The Headcanon Topic - NPC Backstories

KidCarnival

I mentioned my headcanon backstory for Shar-Teel over in the "Shag, Marry, Kill" topic and decided to dig it out. It's from a discussion with @Eudaemonium, some context was "Shar-Teel as Barbarian" and "dualing Shar-Teel to thief", and piecing together her story from the little we know.

Angelo had an affair with a female prisoner; Shar-Teel's real mother. To cover the affair up, Angelo put her in a special cell somewhere until the baby was born, then took it to have it raised in the family of a fellow Flaming Fist soldier (can go further to construct this: whose wife was pregnant, too, but their baby was stillborn, so for many years of her youth, Shar-Teel and everyone except Angelo and her parents believed she was the daughter of this other Flaming Fist guy). When Shar-Teel was a teenager, her "adoptive" father had an arguement with Angelo and threatened to expose the truth, for which Angelo had him killed ("made it look like an accident"). Shar-Teel overheard them argueing, and put the story together when her "father" was killed the day he wanted to expose Angelo. Her adoptive mother, intimidated by Angelo, backed Angelo's story that it was an "accident". Shar-Teel now had a flaming hatred for both her real and her adoptive father - Angelo for giving her away and killing who she thought of as father; the adoptive father for only using her as a way to blackmail Angelo. She still had empathy for her adoptive mother, who at least loved her like her real child and didn't see her as a political playball, but Shar-Teel also couldn't understand the weakness and fear that was even stronger than the love for her daughter.
With her high dex (and possible thief tendencies, if you go the fighter/thief route), Shar-Teel broke into the FF archives and found out that her biological mother was released from prison a few months after her birth. All she had was a name and a few pointers where her mother was from, so Shar-Teel set out to find her real mother, wandering the lands and checking in all the villages and towns mentioned in the FF documents. She learned to fight on the road, often from barbarians she travelled with for a while in the wilderness. After many years, she finally reached the village where her real mother was born, only to find out that she died from the aftermath of the months in prison (this is where her low con comes from: her mother had low con, too, and never fully recovered from the hardships in prison). So, her mother is indeed dead - Angelo's wife is alive, her adoptive mother is alive, but her biological mother is dead, for which Shar-Teel, once more, blames Angelo and the Flaming Fists. (Her mother was released because she was found innocent, to add insult to injury.)

What headcanon backstories do you have for the NPCs, mostly the less fleshed out BG1 characters?

Shin

I always figured there was a drawn-out history of betrayal and/or rape in her background to account for the incessant manhate, even though I guess neither of two fathers caring for you could go some ways toward that end.

Viconia_DeVir

A very interesting glimpse at Shar-Teel, and perhaps we had best give credit to the word of one with so many watchful eyes! I will admit I'd a practical appreciation for the embattled elg'caress - though her ill-formed philosophy of superiority was askew in that one type of surfacer over another could hardly be called an improvement, or so I believed then. She would growl out a slur or two and nod, often enough that it seemed she meant to convince herself of the matter first and foremost. Her lithe prowess with a blade was admirable to behold, though she remained tight-lipped on the subject of the history that doubtless necessitated such skills, at least when speaking gruffly to me.

Perhaps my strange appearance and demeanor meant she regarded me with some suspicion, at least in the beginning. I was an unusual creature to her, first, and a woman to be respected only second. Wise of her to regard a lone Drow with wariness, of course. Jal khaless zhah waela. Still, she needn't have expended the effort for her misgivings, as I'd no venom for the abbil. I could never entirely convince her of that fact, I believe, no matter how many prayers I offered to seal her cuts and knit her bones. Such embitterment had ground her to a sharp edge in the same fashion as she cared for her blades; hatred lingered in every stroke of her keening whetstone when she prepared for battle. Her revelry in bloodshed would have carved her a brief but memorable reign among the Houses of my people, had she been born to another time and place.

Perhaps the only way to win her respect was on the field of battle; I believe I did, a time or two. A curiosity of Shar-Teel; though she'd look on the bloodied bodies around her with satisfaction when the last had fallen, in the thick of the fighting she often appeared elsewhere, her thoughts turned only to the angle of her attackers, the reach of her sword. Perhaps that was why she threw herself into such martial pursuits, threw herself into duels and warfare without a glance backwards. A weapon cares little for the body behind the wielding hand, certain enchantments aside. Perhaps - despite her warrior's strength - it was ultimately a path of retreat for Shar-Teel to bark a defiant, half-believed credo and forge herself into another blade, her world made of only swords.

SharGuidesMyHand

Viconia_DeVir said:

I could never entirely convince her of that fact, I believe, no matter how many prayers I offered to seal her cuts and knit her bones.

Aye, I remember seeing you try to pander to her many times.

"You are the only one I respect," you would say, or something along those lines.

To which she would always reply, "Flattery will get you nowhere."

Onestep

I like to keep things simple.

Xan read the Hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy when he was a little elf. He emphasized strongly with Marvin, and has been trying to live up to his role-model ever since.

Shar-Teel got her toy stolen in pre-school by a little boy. She swore vengeance against men.

Eldoth quickly learned that the whole 'work' thing is overrated, and it is much easier to pledge undying love to noble girls with more money than sense.

Tiax has a four book long, epic saga on his adventures before Baldur's Gate. It includes a Xvart banquet, which is not something the common man should speak of.

Quayle has an evil, annoying twin who hangs out in Baldur's Gate. He doesn't like to talk about him.

Kagain grew up in poverty. He was told that it builds character. He quickly learned that this is not actually the case, and being poor just plain sucks.

Yeslick's family left the mine before it flooded. Somehow, the idea of living in a forest filled with shadow druids, giant spiders and tasloi didn't appeal to them.

booinyoureyes

The one that has inspired the most for me have been Xzar and Ajantis.
Xzar is interesting because he is nuts with his different voices! So many possibilities... except all mine suck.
Ajantis is interesting because he was Keldorn's apprentice. I always thought this was horribly under-examined in the story.

Viconia_DeVir

@SharGuidesMyHand An astute observation, abbil. It is true; she'd little patience for my faltering first attempts at building trust between us. I could feign that I was still disoriented in such unfamiliar surroundings and was desperate to establish even the most cursory of alliances, but in truth my efforts were somewhat less refined than usual. In my folly, I thought any true depth and subtlety would be wasted on Shar-Teel - and I paid for that mistake dearly with her caustic rejoinders. Coarse and brutal she may have been, but one could not fault her for suspicion.

recklessheart

Onestep said:

Kagain grew up in poverty. He was told that it builds character. He quickly learned that this is not actually the case, and being poor just plain sucks.

This is so easy to believe. I love it.