During the sack of the Imperial City in 4E 174, the victorious Aldmeri soldiers committed all manner of atrocities on the helpless citizens of the Imperial capital. A Nord couple, blacksmiths living in the market district, were among those slaughtered by the elves, but their infant son survived, hidden away in a small cupboard during the slaughter.
In the aftermath of the initial battle, a Breton couple combed through the city, searching for survivors in need of aid, and goods that the victims would no longer need, to provide funds to rebuild their lives. The man, Matthias Ashford, was an adventurer from High Rock, a passable swordsman and amateur mage, who had met his wife, Isabelle Sintav, a priestess of Mara, when his travels took him to the Imperial City. He staggered into the temple, bleeding from a wound that a bandit inflicted upon him. She nursed him back to health, and the two fell in love. Isabelle resigned her post from the temple, and married Matthias in 4E 170, just before the war broke out, and joined Matthias on his travels. The two wandered Cyrodiil for a year before the Great War began. The two rushed back to the Imperial City, and when it fell, managed to hide away in the rubble of one of the buildings destroyed by the invaders, occasionally venturing forth to aid survivors and obtain supplies.
On one such trip, in a blacksmith shop owned by a Nord family, they found a baby boy in a cupboard, starving and near death, in the room above the shop where his parents had been slaughtered. In keeping with Elder Scrolls tradition, the brutally murdered parents had left behind a journal. From this journal, the Breton couple learned of the boy's name and ancestry; the Nord man was originally from Whiterun, and the boy's name was Thorvald.
The Breton couple nursed the infant back to health, keeping him safe in the Imperial City until the Legion liberated the city a year later, and then raised Thorvald as their own. Matthias made his living as a city guard, but his real passion was raising Thorvald with his wife. The boy was a quick study, and unusually for his kind, a gifted mage. His adoptive mother taught him the skill of restoration, while his father taught him swordsmanship and how to wear, fashion, and maintain light armor. Both parents instructed him in alteration and the myriad skills of survival, though his father had more experience with that.
The youth was insatiably curious, growing up with the tales of his father's adventures, and read everything he could about magic, swordplay, and Nordic culture and religion. His mother taught him reverence for the Divines, but the young man did not choose Mara as his patron; instead, he became devoted first and foremost to Talos, the favorite god of his birth parents and the patron deity of questing heroes.
Eventually, Thorvald took his veneration of Talos too far. He attracted the attention of the Thalmor, and had to flee the Imperial City. Thirsty for more knowledge of magic and the thrill of adventure, desperate to learn more about his ancestors and his race, and in need of a place to make a new life, he journeyed to Skyrim, the perfect place to fulfill his every desire. The College of Winterhold beckoned with a promise of magical knowledge, the ongoing Stormcloak Rebellion would provide a place for him to worship Talos openly, and his paternal origins in Whiterun meant he could search for his roots.
When he arrived, Thorvald was quickly arrested by Imperial soldiers, having wandered into the ambush set for Ulfric Stormcloak. He met Ulfric himself, however briefly, before a dragon disrupted everything. In days, Thorvald's world turned upside down. He slew a dragon, was named Thane of Whiterun, and was revealed to be Dragonborn. When he came to Skyrim, he had every intention of joining the Stormcloaks, but now he has divided loyalties; he views his job as Thane as a kind of super-guard of Whiterun, and joining the Stormcloaks would mean abandoning his duty, something his father would never have done. If Balgruuf sides with the Empire, Thorvald would need to choose between his Hold and his deity. On top of all this, he still wants to seek adventure on his own, he has a great destiny to pursue as the Dragonborn, and the College still beckons to the north. Thorvald is at a crossroads, and the decisions he makes will reshape the world.
