Town Guard

You have served the community where you grew up, standing as its first line of defense against crime. You aren't a soldier, directing your gaze outward at possible enemies. Instead, your service to your hometown was to help police its populace, protecting the citizenry from lawbreakers and malefactors of every stripe. You might have been part of the City Watch of Solitude, protecting the common folk from thieves and rowdy nobility alike. Or you might have been one of the valiant defenders of Whiterun, or even one of the magic-wielding Winterhold College-guard.   Whether you're city-born or from a small village, this background can describe your early years as a member of law enforcement. Most settlements of any size have their own guardsmen in hostile environments of Tamriel.   Variant: Investigator Rarer than watch or patrol members are a community's investigators, who are responsible for solving crimes after the fact. Though such folk are seldom found in rural areas, nearly every settlement of decent size has at least one or two watch members who have the skill to investigate crime scenes and track down criminals. If your prior experience is as an investigator, you have proficiency in Investigation rather than Athletics.

Features

Watcher's Eye Your experience in enforcing the law, and dealing with lawbreakers, gives you a feel for local laws and criminals. You can easily find the local outpost of the watch or a similar organization, and just as easily pick out the dens of criminal activity in a community, although you're more likely to be welcome in the former locations rather than the latter.