Ra'Giin: A Backstory

 My name is Ra’Giin. I am the leader of the Thieves Guild in Riften, a position that I did not easily achieve

nor will I easily give it up. Though I am based in Riften now, I am not from Skyrim. Like many other Khajiit, I am a native of Elsweyr, born near the town of Riverhold on the northern border. My family traveled a lot when i was younger, never really going into larger towns but staying on the outskirts where we could be “easily overlooked” as my father used to say. Thieving is in my blood, it is how we survived. My father only took what was necessary, only food, some clothes, a few healing herbs for when we got sick. My mother on the other hand enjoyed taking things for fun, she loved to steal in the middle of a crowd and watch the chaos as they tried to figure out who did it. Death is hard for most six year olds to comprehend. How do you explain such a thing to one so young? I saw nothing, heard nothing, but I felt the warmth of the blood streak across my face as the arrow pierced my fathers neck from behind. One moment he was alive, the next, he was not. These bandits had been doing this for years. Wait in the thick of the forest until a small group came down the path, take out the most threatening one from a distance, close in quickly. They toyed with my mother as she tried to fight them off. They laughed in her face as she clawed at their's. I couldn't look away as they beat her. They wouldn’t let me. Eventually her screams stopped,and her body quit moving. 

Nords, some are good and kind, most however are large, bumbling, unwise brutes. I was small and therefore perfect for getting them into more secure places. Also, I was of no threat to them; in fact I needed them to survive. For four years they used me. I learned to pick locks, and pockets and I found ways to charm my way into homes and rooms. I figured out how to extract secrets. After so long with them I began to understand that death is inevitable, but I also began to realize that my need for them had come to an end. They should have never trusted me with their food. I enjoyed the look in the petrified eyes as they felt the blade plunged into their hearts. I savored every moment of it, especially feeling the last bit of life essence leaving their body. 

I don’t think I was ever really alone as it felt like the dead led me to the crypt. I slept in the deepest part of the crypt surrounded by the rotting corpses of the dead, and for the first time in years I knew I was safe. The necrotic energy in the air seemed to strengthen me, encourage me, protect me. I spent weeks wandering about the maze-like layout of the crypt, finding old forgotten relics. I even found a spellbook. Well it was less a spellbook and more a book about spells. I tried casting spells for days but had no result, I did not know how to concentrate my energy into a spell, and no one was around to teach me.

Fear, it tears us down, makes us cower in the corner as the monsters close in, it controls us so easily, but only because we let it. I had been staying in the crypts for a few months only occasionally going into town to steal some supplies, and a bit of gold. I didn’t need the gold but like my mother I found joy in the chaos it would sometimes cause. I must have been seen on one of these trips into town however, since they came in the night, not quietly just suddenly, and in a large group. As I said this crypt was laid out like a maze, and I had been there long enough to know my way around. I was unable to escape so I decided to hide. They did eventually corner me into one of the tombs and I had no way out. I was alone and afraid. I was thinking that I would soon join the dead that I felt so at home with. I didn’t even realize that I had picked up the skull. As I looked at the skull in my hand, staring into the eyeless sockets I made a decision. I would not be joining the souls of this place, but I would give them company. I had lived in fear for long enough. It was time that others feared me. So I channeled all of my fear into the skull, pulling the necrotic energy from around and within me. I stood from behind the coffin looking at the ones that surrounded me. Not in anger, or hate, and without fear, only knowledge. Knowledge that their time on Nirn was over, and mine had just begun.

Without chaos we cannot have peace. So with that logic, I’m just doing my part to maintain the balance of life. I could barely feel the heat from the flames as I walked away from the crypt. The fire had spread to the woods and even to the town beyond. The screams from the town grew quieter the further out I got. I don't know how long he was watching me for, if he had just showed up or if he had been with me for awhile now. There was a strange Alfiq wearing a rainbow cowl sitting on top of a tree stump with a crooked smile on his face. He seemed to not just be looking at me, but beyond me, thru me, to my very essence. His first words have stuck with me and helped shape the way I see life.  “I can’t quite decide who’s closer to death, all of them, or you...” 

The Skooma Cat enjoyed my chaotic nature, my willingness to do whatever I pleased regardless of the consequences, and I enjoyed his company. For the next five years I made my way slowly north through Stormcloak City, with the Skooma Cat close at hand. He would encourage me to pursue my passion for the necromantic arts, and all of my other chaotic endeavors. Once I found my appreciation for Skooma, I understood why he took that name as a title. As I said before, thieving is in my blood, so it wasn’t hard to gain a reputation as a good thief. With a reputation, one must have a name to go with it, thus I decided on the title of Dar meaning "thief" in Ta’agra and I became Dar’Giin. 

Making connections in the cities was easy for me as I could be quite charming. I could charm my way into or out of almost anything, setting the path for my future although I did not know it at the time. Finally I found my way into Skyrim to the town of Falkreath. To say they have a large cemetery would be an understatement, surrounded by so much death I never felt more at home. It was simple enough to convince the old priest to allow me to help him in the Hall of the Dead. It took a little over a year but eventually I was able to learn how to raise a corpse from the dead. That was a wonderful day, even the Skooma Cat came to see my work. Now that I think about it, I’m sure he had something to do with what happened. The people of Falkreath soon found out that something was happening in the Hall. They started to whisper that the old priest was practicing necromancy. They believed that he was raising the dead. I’m not saying I fed into these rumors, but I didn’t exactly try to correct them either. I’m sure that whatever they did to him was unpleasant though I can’t say for certain, I was gone long before they reached the graveyard. 

Luck, it’s a strange thing. I found that a lot of luck in the world is bad, so how is it that I had so much good. You can’t be a thief in Skyrim and not know of the Thieves Guild in Riften. I had set my mind on joining the guild, but I would not show up there empty handed. Nor would I take something as simple as gold and gems. I would find a prize as great as my worth. Lady Luck, Night Mistress, Nocturnal, these are just a few names for the Daedric Prince who’s sphere is the night and darkness. Thought to be one of the eldest and most powerful Daedra, knowing that, how could I possibly not try to contact her? It takes time, patience, and a bit of good luck to contact a Daedric Prince, all of which I had. A few weeks went by without hearing anything, but eventually she visited me in a dream. I stood in an endless void with no sense of time or space, I saw nothing but I did not feel alone. Hearing her voice in that void was soothing and fearsome at the same time. She spoke of an artifact taken from her, something small, easy to hide, and of great importance. I had been told of my prize, now to retrieve it. She led me to Whiterun, the rest was up to me. I sought out the lowlifes of the city and began to ask a few not so subtle questions. Sometimes the best way to get information is to go at it head on. It didn’t take long for me to gain the attention of the ones that had taken the key. All I needed was a corpse, with that one simple thing there is much I can accomplish. This group of idiot bandits thought it wise to lock me away for a time, I suppose to try and frighten me. I was kept in there alone for over a week, it was good practice to raise and then drain vitality from the skeletons that were in the cell with me. While in there I was able to pull necrotic energy into a few bones that I then shaped into a Sickle and Quarterstaff, I found that when I put them together they make a beautiful Scythe. After they softened me up they began to interrogate me, asking about the key and how I knew it was taken, and if anyone else knew that Corven had it. Perfect, they had given me the information I needed. 

In my short time in the city I found there was a small group of thieves located just East of Whiterun led by a
half-elf named Corven. With my undead minion stumbling out of the shadows towards my captors to distract them, I made short work of them with spells and my freshly made scythe. This group was either new or made of nothing but idiots. They had taken me directly to their encampment, to their leader, to the key. It was easy enough to sneak into his room and take the it. I let Corven live. I am a thief, not an assassin. I had my prize, now I had to find my way to Riften. I had to figure out who would be best to return the key to. Again that night I had another dream of being in the void, and I heard Nocturnal's voice. She spoke of a passage for rats beneath Riften. She mentioned a drow by the name of Silas, a trusted member of the guild though not high ranking. The first time I saw Riften I thought, what a dreary place this is. It seemed there was a lack of energy, of hope, of luck. For a time I stayed hidden in the Ratway, sticking to the shadows, waiting, listening until I heard it. Silas. The name given to me by the Night Mistress as someone to trust. I approached Silas and asked to speak to him regarding his luck. He thought it strange that a small Khajiit he did not know would ask such a question but he went with it. Once we were alone I divulged to him what had happened and presented the key. My entrance into the Guild was secure, and I had gained favor with Nocturnal.

 For the next twenty years, I worked my way through the ranks of the guild. I saw three leaders in my time, none of which advanced the status of the Guild. They lacked what it took to truly lead: an equal amount of respect and fear and also quite a lot of luck. One was so concerned with being caught that they took no risks. We suffered for eight years under his lead. Another tried to rule with an iron fist. He went missing in his third year as leader. Elora was the worst of them. For nine years she was the master of the Guild, jobs were flooding into us, but the gold did not match the work. How did we let her go on for so long? She had been taking from the vault for her own personal use. Though we are thieves, we do have honor. You do not take from the guild, regardless of your status. Silas and I were finally able to catch her stealing and she was excommunicated from Riften. A call to the Dark Brotherhood was made and paid for by the gold she had stolen. A vote was taken and the members had decided, almost unanimously, that I would be the next to lead us. Once again I found myself needing to change my name. I was now a leader, a master in charge of many. Thus there could be no other name than Ra’Giin. For ten years I have led my guild into greatness. We have wealth and many allies. Our clients show us respect. The name Ra’Giin is but a myth, though it still strikes fear into those that would cross us. Ten wonderful years. In that time I have but one regret. I let a snake into

my den. Drathis will pay for all that he has done, especially to you. I care for you as a brother cares for a sister, and nothing, not even death, will stop me from avenging you. 

My Dear Svaela, you are missed.