"It doesn't matter if I trust you. The Dragonborn does and that's good enough for me. You'll know if that changes."

---

Dashus Ash-Hide was raised in poverty by a Dunmer woman named Avyn Redoran - a wanderer who'd started her wayfaring life in the Third Era, two hundred and thirty years ago. She taught her child all she knew, teaching the Argonian the ways of Alchemy, foraging, hunting, surviving off the land, and how to defend herself. A Nord who was sweet on Avyn and cared for her child, Jorun, taught Dashus the ways of the sword, what it was to be of Skyrim. She grew up on the outskirts of Windhelm, beyond its docks and bridges, on the cusp of the forests and sulfur pools. She was told of what the world was once like, what had happened in the last lifetime, but no vestige of that world her mother grew up in remained.

It wasn't until Dashus found her mother's hidden heirloom - a curved blade, her father's sword - that a truth would come out. Though not one herself, Avyn's father was a servant of The Emperor, Uriel Septim VII, of the highest order. He was a Blade. An agent who would safeguard The Empire, who would keep The Emperor safe, who would deal with any threats to The Emperor's life and kingdom.

To Dashus, the only sensible conclusion was that the world was in disarray because no Dragonborn Emperor had ruled for two hundred years. That without The Blades, The Empire could not be kept safe. So of course, its charges and former client nations would be in the disarray they are. Dashus then took it upon herself to inherit the sword and the responsibilities that came with it. To rebuild The Blades, to establish an order to keep The Emperor safe... and to find The Dragonborn. Surely, there had to be one out there. Eventually, Dashus convinced her family that she would find this Dragonborn, refound The Blades and restore order to Tamriel by any means necessary. That the squalor she grew up in did not have to be, for future generations. That there could once again be prosperity. That people could worship the Gods they believed in openly again. And so, Dashus set out.

...But that was ten years ago. Returning to Skyrim after a decade of travel, meeting her goals, chasing down any leads she could on finding a Dragonborn, establishing a network of Blades who she'd convinced of her mission, and defeating those who would stop her - only for rumors of a Dragon attack to bring her home. For she believed that if she would find The Dragonborn, it would be here in Skyrim.

But her faith in The Empire had flagged, and hard. She saw the state that it was in. That it left others in. How little others wanted it back. What success some nations had found in independence, what The Aldmeri Dominion had done to make The Empire a puppet nation. She wondered if there was any hope to bring it back. Perhaps there was not and it was time for something new. She had hoped still, that The Dragonborn would be her answer.

Even if they could not save The Empire or create something better, she knew that The Dragonborn was the only one who could truly stop the Dragon menace. Even if not for the same reasons, she had to find them no matter what.

---

Hey there! Thank you for reading. This is my chief character for The Elder Scrolls, Dashus Ash-Hide. A wandering swordsman who's trying to find The Dragonborn to restore order to a broken world. She is the 4th Era's wielder of Goldbrand and a member of The Blades, but her own sect independent of any others that may still exist.

Between her investigations and travels, she has a penchant for drinking and betting, which can occasionally get her in trouble. She's a duelist with few equals, traveling alone for most of her adult life, openly wearing symbols that The Dominion actively targets. Though a skilled Alchemist, Duelist and Archer, she isn't much of a mage and only knows rudimentary spells that help her in a pinch.

She speaks with a Dunmer accent but uses Nord and Dunmer terminology, with very little Argonian sayings or considerations in the mix, as she was not raised by them and has not imbibed Hist Sap, despite having the opportunity to.

Also she's Transgender.

Dashus Ash-Hide is one of my most favorite characters, and if you keep an eye out you may see her somewhere sometime that you may not expect..! And perhaps, maybe, someday, I could make a companion mod of her... But no promises.