COURTIER
Refer to the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide page 146 for more information.
In your earlier days, you were a personage of some significance in a noble court or a bureaucratic organization. You might or might not come from an upper-class family; your talents, rather than the circumstances of your birth, could have secured you this position.
You might have been one of the many functionaries, attendants, and other hangers-on in the Court of Wayrest, or perhaps you traveled in the Imperial City's baroque and sometimes cutthroat conglomeration of guilds, nobles, adventurers, and secret societies. You might have been one of the behind-the-scenes law-keepers or functionaries in Sentinel or Mournhold, or you might have grown up in and around the castle of Daggerfall.
Even if you are no longer a full-fledged member of the group that gave you your start in life, your relationships with your former fellows can be an advantage for you and your adventuring comrades. You might undertake missions with your new companions that further the interest of the organization that gave you your start in life. In any event, the abilities that you honed while serving as a courtier will stand you in good stead as an adventurer.
Skill Proficiencies: Insight, Persuasion
Languages: Two of your choice
Equipment: A set of fine clothes and a pouch containing 20 septims.
FEATURE: COURT FUNCTIONARY
Your knowledge of how bureaucracies function lets you gain access to the records and inner workings of any noble court or government you encounter. You know who the movers and shakers are, whom to go to for the favors you seek, and what the current intrigues of interest in the group are.
SUGGESTED CHARACTERISTICS
Use the tables for the guild artisan background in the Player's Handbook as the basis for your traits and motivations, modifying the entries when appropriate to suit your identity as a courtier.
The noble court or bureaucratic organization where you got your start is directly or indirectly associated with your bond (which could pertain to certain individuals in the group, such as your sponsor or mentor). Your ideals might be concerned with the prevailing philosophy of your court or organization.