Are Baham from the Aldmeri College and Baham from Aranias' story the same person?

Spaghettiknight

Not sure if this belongs in Lore or the ESO General Discussion, but there are 2 NPCs named Baham that are female Bosmer. 1 in the College in Auridon and 1 who's a bandit in Aranias' story. According to UESP and the Elder Scrolls wiki they're different people (at least gives them seperate articles with no mention of them being similar), but they're both pretty much identical. They have the same hairstyle, eyebrows, and the face looks the same. And let's keep in mind that Aranias' story is just something that the player visits and that they weren't actually there to stop the farm from being attacked.

So could Baham from the College have been a bandit in the past who decided to join the Dominion after Ayrenn became queen since she sees all races as equal?

VaranisArano

Insights (not many) from the last thread on this topic: https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/98969/is-this-the-same-baham

I can't find anything in the lore to support any interpretation, except the argument that nothing suggests that these are the same person instead of ZOS reusing an NPC name and appearance. None of the lore entries I can find mention them together but instead treat them as separate NPCs. It still an interesting theory, given that Baham later is interested in serving the Dominion only to bang heads with the Altmer supremacists controlling the Aldmeri College.

Spaghettiknight

I don't think they've reused the same NPC appearance and name before for two completely different NPCs. I could be wrong but nothing stuck out to me. The Silvinar name is used multiple times but that's because different people become the Silvinar and the Green Lady.

elias.stormneb18_ESO

There’s no proof for it, but it’s not far-fetched to assume that they’re the same person. Bandit-Baham would probably be alive somewhere either way, so why not in the College of Aldmeri Propriety?

Spaghettiknight

elias.stormneb18_ESO wrote: »

There’s no proof for it, but it’s not far-fetched to assume that they’re the same person. Bandit-Baham would probably be alive somewhere either way, so why not in the College of Aldmeri Propriety?

Yeah, the only "proof" (not actual proof) is that the character looks identical and shares the same name but I don't believe they've done that for a minor character before. Just major characters who appear multiple times in quests and stories, but never some minor character appearing twice afaik. They really missed a chance for some nice backstory here. It could be the same person who gave up a life of crime to serve Ayrenn who sees all races as equal, especially since the Bosmer attacked the island when Aranias' parents had some connection to the Veiled Heritance, with the Bosmer fighting the Altmer supremacists. Or a bandit could've assumed the identity of some civilian.

I like to think it's the same person because it makes the character (even though they're a minor character who's only seen once) feel more fleshed out.