fact that it's the only soulbound armor in the game, but also because the green color of the armor matches pretty much perfectly with the eye color Alendra has in her portrait. So I downloaded a mod that makes it so that Ryona's Breastplate can be soulbound to all classes so that I could do so on Alendra!

Edited January 10, 2020 by Alendra
Wanted to change a single word in the bottom line

[claudius]

Alendra, I made a character profile upon being inspired here.  @Alendra should I post it here or make a new thread?

[Alendra]

1 hour ago, claudius said:

Alendra, I made a character profile upon being inspired here.  @Alendra should I post it here or make a new thread?

I would prefer it if you made a new thread! Thank you for asking!