Four back stories

Friday is game night so I thought I'd post four of the five back stories I handed out.  A good back story should inform and provide some basis for opinion but not bind the character to specific goals or personality or style of play.  I hope these are good ones.


Drothgar (formerly of Bloodstone)
It is unusual for a dwarf to join the Holy Church, unusual but not unheard of.  Dwarven society has long been dominated by the great trade families, and a dwarf who gives up allegiance to their house and places it in the hands of the Lords of Order has no place in that society.  However the names of those few dwarves who have taken holy orders are often long remembered and in darkest times even the Matriarcha were known to seek their advice.
As a member of the Church of Light you live to serve the Lords of Order, to provide aid and solace to their followers, and prevent the return of Chaos to the world.  With your will and your strength you have been trained to oppose the opponents of Order.
When your cousin Thedric came to speak to you of his desire to find fortune in the south you saw an opportunity to journey there yourself and to return Order to the tombs and ruins lost by your people, and left to the minions of chaos in the great Fall.


Thedric Fairystone
As a young member of the Fairystone family you have little influence and even less respect.  Your house is a minor one, but this was not always true.  Once your family was powerful and rich, but that was before the Fall.  You have a left your home in the north on a journey to seek out your fortune among the ruins in the south, the dwarven ancestral lands.  You are not the first to do so, many have tried and failed, but some few have prospered greatly.  You have nothing but the clothes on your back and an old ruined book of notes with your family crest on it.


Henril of Butterbridge
Six generations ago your forefathers wrecked their boats on the Strait of Daggers and came ashore.  They found wives among the locals and fought creatures in the wilderness, and raised strong children to help them build a new life.  Since that time your people have prospered and carved a kingdom out of this wilderness with their swords arms and their will.  As a younger son, you have decided to leave your home village of Butterbridge in the Soundlands and seek your fortune as a hired sword. You have signed on to escort a trade caravan along the new south road from Kingstown to the town of Milham in the Westmarch.


Tom Marby
Your mother has told you that many years ago your people had a great empire in this land and lived in a time of splendor.  But the people grew prideful and turned their face from the Lords of Order and so were punished.  The empire fell to evil men. Fell beasts and demons ravaged the land.  For hundreds of years chaos ruled while your people and their dwarven allies were driven out from your homes and north to the sea, and were hunted and enslaved or forced to scrabble a meager life on the island shores.  Eventually after long years,  the the world grew quiet again and the humble gained back the favour of the heavens.  People were able to build villages and farm and hunt again, although the wilds were still dangerous.  But when the new men came from across the seas and took your women for wives and had sons and claimed land as theirs, your people recognized the pride in them and worried that things best left alone would be woken again.