Matching race, class and lore on one character - need some help!

Seraphayel

Hey there,

I just want to completely restart my ESO experience and just create new characters from scratch. I always have a specific class / race fantasy in mind and want to base that in lore specific to the race I picked for the class.

I still have my combinations and some of them even have lore already, but most of them are lacking, because I'm not so deep into the lore of specific races - and here you come into play: please help me filling the gaps and giving my characters a backstory that fits their "heritage".

FYI: this here is mostly Roleplay-related, I don't care about racial bonuses or which race parses better in which role at all. Not 1%. And I usually do not use the same race on more than one character, but I'm still indecisive if my Necromancer or my Sorcerer becomes a Breton or Khajiit or Dark Elf. Would love some lore background for each race for that specific class.

Characters that already have a complete backstory:

• Argonian - Nightblade - Shadowscale
• Ork - Warden - Shaman
• Breton - Necromancer - Reachmen

The ones I'm trying to figure out are:

• Khajiit / Breton / Dark Elf (?) - Necromancer - ? (thanks to @IronWooshu)
• Khajiit / Breton / Dark Elf (?) - Sorcerer - ?
• High Elf - Dragon Knight - ?
• ? - Templar - ?

So, how do I fit a Khajiit Necromancer and Sorcerer into Khajiit culture? Are there very well-known magicians in the Khajiit society? Do they even have a special group of people maybe that fits that trope? Same about the other ones I'm still missing.

Would really hear your ideas!

MindOfTheSwarm

Any race can really play any class and still be true to lore. Exception is Warden as they are very Morrowind.
Anyway, yes Khajiit do have sorcerers.
Necromancers seem to be more Breton but they can operate anywhere and be any race.
Templar I would say Imperial out of all of the races but Breton would also fit.
Dragon Knight lore wise is closer to Imperial I would say given the history.

VaranisArano

This article will give you an overview of how each race feels about necromancy in their region: https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Necromancy

Dunmer are weird. They worship their ancestors, and the spells they weave to guard their ancestral tombs are totally not necromancy in their eyes. Necromancy against Dunmer is abhorrent. But humans and beastfolk don't count, so they are perfectly happy to use necromancy against them, as we see in multiple Pact questlines.

I've got a Dunmer Necromancer who thinks these city guards are ignorant savages when they ignore his protests that "It was a human body. That's not the illegal sort of Necromancer in Morrowind!"

tuxon

Seraphayel wrote: »

• Khajiit / Breton / Dark Elf (?) - Necromancer - ?
• Khajiit / Breton / Dark Elf (?) - Sorcerer - ?
• High Elf - Dragon Knight - ?
• ? - Templar - ?

Breton Necromancer:
1. Just typical Necromancer dark mage
2. Can RP Reachman dark shaman (bones,horns&fur)
Dunmer Sorcerer:
1. Azura's Disciple
2. Ashlander (Daedric worshipper/summoner) One ability is specifically Azura's Twilight summon

Altmer DK...is not so fitting

Templar is just wow!
My favourite class and you can fit a lot of races there, almost any race since it is about Aedra worshipping

My Templars are:
Breton> Typical Paladin/Priest, Wolfhunter, Silver Knight
Altmer> Auri-El's Paladin
Bosmer> Valenwood spinner/healer/ Y'ffre priest
Dunmer> (tricky) tho mine is a Clockwork Apostle or...you can go with Vivec's champion (ordinator) or...
RP Chimer before they left to Resdayn and started daedra worship.
Kajiit> Priest
Argonian> "Praises the Sun" Temple (Xanmeer) Priest before Duskfall (Elder Argonian)
Redguard> Stendarr's Priest (Use Pyre Watch chest it has Stendarr's amulet on it)
Orc! Trinimac's fanatic/paladin/avatar-reincarnation
Nord> Kyne's or Arkay's priest

tuxon

@Seraphayel gosh! I'm so happy people still play ESO like me and are trying to fit class/race!
Good luck creating fantastic characters! You will like them even more than just min/max chars!

VaranisArano

A Dunmer Sorcerer - while many Dunmer have magical skills, House Telvanni is the Great House who's most focuses on magic.

In ESO, House Telvanni is not a member of the Pact, so you have a wide latitude to play how you want in the Alliance War. They have a major side quest area exploring their attitudes and notable members in Vvardenfell. There's a lot of scope for roleplay such as assisting Magisters like Dratha and Divayth Fyr, or as a minor member of the House like Revus Demnevanni.

However, I should note that House Telvanni is generally pro-slavery. While your character doesn't have to be, the slave markets in Sadrith Mora might make House Telvanni roleplay undesirable for some players.


As mentioned, there are non House-oriented options for the Dunmer as well. Ashlanders and Daedric Cultists operated outside of the typically House structure, but could both fit into the petsorc playstyle.

VaranisArano

High Elf Dragonknight ideas:

Many of the Dragonknight skills were adaptations of Akaviri techniques that mimic the abilities of dragons, brought to Tamriel during the various Akaviri Invasions. All you'd have to decide is how your high elf learned those techniques.

A well-traveled warrior would have ample opportunities to learn. The Fighters Guild has a lot of Akaviri influence, so a member could learn there. There are also pockets of Akaviri refugees who fled Cyrodiil after the fall of the Potentate in Dominion-adjacent territory, such as the town of Hakoshae in Elsweyr.

kaushad

A disclaimer to start: not everybody has to adhere their own race's traditions. People can and do adopt customs from other cultures.

Necromancers
Most cultures dislike necromancy. Dunmer have their ancestor worship loophole, but anything outside that in Morrowind is a bigger taboo than it is almost anywhere else in Tamriel. You'll often hear that it doesn't count if it's practised on non-Dunmer; it's bit more complicated than that. The same book that says that goes on to say that "Dunmer today regard Necromancy upon any of the accepted races as an abomination." "Today" refers to some time long after Morrowind joined the Third Empire i.e. centuries after ESO. However, Dunmer in TESIII dehumanise non-Elves way more than they do in ESO. In ESO, they try to push their religion onto Argonians and cheer a converted Argonian in Mournhold and a Dark Elven priest prays for a Nord's passage to Sovngarde. In TESIII, they call Argonians "blasphemous travesties of nature" "incapable of enlightenment" and specualte that Nords don't have souls. But even for them, necromancy on non-Dunmer crosses a line.

That said, Telvanni Dunmer have been morally loose enough to tolerate necormancy.

Nisuzi says that "the Khajiiti people do not spit on necromancy—at least, [they] do not spit on it any more than we spit on other magics. But if you ask Nisuzi? It is just too gross." This doesn't mean that Elsweyr has schools or traditions that actively help necromancy students, but they are less hindered by society.

Bretons traditionally follow the Eight, which includes Arkay, and frown upon necromancy as many westerners do. But Breton mores have yet to be defined as explicitly as other. Then there "Gravesingers" in some Reach clans. Angof's cult recruited Bretons. Unlike Dunmer and Altmer, they don't have a provincial authority to supress necromancy, although the Lion Guard is called to deal with ridiculously egregious and destructive acts.

Sorcerers
Sorcerers are regarded with some suspicion, being confused with necromancers, although it doesn't seem to be banned outright. I don't think it's strongly associated any culture, but the Direnni are credited with developing a lot of conjuration and the Direnni part of Breton heritage, althoug the Direnni themselves (that we've seen) are Altmer. The typical Telvanni (so usually Dunmer) may a sorcerer too.

Dragonknight
It's Akaviri, but its practitioner encourage each other to teach it to everyone. It doesn't seem a taboo anywhere like necromancy or sorcery. Out of the races you mentioned, I'd suggest Khajiit. It has nothing to do with the Khajiit themselves, but Elsweyr has a more visible Akaviri legacy than any other province. The Akaviri themselves who remain have mostly intermarried with Imperials, but Akaviri will be a minority of dragonknights in Tamriel by now.

Templar
Templars invoke Stendarr, although they don't have to truly worship him for the magic to work. Stendarr is traditionally worshipped by Imperials, Bretons, Altmer and Bosmer and a sect of Altmer created and propagated one of their schools. While Stendarr isn't a Yokudan god, there also appear to be traditions of Stendarr worship among Redguards. Dunmer don't traditionally worship Stendarr, but their church shares similar values: law and order, helping the needy and smiting abominations.

Michaelkeir

Seraphayel wrote: »

• Argonian - Nightblade - Shadowscale
• Ork - Warden - Shaman

The ones I'm trying to figure out are:

• Khajiit / Breton / Dark Elf (?) - Necromancer - ?
• Khajiit / Breton / Dark Elf (?) - Sorcerer - ?
• High Elf - Dragon Knight - ?
• ? - Templar - ?

So, how do I fit a Khajiit Necromancer and Sorcerer into Khajiit culture? Are there very well-known magicians in the Khajiit society? Do they even have a special group of people maybe that fits that trope? Same about the other ones I'm still missing.

Would really hear your ideas!

This is how I see it.
-Argonians could fit into a Nightblade (Shadowscales) or Wardens (healers).
Wardens are a strange beast however because it seems like a mishmash of different ideas. Ice?=Nords?, Green Tree healing magic?? = Argonian or Bosmer?, Mostly Vardenfell animal skill tree? = Dark elves?

-Dark Elves could be sorcerers, or in my eyes Dragon Knights (themed more towards pyromancers or Firemages). At least that’s how mine is set up for.

-Bretons seem more suited to be sorcerers or Necromancers.

-Khajiits are a hard one. You could say Templar and make a moon priest, but that would be pushing it. I mostly make mine thieves (Nightblades) and they make perfect pickpockets. There are khajiit mages, but thematically speaking they are mostly know for their stealth.

-High Elves seem geared towards magic, as in sorcerers, more then Dragon knights. Not sure how DKs are even connected to High-elves. Auri-El or Auriel priest seems to use Sun based magic so you could in theory say they are templars and go with that train of thought.

-Imperials seems more geared towards Dragon knights if I’m being honest.

-Orcs, wood elves, and Nords could fit almost any theme. Especially wardens. Orc and wood elf shamans are a thing. Nords with ice magic seems to blend together nicely as well.

What ever you do, just pick what you like and roll with that. Otherwise you’ll be like me and constantly change your mind about what theme you want to go with. Race and name change tokens are expensive, trust me.

Gaebriel0410

When making a character that fits within the setting (always the best way ), note that the 'classes' themselves are not really classes but more like archetypes or foundations upon which to build. The 'lore' we are given on them is quite narrow, and is imo more an example of a possible interpretation of the class within the setting.

Galiferno

There's a lorebook that explains that anybody can use Stendarr's magic to be a templar, but the most appropriate race for the class who derives its power from the Apologist of Men would be Breton for magicka and Imperial or Nord for stamina.

IronWooshu

Breton makes sense for a Necromancer since they are closest to the reach and you can RP him as a Reach Mage who's turned against the Reach.

Jaimeh

Seraphayel wrote: »

Hey there,

I just want to completely restart my ESO experience and just create new characters from scratch. I always have a specific class / race fantasy in mind and want to base that in lore specific to the race I picked for the class.

I still have my combinations and some of them even have lore already, but most of them are lacking, because I'm not so deep into the lore of specific races - and here you come into play: please help me filling the gaps and giving my characters a backstory that fits their "heritage".

FYI: this here is mostly Roleplay-related, I don't care about racial bonuses or which race parses better in which role at all. Not 1%. And I usually do not use the same race on more than one character, but I'm still indecisive if my Necromancer or my Sorcerer becomes a Breton or Khajiit or Dark Elf. Would love some lore background for each race for that specific class.

Characters that already have a complete backstory:

• Argonian - Nightblade - Shadowscale
• Ork - Warden - Shaman

The ones I'm trying to figure out are:

• Khajiit / Breton / Dark Elf (?) - Necromancer - ?
• Khajiit / Breton / Dark Elf (?) - Sorcerer - ?
• High Elf - Dragon Knight - ?
• ? - Templar - ?

So, how do I fit a Khajiit Necromancer and Sorcerer into Khajiit culture? Are there very well-known magicians in the Khajiit society? Do they even have a special group of people maybe that fits that trope? Same about the other ones I'm still missing.

Would really hear your ideas!

Some ideas: for your templar you could go Breton or Imperial for a paladin knight or battlemage character respectively. For your sorcerer, you could go Dunmer or khajiit because sorc class has daedric pets and I could see them being ok with using them (unlike altmer) since they have a history of worshipping daedrea.

Kesstryl

I have a Breton Necro who worked in the Imperial army and ended up in Elsweyr (which has a huge Necromancy story) where he saw what his kind were doing to the Khajiit and decided to switch sides and leave his Necromancy order.

There are so many ways you can do what you want. Remember, your characters are people in their respective worlds, and just as you are an individual with some ideas, experiences, and tastes that might go against your IRL cultural norm, some of your characters would also. Do what you want and create a backstory for it.

I also have a High Elf Warden, which is totally against the class race archetype. He's actually descended from Ayleids and Direnni, and spent a lot of time in the wilderness looking for Ayleid ruins to find out what became of his ancestors, and also right the wrongs they did against the ancestors of the locals (Murkmire story was so awesome for this). Spending time looking for ruins in the wilderness honed his nature magic skills. You can pretty much do anything you want to with imagination.

Faulgor

As others have said, DKs derive from Akaviri. Points of contact with Akaviri could be the recent invasion, but that happened in the east so doesn't really fit High Elves. Another is Rimmen, which canonically should be ruled by Akaviri and be a separate kingdom from Elsweyr around this time. Not too far off from Summerset.

Another would be the Akaviri Potentate itself - with High Elves being very long-lived, maybe your High Elf actually lived during the Potentate. Not being very fond of men in general, maybe they saw something in the Akaviri that could tame the men of Tamriel? I'm sure you can come up with something from there.

Templars supposedly draw their power from the Divines. If you want to stick to that, pretty much any believer in the Eight can fit. Of course, you could also say that your character derives their power from other deities, say the Tribunal Temple, or Magnus, or Trinimac. Pretty much any race with an established hierarchical religion can work, so I think Argonians and Khajiit might actually be the worst options, followed by Bosmer and Orcs (outside Orsinium). If you want to stick to the Eight, Imperial.

Seraphayel

Thank you guys for all the input, my Necromancer just became a Breton Reachman, which others here have suggested. Great idea I gladly incorporate!

tuxon

Seraphayel wrote: »

Thank you guys for all the input, my Necromancer just became a Breton Reachman, which others here have suggested. Great idea I gladly incorporate!

@Seraphayel
Awesome!!! Welcome to the "clan"!

Seraphayel

Can someone tell me if any race has a specific affiliation with Mephala?

I think I want to make a Khajiit Sorcerer that’s a servant of Mephala, but also is active in the Dark Brotherhood - does this go hand in hand or is this conflicting with lore? Would a Nightblade fit better into this?

Tethilia

Seraphayel wrote: »

Can someone tell me if any race has a specific affiliation with Mephala?

I think I want to make a Khajiit Sorcerer that’s a servant of Mephala, but also is active in the Dark Brotherhood - does this go hand in hand or is this conflicting with lore? Would a Nightblade fit better into this?

Dunmer have a connection with Mephala as she is one of the Anticipations. They borrow from her aspects of sexual promiscuity, political assassination, and I think agriculture. That said, you could worship Mephala along with any prince as any race, simply for viewing some identification with their ideals. However, you might want to keep your Mephala worship a secret from your Brotherhood members, as they are dedicated to Sithis and may suspect you as a sympathizer with the Morag Tong or Silken Ring.

If I was in your position I would do Dark Brotherhood, but canonically state that my character is Silken Ring. You might also take interest in Spiderkith skin and eyes, as that order of assassins ultimately wants to become that type of Daedra.

You can be Sorcerer, but if I was 100% pure assassin, I would go with Nightblade. Think of your starting class as your character origin.

tuxon

Yes, Mephala is one of the 3 "good daedra" worshipped by the Chimer before they became Dunmer and they went back to the "True Tribunal" after ALMSIVI Tribunal fall. The other 2 daedra being Azura and Boethia.
Also Morag Tong (purely Dunmeri guild) worship Mephala while Dark Brotherhood serve the Void aka Sithis.

ealdwin

https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Night_Mother

There is some suggestions/thoughts that the Night Mother may be in fact Mephala. I don't think it would entirely beyond the Daedric Prince of Murder to establish two murder cults and then pit them against each other. Perhaps your Khajiit is one who believes that the Night Mother is truth Mephala?

Seraphayel

Ah, thank you all for giving me so much lore, I love this. I know some of Elder Scrolls lore, but it’s so vast that it’s impossible to know it all.

Seraphayel

Does Mephala and the Necromancer class (as a Breton Reachman) fit together thematically?

Seraphayel

Mhm, nobody?

I just try to add one Daedric Prince to character loadouts and now I am not sure if Mephala fits Sorc, Necromancer or Nightblade better or if all three dark/sinister classes fit Mephala.

tuxon

Seraphayel wrote: »

Does Mephala and the Necromancer class (as a Breton Reachman) fit together thematically?

oh...I would say Namira fits Breton Reachman way better, Mephala not so much, even though Reachmen do worship a lot of Daedra Princes specifically for Necro I would say Namira is an amazing match. But why do you want to have a Daedric prince associated with it in the first place, not sure I got you @Seraphayel

tuxon

Seraphayel wrote: »

Mhm, nobody?

I just try to add one Daedric Prince to character loadouts and now I am not sure if Mephala fits Sorc, Necromancer or Nightblade better or if all three dark/sinister classes fit Mephala.

Yeah Nightblade (Silken Ring or Morag Tong assasin) would defo be a Mephala worshipper, for Sorcerer I personally have Azura, my Dunmer Sorc is "Azura's Disciple" for Necromancer would be Molag Bal or Namira

NotaDaedraWorshipper

Seraphayel wrote: »

Mhm, nobody?

I just try to add one Daedric Prince to character loadouts and now I am not sure if Mephala fits Sorc, Necromancer or Nightblade better or if all three dark/sinister classes fit Mephala.

All three could work. It really depends on the character and not their class.

Seraphayel

tuxon wrote: »

Seraphayel wrote: »

Does Mephala and the Necromancer class (as a Breton Reachman) fit together thematically?

oh...I would say Namira fits Breton Reachman way better, Mephala not so much, even though Reachmen do worship a lot of Daedra Princes specifically for Necro I would say Namira is an amazing match. But why do you want to have a Daedric prince associated with it in the first place, not sure I got you @Seraphayel

It's just for RP flavor. Just how I build a character in my mind, as I said in the initial post. Now I would like to give every class a specific Daedric prince affiliation that fits.

Namira for Necromancer sounds nice, Mephala for Nightblade, maybe Hermaeus Mora for Sorcerer, Azura or Meridia for Templar etc. - I just want to match

Race - Class - Character background (heritage/origin) - Daedric affiliation

It might sound silly, but it adds a lot of depth to a character for me.

tuxon

Seraphayel wrote: »

tuxon wrote: »

Seraphayel wrote: »

Does Mephala and the Necromancer class (as a Breton Reachman) fit together thematically?

oh...I would say Namira fits Breton Reachman way better, Mephala not so much, even though Reachmen do worship a lot of Daedra Princes specifically for Necro I would say Namira is an amazing match. But why do you want to have a Daedric prince associated with it in the first place, not sure I got you @Seraphayel

It's just for RP flavor. Just how I build a character in my mind, as I said in the initial post. Now I would like to give every class a specific Daedric prince affiliation that fits.

Namira for Necromancer sounds nice, Mephala for Nightblade, maybe Hermaeus Mora for Sorcerer, Azura or Meridia for Templar etc. - I just want to match

Race - Class - Character background (heritage/origin) - Daedric affiliation

It might sound silly, but it adds a lot of depth to a character for me.

Templars use Aedric Magic...and they are basically Aedric priests/paladins
So even Meridia won't fit LORE wise, if you need a divine for Templar go with Auri-El/Akatosh or Arkay or Stendarr

For Sorcerer you can go with Azura (read Winged Twilight description from Daedric Summoning Skill Line)
For NB Mephala is a nice fit as I said
For Necro Molag Bal (you can use Worm Cult outfit which is an actual Molag Bal/Mannimarco's cult)

However, as I said you can't have a Daedric prince for Templar, especially if you RP, makes no sense, Templar's first skill like is even called Aedric Spear.
For Wardens I would also say Daedric princes won't fit. They are "Guardians of the Green Pact" so basically Y'ffre's servants.

P.S. Nothing sounds silly at all! @Seraphayel, it is amazing that you build your characters like that! I do it as well, though a little bit different But again! Templar is Aedric class.

Jazraena

Aedric Magic, Daedric Magic, Dark Magic, the Schools of Magic... Arbitrary categories invented by mages. It's all just Magic in the end; TES Magic isn't differentiated like that at it's core.

And visually, Templar Skills would definitely be a fit for Meridia. Not so much others. Wardens could easily go with Hircine and several others depending on how you fluff it - Reachmen, Glenmoril Wyrd, etc.

tuxon

Jazraena wrote: »

Aedric Magic, Daedric Magic, Dark Magic, the Schools of Magic... Arbitrary categories invented by mages. It's all just Magic in the end; TES Magic isn't differentiated like that at it's core.

And visually, Templar Skills would definitely be a fit for Meridia. Not so much others. Wardens could easily go with Hircine and several others depending on how you fluff it - Reachmen, Glenmoril Wyrd, etc.

Aedric and Daedric are not arbitrary at all.

Do you even understand that the decision to worship Daedra instead of Aedra Gods split and broke entire nations and peoples? Yeah, no difference at all

Yes, Meridia looks thematically "paladinish" or light or bright (because she hates all undead) but she is still Daedra. And that's because Daedric princes were never "demons" in the first place, they are very and very different.

P.S. Aedra means "our ancestors" divines that took part in creation of the mortal world. And so Daedra means "not the ancestors".