Jade Dragyn
And Elder Scrolls Online Fan Fiction Story
Yep… I’m a Gamer
For those of you who might be new to my newsletter, I’ve been a gamer all my life. In the 80s, the arcade was my favorite place to hang out and spend my weekly paycheck. In the 90s, I started playing computer games, and then came MMO (massive multiplayer online) games, like World of Warcraft (WoW), Everquest (EQ) & Everquest 2 (EQ2), and Elder Scrolls Online (ESO), among others.
ESO is probably one of my favorite games because of the stories! They had quest lines that sometimes brought me to tears or had me cheering out loud. And I fell in love with The Dark Brotherhood storyline, where your character is an assassin and you’re given multiple assignments to hone your assassination and thieving skills. As a side story, you can become a member of the Thieves Guild. And you can bet I did!
Jade Dragyn was the character I created and leveled up specifically for The Dark Brotherhood questline, and to get into the roleplaying aspect of ESO, I had to create a backstory for Jade. So I asked myself, “What's Jade's story? Why is she an assassin? What kind of life did she have before she became one? Why is she immune to the psychological effects of taking a life? How did she find this out? How did she become a member of the Dark Brotherhood?”
So I sat down and I penned that backstory, filled with the locations found in the ESO game. And Elam Drals, whom she meets in this story, is the main NPC (non-playing character) who assigns the assassin quests you pick up to advance your character through the ranks of the Brotherhood. His voice is MASTERFULLY done by the amazing JB Blanc, who you might know as the pirate captain in the movie The Count of Monte Cristo. ESO has so many wonderful voice actors, many you know, like John Cleese, Michael Gambon, Kate Beckinsale, Bill Nighy, Alfred Molina, and so many more!
Anyway, I thought it would be fun to share her story with you today.
Jade Dragyn’s Story
A tiny wood elf baby wailed into the night as a cloaked figure slinked through the shadows to the steps of the Orsinium Orphanage. Setting the basinet with the bawling babe on the doorstep, the stranger teased the infant’s fingers with a jade pendant of gold, and the child wrapped her tiny fist around the jewel. She settled and then slept.
The baby was named Jade for the pendant, which became her only possession and one she cherished, keeping it hidden around her neck and under her clothes. For a time, she was a very quiet child in the orphanage. She spent a lot of her time on the streets of Hew’s Bane, learning to be invisible and pick pockets. Unfortunately, she was "adopted" by a rich but evil man who wanted to groom her for prostitution. He liked her too much, though, and wanted to keep her for his own. So he locked her up and dressed her for roleplaying scenarios.
She resisted him and he beat her, which caused her to turn off her feelings. He raped her, which dulled her heart even more, and when she had the chance, she killed him. And she didn't flinch. She didn't cry. She didn't care. That's when she learned she was a killer… and this was okay.
When Jade escaped, she brought a few of her roleplay outfits with her and used them as disguises. To make money when pickpocketing was scarce, she turned to prostitution for a short time, but couldn't stomach the fat, stinking rich men who wanted to bed her. On her last night of being a woman of the streets, she crossed paths with a killer.