Carsten Stormblade

**Carsten Stormblade** is a Nord and the Dragonborn. He is the founder of the Stormblade Clan. He is Jarl of Haafingar and High King of Skyrim.

## Background

### Family

Carsten is the second son of two veterans of the Great War. He had a brother named Sven who was three years older than him. After the war, Carsten's father Detlef returned to Bruma with his wife Ingrid and Detlef went back to the blacksmith's trade and Ingrid helped him by making bows and arrows. Carsten has a large family with many aunts and cousins. Many men of the family died in the war and the rest are scattered in Cyrodiil or in Skyrim.

### Early Life

Carsten was born in Bruma on the 17th Frostfall in year 180 of the 4th era. Detelf taught both of his sons the craft of blacksmithing and fighting at an early age. Carsten showed early on that he was a child with extraordinary abilities in fighting and forging as well as singing and playing the lute. When he was only six years old, Carsten helped his mother to make bows and arrows. He even earned a bit of gold when he sang in the tavern. Even though Sven was taller than Carsten, he couldn't defeat Carsten in a fight even when they were young, although Sven also had a natural talent for fighting himself. Carsten quickly showed an interest in all kinds of history and culture. When he wasn't training fighting or forging or singing in the tavern, Carsten was often with the magicians to read books and secretly learn some magic. His parents knew that Carsten learned from the magicians and had even discussed this with the magicians, but they let Carsten believe that they knew nothing about it. At 10, Carsten already knew a few healing spells and he knew a lot about the history of the Nord. He once asked his father to go to Skyrim with him and Sven to see the home of their people. Detlef agreed with Ingrid that she would go to Skyrim with her children and he would stay in Bruma so that they would not have to give up the forge.

### Visit to Skyrim

#### The Beginn

Even when they were young, Detlef equipped his children with weapons, Carsten got a shield and sword, while Sven, who was already big and very strong at the age of thirteen, got a great sword. Ingrid took her bow and dagger with her, which she had used to kill some Thalmor in the great war. The three made their way across the border to skyrim. Sven and Carsten immediately noticed that this was their home. The first destination of the journey was Helgen. Carsten and Sven asked many questions to their mother and the nice family that offered them a roof over their heads. Questions about the giant mountain next to them and about their next destination, Falkreath. The family gave Ingrid the tip to take the children on a little detour to pray at a secret shrine of Talos. Ingrid took this tip and made her way to the shrine of Talos with her children.

#### The Thalmor Accident

As the three were on their way to the shrine, they saw two Thalmor Justicare standing near the shrine. So they walked past these and didn't go to the shrine. However, one of the Thalmor yelled for them to stop and the three stopped too. The Thalmor was talking to Ingrid, Carsten and Sven were standing a little further away and only heard a fraction of the conversation, but it didn't sound good. The Thalmor Justicar accused Ingrid of being a Talos worshiper and that she was on her way to the shrine. Ingrid, however, told him that it was nonsense and that she was only on her way to Falkreath and that the Thalmor had no proof that she was a Talos worshiper. The Thalmor laughed and told Ingrid that they didn't need proof and that Ingrid and her children were sentenced to death for worshiping Talos. Ingrid quickly drew her dagger and slit the throat of nearby Thalmor. The other Thalmor shot a flash at Sven, but Carsten blocked the flash with his shield, which pushed him back a few meters. Sven drew his sword and ran towards the Thalmor and he stabbed the Thalmor deep in the stomach with his sword, killing him. Ingrid went straight to her children and saw that both were okay, only Carsten had a couple of scratches, but nothing serious. She wanted to cancel the trip but Carsten and Sven refused because they wanted to at least see Falkreath, Markarth and Solitude. Ingrid fulfilled her children's wish and they set off for Falkreath.

#### Falkreath Hold

When the three arrived in Falkreath they booked a room in the tavern where they stayed for the next few weeks. During these weeks, Ingrid often went to the forest or to the mountains with her children. A few times they also went to Lake Ilinalta for fishing and camping. The three had few problems with bears or wolves and if Ingrid knew how to ward them off. After the weeks in Falkreath, the three made their way to Markarth.

#### The way to the Reach

The way to Markath was long and they made slow progress as they often had to hide from bandits or had to sneak past them. When Ingrid told her children what exactly the Markarth accident was, she was hit by an arrow out of nowhere, Carsten and Sven ran directly to Ingrid while Carsten wanted to cover her with his shield, Sven pulled his mother behind a large rock. Carsten saw 3 people who didn't look like normal bandits, more like members of a cult, they had skins and bones instead of clothes. The three men stood in front of the two children and told them to flee and tell everyone what awaited every Nord in the Reach. However, Carsten and Sven did not move a step away from their mother. One of the men probably didn't take the children seriously and just walked up to them, but Sven cut off his leg with a slash and then stabbed him in the neck with his sword. The other two men, full of shock, ran towards the children, but before they could both reach them, one of them got hit by a dagger in the eye from Ingrid, who was lying behind her children. The legs of the last man were pulled away by Carsten with a shield blow and without hesitation Carsten stabbed him in the heart with his sword. When the situation had calmed down, Carsten and Sven helped their mother get up and the journey to Markath continued. Carsten had killed his first human and he had just turned eleven a few days ago. Sven and Carsten asked their mother about the men who attacked them and Ingrid told her children everything she knew about the men. Carsten had already suspected that they had been forsworn and his mother confirmed his assumption. When the three arrived in Markarth, Sven was fascinated by the city and how it was built. He also loved the guards' armor, which looked like it was made out of the same material that all other Dwemer tools were made out of. Carsten also found the city beautiful and was also fascinated by the craftsmanship, but this time it was Sven who asked more questions, especially about the craftsmanship of the Dwemer. Ingrid had to stay in bed for a few days because of her injury and she decided this time to stay in the city because she took the danger of the shaved off very seriously.

#### Markarth

During the time in Markarth not much happened with the three, Ingrid has recovered from her injury, Sven has talked a lot with the local blacksmith and learned a few things from him, Carsten has dealt with the history of the Dwemer and He often used his magic to treat his mother's wounds. After a few weeks they headed to their last station, Solitude, although Sven was hard to separate from Markarth.

#### Haafingar

On the way to Solitude, the three passed Karthwaste and Dragon Bridge where they had rested. Between Dragon Bridge and Solitude, the three again came across a Thalmor patrol. When Ingrid talked to them again, Carsten and Sven were ready to defend themselves. However, as the conversation took a bad turn again, an arrow flew straight into the head of one of the Thalmor and not a second later three Nord men jumped out from behind a rock and attacked the Thalmor. The fight was quickly over and the Nords won the fight. The Nords left without it and Ingrid grabbed her children and they ran to Solitude. They spent some time in solitude. Carsten was mostly at the Barden College or in the tavern.

#### Way Home

On the way back there were few interruptions, sometimes one or two bandits or some wild animals but nothing special because Ingrid took the fastest way out of Skyrim without detours or many breaks. Carsten and Sven were enthusiastic about the cities of Skyrim, but the Thalmor and Forsworn incidents showed them how dangerous Skyrim is. When they got back home, Ingrid told her husband what had happened on their trip. This was the last trip to Skyrim for a long time.

#### Live in Cyrodiil

Until Carsten was 16, he helped his father in the forge, but Detlef didn't need two assistants, which is why Carsten looked for a new job. He began singing regularly in the tavern, which brought him good gold and the admiration of the women's room. however, after a year it was too boring. In the tavern he learned how much traveling mercenaries earned. So he started taking orders that were close to bruma. Most of the time it was easy assignments, but sometimes when the task was a bit more difficult, Sven helped him with the assignments. This is how Carsten earned gold for a few years. Over the years, Carsten had many friends and love affairs. When Carsten was eighteen, Sven married a Nord from Bruma named Ylvi. A year later, the two had a daughter named Asta.

#### Fleeing for Bruma

When Carsten was twenty-one, a Thalos worshiper was sought in Bruma. at least that's what the Thalmor say. When a whole family was kidnapped by the Thalmor, the whole family decided to leave Bruma, so Detlef sold the forge and they headed to Skyrim. As they approached the border, they were surrounded by a whole squad of Thalmor and told they were being spotted trying to flee Bruma quickly and attempting to cross the border illegally. However, Detlef informed them that they were not aware of any ban on crossing the border. The Thalmor told them to be arrested on the suspicion that they were Thalos worshipers. However, the family refused to be arrested. The Thalmor drew their weapons and threatened to kill everyone present, including Asta. After Thalmor threatened Asta, Sven drew his weapon and Detlef did the same. Carsten whispered to his mother that she should get Asta and Ylvi out of the situation as soon as possible if there was a fight. After talking to his mother, the two also drew their weapons. Only Ylvi was unarmed and held Asta in her arms. The rest of the family stood in front of the two. As the first Thalmor approached, Detlef attacked and Sven did the same. Carsten, however, attacked two Thalmors who alone covered one side and shouted at his mother that she should flee that way with Asta and Ylvi and she listened to her son and fled. When Carsten killed the two Thalmor, he helped his father and brother. Until they noticed a couple of Thalmor running after Ingrid. Carsten said to Sven that he should run after them and that he and Detlef were distracting the rest of them. The two fought the Thalmor for a long time, killing many of them until Detlef was injured and fell to the ground. Carsten fought and heals his father at the same time and tells him to flee and find Sven and the women and bring them to Skyrim. Detlef hesitated, but he listened to his son and set off. Carsten prevented any Thalmor from getting after his Father. When Carsten had given his family enough time, he too fled towards Skyrim. He eclipsed the Thalmor, but he knew they were still after him. Arrived at the border he was stopped by the legionnaires and told him that he was not allowed to cross the border. After some discussion, the Thalmor arrived at the border and told the legionnaires what had happened. The legionnaires then wanted to arrest Carsten, but he fought against it until he was overpowered and arrested by the legionnaires. They assured the Thalmor that Carsten would be executed. He was loaded unconscious onto a cart that was on its way to Skyrim to pick up other prisoners along the way and take them to Helgen....