Backstory (Character Creation)

## Overview

This article provides examples and instructions of how to build a backstory for a Neverborn character

## Titles and Achievement

### Titles

When choosing a characters titles the following templates can provide a good structure that is easily expandable:

* *Folkloric Diety* + *Adjective* (e.g. Sephet the Alluring)
* *Concept* + *Target* (Death of Traitors)
* *Name* + *Place* (Charbog of Novgorod)
* *Aspect + Place* (Scourge of the Aegeans)
* *Name* + *Group of people* (Foronya of the Maasai)
* *Pronoun +* who *+ Task* (She who dances with many faces)
* *Adjective + Animal/Mythic Beast* (The Silver Griffin)

### Achievments

* *Interaction with historic person* (Spoke with Charlemagne)
* *Claimed Notable Soul* (Brought Emperor Tiberius to the bosom of the Incubi)
* *Killed Mighty Foe* (Slew Selkhet the Black Serpent)
* *Participation in Notable War* (Fought at the helm of the Third Crusade)
* *Destroyed notable City* (Burned down Carthage and sowed its ruins with salt)
* *Connection to a Conjurer Family* (Won the Magnus Ludos of 1498 for House Pendragon)
* *Bested Notable Sorcerer* (Outsmarted Emperor Commodus and pushed his own champion to kill him)
* *Visited Notable Place* (Guarded the Hanging Gardens of Babylon)
* *Offensive Action* (Scaled the Pyramid of Giza)
* *Sired Notable Halfblood* (Bore the Hero Gilgamesh)
* *Achievement in the Outer Realm* (Escaped the Tower of Bliss)

## Backstory

The following examples provide basic archetypes for notable events, aswell as explantions and examples. It is advised to imcorporate atleast 4 of these archetypes into ones backstory:

* **First Summoning-** This quintessential event should usually didcate a Neverborns relation to humans as this was their first impression of them aswell as theirs of humanity. When a Neverborn becomes notable for something other Conjurers will summon them to fufill the same purpose, often creating a cycle defined by their first interaction.
* **Terrible Misstreatment-** As powerful and clever as a spirit may be across the eons it is nigh impossible to avoid misstreatment from a Conjurer. Eventually any Neverborn will make a haunting experience that forever taints their relations to new masters.
* **Haunting Failure-** Even the greatest of Neverborn is bound to fail sometimes, and the worst losses cut deep. The character may have learned a valuable reason, developed an emotional scar/trauma or done something they can never forgive themselves for. No matter the consequences failures tend to make a character more interesting than victories
* **Mortal Bond-** No matter how alien or strange a Neverborn is; the connection to their Hosts makes them ceceptible to human emotions; and therefor also human bonds. A shared story with a sympathetic human can forge such a Bond with ease. Some of them are strong enough to last across centuries, making a Neverborn forever remember them and look for similar attributes in others. This may have been a good friend, an eager student, a sympathetic summoner or a lover.
* **Greatest Victory-** The Neverborn as achieved something great and truly impressive that will resonate with them until the end of time; defining their pride and self worth. Designing such an event can be key to the Neverborns relation to the mortal world.
* **Deep Experience-** The Neverborn shared an especially deep bond with a past Host and made intense human experiences; making them relate to mortals in similar positions.

## Beliefs

For a Neverborn the way the view and understand the world and the way they arrive at morality and inextricably linked as both are part of the same metaphysical concept. The following categories provide structure to the Neverborns beliefs alongside examples; however they player may also just write down simple tenets. When following the given structure every Neverborn should choose a foundation that informs their understanding of morality and then choose tenets that will actualise their foundation.

**Moral foundation/Axioms:**

* Every sentient being should be happy
* Every mortal should be happy
* Every being should strive for its own self-interest
* The world/universe in its current state is good
* The beauty of creation should be furthered
* Gaining and preserving knowledge is good
* The world/universe should remain pure

**How Neverborn/Sentients should act:**

* Do not kill/harm the innocent
* Kill only in fair combat or self-defense
* Do not inflict needless suffering
* Do not coerce of enslave
* Never break a sworn word
* Never deny true love
* Respect others and demand respect
* Always remain polite and composed
* Stand firm against corruption
* Turn a blind eye if it means a pay rise
* Might makes right
* The guilty must be punished
* Reject wealth, for it corrupts
* Never let others controll you
* Stand up for the disenfranchised
* From each according to their abilities, to each according to their needs

**How mortals should act:**

* Mortals should not kill
* Mortals should not disobey their superiors
* Mortals should always serve their nation
* Mortals should uphold the norms of a decent soceity
* Mortals should respect [insert Religion] and its holy decrees
* Mortals should accept their place in the world
* Mortals should always strive for self-fufillment

**Relation to mortals:**

* Mortals only exist to further our powers with their souls
* Mortals are mere animals and should be treated as such
* Mortals exist to be guided and protected
* Mortals are the worlds spirit and must be enlifted
* Mortals must be kept oblivious to the supernatural
* Mortality is what gives life meaning and beauty
* Human spirit is the strongest force in the world

**Relation to Halfbloods (Optional):**

* The taint of mortality makes Halfbloods indifferent from mere human
* Halfbloods are unnatural abominations
* The Children of Celestial and men are the worlds true rulers
* Halfbloods are the link between the worlds and can lead them togehter
* Halfbloods are the best way to have a lasting influence on the world
* Consorting with a human is immoral

**Cosmic Perspective (Optional):**

* **Animism**
* **Mentemissm-** Mentemists believe the world to be the shattered mind of a god and every soul within a fraction of its sanity. Vile Spirits or the influence of Ahriman are considered signs of madness that can only be stopped through reuniting and rebirthing set enitity to full conciousness.
* **Chronosism-** Chronosits are concerned with understanding and studying the nature of time. Most of them believe that the perception of moving time is flawed and instead view reality as a singular image, where the world is created, stable and destroyed at the same time. They believe great change in the current nature or balance of the world will destroy the balance of time itself and end the eternal cycle.
* **Vivisism**
* **Machinism-** Machinists believe the world or Demiurge to be a cosmic machine simulating reality or earth, comparing casting of Evocations to hacking.
* **Chimerism-** Chimersits believe the world to be a dream or fantasy by an individual or a group of outer beings that create and sustain it with their imagination.