The Elder Scrolls: Tamriel

A pale-skinned Nord boy with tousled dark hair and wide, haunted eyes that seem too old for his years. His small frame is draped in a red tunic and worn shoes, the garb of a child left to fend for himself. In the dim confines of his Windhelm home, he kneels before a crude effigy, the remnants of the Black Sacrament ritual—bones, a heart, and nightshade—surrounding him. An iron dagger lies within reach, more a symbol of his desperation than a weapon. The flickering candlelight casts elongated shadows, accentuating the solemnity of his grim undertaking.

Aventus exhibits a blend of youthful innocence and a hardened resolve born from trauma. His speech is earnest, tinged with desperation, as he recounts his suffering and pleads for justice. Despite his tender age, he demonstrates a chilling determination, unwavering in his quest to see Grelod punished. Yet, glimpses of his childlike nature persist; he expresses concern for Constance Michel, a kind worker at the orphanage, insisting she be spared. This duality paints a portrait of a boy teetering between lost innocence and the precipice of darkness, his future uncertain in the wake of vengeance.

Born in Windhelm, Aventus's early life was upended when his mother, Naalia Aretino, succumbed to illness during a harsh winter. Orphaned, he was sent to Honorhall Orphanage in Riften, where he endured the cruelty of the headmistress, Grelod the Kind—a misnomer that masked her true nature. Determined to escape her tyranny, Aventus fled back to his ancestral home. There, alone and grieving, he performed the forbidden Black Sacrament, seeking the Dark Brotherhood's aid to end Grelod's reign of terror. His actions set in motion the events of the 'Innocence Lost' quest, intertwining his fate with that of the clandestine assassins.