I was a knight once. Well sort of a knight. I was actually his squire. Oh I never completed my training, never rode in a joust and never saved a damsel in distressed. What I did do was learn to ride, fight and be polite. What ended my training... well I'm getting ahead of myself. My story is that a starry eyed youth who looked up to the knights. Had an elf uncle who was a knight ask a friend to take me on as a squire. It grieved mom to no end, but it was the adventure. By the way you won't believe how many friends an elf can have. Spend a thousand years and it seems like you know everyone. Ok, ok, I got off topic. So there I was young, stupid and in way over my head in my first battle. Few charges against the orks in and my horse got shot from under me. My leg got crushed under the beast. My master took me to a the army healers. They set the bone, but I had to stay behind in the village. The last time I ever saw my uncle and master was when they went with the army to their deaths. We had no news of their defeat for months. As my leg got stronger I learned how to use the business end of a plow and tending to livestock. I guess all that time working with horses comes in handy some times. After I was all healed up the village's Sharif took me under their wing. They needed a strong back and I needed to do something other than muck around in the mud. It had more excitement, patrol the highway, catch the occasional thief and once we tracked down an arsonist who was burning down people's barns. It turned out it was a wizard college drop out paid by a large farm owner to torch their competitors who refused to sell. Ah, good times. Well in the mean time news came my way on what happened to the army. Turns out chasing orks down a gorge is a good idea to be slaughtered down to a man. I knew for a while that no one was coming back for me. So I stayed in the village, until I made up my mind to go out into the world to make a name for myself. It was a bitter falling out with the old Sharif. We fought about me leaving. He saying "Boy you can make a better life here than as some gallivanting adventurer!" I left my badge, sold my squires armor and took my few belongings then left. I wished that it ended better between us for he was like a father to me. But now I sell my arm and my eye to who ever needs it.
Solid backstory for a starting character. There's enough there to give you a basis for establishing the character but you managed to avoid the trap of giving them a lot of experiences that would earn experience and make people wonder why some hardened veteran is only level 1-3. Fought in one battle, got injured hunted some minor criminals and bandits as a sheriff's sidekick. Though the one missing thing in that little narrative is exactly why he's deciding to leave a comfortable and at least moderately rewarding life as a rural lawman to become an adventurer. Is it simple wanderlust? Guilt over not being with the army when it got wiped out? An urge to protect innocents against threats like those orcs that the army failed to defeat? Boredom and a hunger for glory, such as motivated him to train as a knight in the first place? And why sell the armor before going off into danger? That seems a bit counterintuitive unless you have some specific reason for it that wasn't indicated.
It's definitely a good start on a character and their story, which is exactly what a backstory should be. A prologue, not a full adventure because you're playing the adventure as the game. I like it.
Well he's a young man who had a sheltered life of a squire suddenly losing his mentor, uncle and career and being far from home. His knightly ideology of blind loyalty being challenge by a new mentor who has to do nothing but ask questions. He's confused, lonely and homesick. So, he goes out adventuring to find himself.
He sold the squire's armor because he would have grown out of it, he no longer thinks like a knight and he would have needed the money to survive.
I was a knight once. Well sort of a knight. I was actually his squire. Oh I never completed my training, never rode in a joust and never saved a damsel in distressed. What I did do was learn to ride, fight and be polite. What ended my training... well I'm getting ahead of myself. My story is that a starry eyed youth who looked up to the knights. Had an elf uncle who was a knight ask a friend to take me on as a squire. It grieved mom to no end, but it was the adventure. By the way you won't believe how many friends an elf can have. Spend a thousand years and it seems like you know everyone. Ok, ok, I got off topic. So there I was young, stupid and in way over my head in my first battle. Few charges against the orks in and my horse got shot from under me. My leg got crushed under the beast. My master took me to a the army healers. They set the bone, but I had to stay behind in the village. The last time I ever saw my uncle and master was when they went with the army to their deaths. We had no news of their defeat for months. As my leg got stronger I learned how to use the business end of a plow and tending to livestock. I guess all that time working with horses comes in handy some times. After I was all healed up the village's Sharif took me under their wing. They needed a strong back and I needed to do something other than muck around in the mud. It had more excitement, patrol the highway, catch the occasional thief and once we tracked down an arsonist who was burning down people's barns. It turned out it was a wizard college drop out paid by a large farm owner to torch their competitors who refused to sell. Ah, good times. Well in the mean time news came my way on what happened to the army. Turns out chasing orks down a gorge is a good idea to be slaughtered down to a man. I knew for a while that no one was coming back for me. So I stayed in the village, until I made up my mind to go out into the world to make a name for myself. It was a bitter falling out with the old Sharif. We fought about me leaving. He saying "Boy you can make a better life here than as some gallivanting adventurer!" I left my badge, sold my squires armor and took my few belongings then left. I wished that it ended better between us for he was like a father to me. But now I sell my arm and my eye to who ever needs it.
Outside the Lines Fantasy – A collection of self published fiction stories.
Solid backstory for a starting character. There's enough there to give you a basis for establishing the character but you managed to avoid the trap of giving them a lot of experiences that would earn experience and make people wonder why some hardened veteran is only level 1-3. Fought in one battle, got injured hunted some minor criminals and bandits as a sheriff's sidekick. Though the one missing thing in that little narrative is exactly why he's deciding to leave a comfortable and at least moderately rewarding life as a rural lawman to become an adventurer. Is it simple wanderlust? Guilt over not being with the army when it got wiped out? An urge to protect innocents against threats like those orcs that the army failed to defeat? Boredom and a hunger for glory, such as motivated him to train as a knight in the first place? And why sell the armor before going off into danger? That seems a bit counterintuitive unless you have some specific reason for it that wasn't indicated.
It's definitely a good start on a character and their story, which is exactly what a backstory should be. A prologue, not a full adventure because you're playing the adventure as the game. I like it.
Well he's a young man who had a sheltered life of a squire suddenly losing his mentor, uncle and career and being far from home. His knightly ideology of blind loyalty being challenge by a new mentor who has to do nothing but ask questions. He's confused, lonely and homesick. So, he goes out adventuring to find himself.
He sold the squire's armor because he would have grown out of it, he no longer thinks like a knight and he would have needed the money to survive.
Outside the Lines Fantasy – A collection of self published fiction stories.