Isaiah Kolgrim

Isaiah Kolgrim is a Redguard Priest in Return of the King. He initially worked alongside the urban saints, known as Mother Ashna but abandoned his post after seeing what she really was.

He retreated to Hjaalmarch, Skyrim, where he has been writing a book to expose her for what she really is for a number of years.

Background
Isaiah was born and raised him Hammerfell and joined the Priesthood at a young age. He had a son before he joined the Priesthood, at around the age of fifteen and supported him and his child's mother for a number of years, until their son's untimely death at the age of sixteen.

The Redguard worked closely with Mother Ashna, who opened up a home for the dying. There she took in sick patients with terminal illnesses and kept them all together in her sanctuary. However, Isaiah later discovered that she had no intention of healing these people or even easing their suffering and that she wanted to watch them suffer, so that she could grow closer to the nine, founding her own little cult of suffering.

Eventually, Mother Ashna forbade all forms of anaesthetics, even for children. This lead Isaiah to eventually euthanize one of his patients, a fourteen year old girl and was later caught by the other priests. He was branded a murderer and had to flee the Priory.

He fled all the way to Skyrim, where he worked on his novel, hoping to expose Mother Ashna before she died and ascended to Sainthood but even he admits that there is little that he can do to stop her from being a saint as many already see her as a living one.

He is introduced in Return of the King as he finds Arrietty Muldoon, aimlessly wandering the harsh, cold wilderness of Skyrim.

Personality
Isaiah comes across as a grouchy old man, who doesn't not fit the common image of a Priest. He uses a great deal of profanity and drinks quite a bit. As well as being an expert in restoration and quite adept at destruction, he is also a Master Swordsman, using Hammerfell skills that he picked up in his youth and that he can still pull off flawlessly, in his old age.

He is sometimes rather harsh in his dealings with others but truly cares about everyone. He's always willing to give advice to those who ask and empathizes with people as much as he is able to. In spite of his status as a Priest (or former Priest), he is by no means a pacifist and will resort to violence if necessary or if he feels like it is deserved.

Though Isaiah has a great will and a desire to bring justice to Mother Ashna, he admits to Dacian that it is a lost cause and that nothing that he or anyone can do will change the minds of the faithful or even the common mind. He knows that Ashna has won but doesn't want to make victory easy for her.

Appearances
The Return of the King 4!

The Return of the King 5

The Return of the King 6

The Return of the King 7

The Return of the King 8

The Return of the King 9

The Tyrant (RoTK: Part 10)

Return of the King 11

Return of the King (Part 12)

Return of the King 13

Return of the King XIV

The Return of the King (Part 15)

RotK 16

Return of the King 17

Return of the King 18

Return of the King (Part 19)

Return of the King (Part 20)

Trivia

 * Isaiah's name comes from the Bible, similar to Lott.

Behind the Scenes
Isaiah or his dilemma at least is based on a former nun by the name of Kelli Dunham, who now works as a standup comedian, writer and rights activist. She formerly worked alongside Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, also known as Mother Teresa.

By her account, Mother Teresa's home for the dying was not a place of healing and if anything was merely a place of observation, where the nuns observed their suffering but weren't allowed to intervene. She was told not to get involved with her patients and was told to keep her distance and not comply with the rules of not letting the patients see their families and forcing them to do without luxuries and even some essential things.

The Isaiah/Mother Ashna story arc is inspired by this account, the goal was to explore the desire to escape and the overall hopelessness of fighting back in such a situation but doing your best to do some iota of good.