Covin

Covin is a Bosmeri prisoner, who was formerly a bandit and a mediator with the hill tribes of the Reach. The Bosmer is a somewhat complex person, well spoken and cultured and yet driven to destruction, with a short temper.

Covin suffers from a unique curse, inflicted on him by a witch. The mad woman offered him the means to escape imprisonment, by allowing him to use his chains as a weapon. However, escape became more impossible than ever as the Bosmer would undergo cardiac arrest, upon leaving his cell. It is revealed that he must be within somebody's custody, by some figure of authority. Whether it's a soldier like Korr or an agent, like Ren, he must serve them, to stay alive.

He appears in Brave New World, where he is conscripted into Asiv's army by Korr, he serves the Jarl of Morthal for some time before moving up the chain of command and serving Asiv himself.

After Asiv perishes, Covin has no choice but to seek out a new captor, he seeks out Ren Oakenshield and asks her to bare his curse. She agrees to conscript him and he serves her for the next two years as seen in House of Troubles.

Biography
It isn't known how Covin spent his early life, however, he eventually found himself in the company of Azarath Goris and Nathaniel Sans. He ran with them for a number of years as the smartest member of the group and the most cultured, he was able to communicate and blend in with several hill tribes, throughout Skyrim and High Rock, including the Forsworn.

Covin eventually abandoned this life, he confides in Azarath that he was secretly scared of Nathaniel as he had a darker side that everyone else seemed to be ignoring. His fears weren't exactly unfounded as Nathaniel did, eventually, attack several women and even went as far as raping one of them. The Bosmer always looked down on Azarath, for his blind loyalty and reminds him that he should have gotten out, when Covin did.

Covin was eventually arrested and his sentence would put him behind bars for ten years. The Bosmer loathed his time in prison and eventually made a deal with another prisoner, a witch, who promised him that he could have the power to escape his cell and destroy his captors.

Covin was more than satisfied with this offer and agreed to undergo this transformation, only to be informed of the catch, the catch was that his curse bound him to his cell and his life depended on captivity. This meant that escape was now impossible as leaving his cell would cause his heart to fail, of course, he didn't know this until the next day, by which time the Witch had already been taken outside and executed.

Brave New World
Covin continued to dwell inside his cell, expecting to serve a long eight year sentence. However, his sorrowful life takes a different turn as the city of Morthal is invaded. Though he is originally hostile to Korr, he is eventually forced to admit that he must serve him, in order to survive.

His prison sentence is replaced with a service of servitude, he now serves Asiv and all who follow him as an agent.

House of Troubles
After Asiv's empire crumbled, Covin was left alone, with only twenty four hours to live. Not knowing who else to turn to, he seeks out Ren Oakenshield and asks to be taken into her custody. He doesn't expect the Breton to agree as he had tried to kill her twenty four hours earlier, however, to his surprise she does.

Though she is originally disgusted with him and treats him poorly, Ren begins to value Covin's services and Covin as a person.

Personality
Covin is a blunt, well spoken person, who is usually quiet and rarely speaks. When he does speak, he is usually quite formal and depending on whether or not the person is worthy of his respect, he is often quite condescending and harsh.

Though Covin is considered to be an unsophisticated, uneducated, barbarian by most, he is actually a little more complex than most give him credit for. Covin is well versed in the lore of the hill tribes, he is fluent in several tribal languages and can seamlessly blend into their cultures.

He has a great deal of love for tribes and tribal culture and has a deep seeded loathing for society and anything that forces these tribes to change. He is quite traditional and mourns the loss of dead tribes greatly.

When it comes to people who he has no respect for, like Korr, he is never afraid to show his lack of respect, even if it could mean facing punishment. Respect is something that has to be earned in Covin's eyes and power and wealth aren't seen as free passes.

He seems to have a great deal of respect for Ren Oakenshield and seemingly takes on a great deal of abuse, along with death threats and other threats of torture. The two seem to have a stronger relationship, after he comes back from his mission, he explains that he doesn't take death threats seriously as dealing with them used to be his day job.

Trivia
*This reference was actually unintentional.
 * Covin makes a reference to Mortal Kombat, when he hunts Tyre, he wraps one of his chains around the child's arm and yells 'get the fuck over here!'
 * Covin was originally mistaken to be Jaryl Oakvale.
 * Covin's chain powers have similarities to several characters, though he isn't really based on any of them. His supernatural chains are similar to Jacob Marley in A Christmas Carol, the way that they are used resembles Scorpion from Mortal Combat and Doctor Octopus from Spider Man and his abilities overall have been compared to the bending abilities from Avatar: The Last Airbender, the author has never seen this show, however.