Kriv Balasar was born into a dismal household with parents that were not his own. An elderly dwarvish couple picked him up off the street old out of pity, Kriv having been recently been abandoned by parents he never knew. The couple had no children of their own and wanted to leave behind a legacy, even if Kriv wasn't a dwarf. They were poor and thus had little ability to feed the young Dragonborn, yet they tried anyways, often stealing to make ends meet. Delg, Kriv's adopted father, was an amateur thief and stickman by night, and a peddler and 'down on his luck veteran' by day. Ilde, his adopted mother, was a waitress at a bar who took tips for special services in the back room. Even with all of their misdeeds, they tried to raise Kriv to be better than them, to be a good person- an asset to society. Kriv wasn't naïve though, so when he was fourteen and old enough to fend for himself, he asked his parents if he could leave. After weeks of discussion and preparation, they begrudgingly allowed him to leave. Delg and Ilde pooled their money for one last gift, a stunning, masterwork warhammer to help guide Kriv on his journey. Delg said, handing over the weapon, "don't ya ever forget where you came from and who you are, lest ya end up like me." And with that final piece of advice and warhammer in hand, Kriv set out for the town of Boulder's Gate. The journey was hard, and Kriv had to fend for himself for the first time in his life. Along the way he met an order of paladins of Bahamut and asked to be trained in their ways. They took him in and for eight years they taught him how to fight for, and most of all, how to protect, the innocent. When he had learned all he could, he took the teachings of Bahamut with him in his heart. Kriv knew then that to protect people was a noble goal, but to sacrifice oneself in the process was to stoop to their level. With this in mind he set off to preserve the light his parents had tried so hard to show him, never forgetting the last words his father spoke to him. At twenty four years of age, he set off to accomplish his dreams and preserve joy in this dark world he had come to know.