What is Brahm's backstory?
he’s Eir’s son, was raised in a somewhat sheltered life in the village of cragstead (NE wayfarer foothills) by his recently deceased father.
honestly, not all norns have to be shouting “MAH LEGEND, GIVE ME MORE ALE, SKAALDS WILL SING OF MY DEEDS” the whole time.
LegendaryMythril/Zihark Darshell
He’s only 17 isn’t he? That might explain his awkwardness. Also his current traveling companions are extremely strange. A baby asura he feels responsible for and a charr who treats him like a baby himself. If he was teamed up with another norn, I can see them acting differently.
Other than that, he’s very eager to dive in to fights and prove himself, as has been the case since we first met him, which is very norn-like.
honestly, not all norns have to be shouting “MAH LEGEND, GIVE ME MORE ALE, SKAALDS WILL SING OF MY DEEDS” the whole time.
I agree, and there are plenty of Norns you can listen to in the ambient conversations that don’t talk like that- especially the ones with regular jobs like miner, cook, etc. But somehow they all still sound Norn. The ones that aren’t blustering usually are brimming with dignity and Brahm has neither. Maybe if the voice actor was different it wouldn’t seem so odd… I dunno.
He’s only 17 isn’t he? That might explain his awkwardness.
I guess that would explain it, since the Norn children are different from the adults in their manner. Of course, that would start another problem as I wouldn’t have guessed he was supposed to be 17 either…
Braham started out with his home at Cragstead threatened by molten troops. He asked for help from Holbroek, didn’t get any, and took away an “Whatever happens, I’m going to look after my friends” attitude. He was a young punk, not impressed by famous people like his mother who had responsibilities elsewhere. He then teamed up with Rox to strike back at the molten facilities, turned up at Queen’s Jubilee for no real reason, and continued on the Scarlet trail after that.
Another reason that Braham isn’t feeling too boastful at the moment is because of what happened on the Breachmaker. When the climactic final confrontation occurred, and it was time to finish Scarlet off, her explosives flung him away and broke his leg, leaving him unable to get back into the fight. He’s taken that very personally, viewing it as a sign of weakness that he wasn’t able to deal with Scarlet while the player and Kasmeer, of all people, did.
He wants nothing more than to prove himself, but it’s hard for him to take pride in what he’s done when what should have been his crowning glory instead became him unable to stand and being tended to by Rox while a flighty Mesmer and a Whatever Your PC Is did the heavy lifting.
Braham started out with his home at Cragstead threatened by molten troops. He asked for help from Holbroek, didn’t get any, and took away an “Whatever happens, I’m going to look after my friends” attitude. He was a young punk, not impressed by famous people like his mother who had responsibilities elsewhere. He then teamed up with Rox to strike back at the molten facilities, turned up at Queen’s Jubilee for no real reason, and continued on the Scarlet trail after that.
I don’t buy that he isn’t impressed by famous people (or at least an implication that fame or legend doesn’t matter to him).
From the short story about him – “he wished more than anything that he could blend more smoothly with his father, be more like him, the great warrior, the legendary hero”. Braham’s father – Borje the Sun Chaser (who is never mentioned at all despite being Braham’s hero) was a considerable norn himself, he just chose to raise Braham over furthering his legend and Eir’s legend overshadow’s Braham’s father’s, in part because Braham’s father chose to raise him.
He’s only 17 isn’t he? That might explain his awkwardness.
I guess that would explain it, since the Norn children are different from the adults in their manner. Of course, that would start another problem as I wouldn’t have guessed he was supposed to be 17 either…
There is a little girl in Hoelbrak who comes off as the most boastful norn I’ve ever seen. She runs all over the place going on about her legend and how she will be mighty like Eir. Norn children are very much capable of being like the adults.
Most of the biconics are a departure from how we were brought to perceive each of the races. While DE are iconic of the five major races, the biconics seem to be written with a core theme of “family”. Marjory and Kasmeer (and Kasmeer’s interaction with Belinda emphasises this), their interaction with Taimi as big sisters, Taimi’s lack of family (she’s in the care of a likely-occupired-and-never-around Zojja), Braham’s brotherly relationship with family and Rox’s symbolic decision to discard her race’s value of a warband as “family” and choose the biconics instead. It’s all very soppy stuff.
Braham’s value of family can be seen twofold. He is wolf, norn that value the pack – working with others. It partially explains why he’s less solitary than other norn and more of a team player (although Caithe is of the Cycle of Night who “are inclined to be secretive and self-contained, preferring to travel alone” yet she works with Destiny’s Edge).
The other reason why Braham would value biconics over ‘typical’ norn values is that’s what his father did. Braham hates his mother (Eir) for abandoning him and loved his father for raising him. His father was a legendary norn himself, but considered raising Braham a worthy cause (or possibly, considered relieving Eir of the burden to do so a worthy cause). Braham’s father’s dying words instil this value in him.
“You will stay here in Cragstead,” continued Borje when his body had calmed. “You will shelter at Rugnar’s Steading with Yngvi and Brynhildr. Your strong back and sharp teeth will protect them. They are your pack now.”
…
“Your mother’s name is Eir Stegalkin. Remember that, but I will tell you what I told Yngvi and Brynhildr. No one must send word to your mother that I am gone. I forbid it. She is capable of great things, as are you. She must not be tempted to stray from her path. Wolf walks beside her. But you mustn’t worry. He walks beside you as well, my son. Never forget that.”
tl;dr Braham’s father chose to raise Braham over chasing building his own legend. His dying words emphasise the importance of his adoptive family and Braham’s role to protect them. Extending that experience to the biconics, Braham views them as his new family and values protecting first and chasing his legend second. The biconics are primarily about family even if that conflicts with their individual races.
If you want to read Braham’s background yourself, read the full short story on the wiki: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Braham%27s_Story
tl;dr
Don’t take this as any kind of refutation of what you said, but zero of that comes across to me when I listen to his in-game dialogue.