The only child of a proud and mighty Thane of Whiterun and a mage of Winterhold, Fjorna had already surpassed her mother's skill in magic by the age of merely twenty. At twenty-one, she served the Imperial Legion during the Great War as a battle mage--a war that claimed the lives of both her mother, and father.

Returning to Whiterun after the Concordat was signed, Fjorna married the much older Imperial General and newly-made lord of Winterstone Castle, Quintus Marius Antilius. Although Fjorna's marriage was largely unhappy due to Quintus' frequent trips to Cyrodiil, the couple would have two children--a daughter, born less than two years after they had married, and a son that followed.

Having discovered the secrets of Winterstone Castle, including the vast, underground sanctuary that was once home to a clan of powerful vampires, Fjorna began to study the darker aspects of magic. By the time her children had come of age, her husband was dead, and Fjorna was already both a powerful necromancer, and a devout worshiper of Molag Bal. Her daughter went off to join the College of Winterhold, but her son, Marius the younger remained with her at Winterstone, and became part of the small cult of Molag Bal worshipers his mother had formed.

As the second century of the Fourth Era began, Fjorna was in her early fifties and had spent much of the past three years searching for a way to become immortal. It was then that she and her son Marius devised a way to gain the blessings of their lord, Molag Bal. As an Officer in the Legion, and Lord of Winterstone, young Marius used his position to have dozens of young women, including several virgins arrested on false charges, and brought to the Castle to be offered up to Molag Bal as sacrifices on his summoning day in the hope of both she and Marius being made vampires.

On the 20th of Evening Star in the year two hundred of the Fourth Era, a macabre festival of sacrifice was carried out by Fjorna and her son in the Castle's underground sanctuary, during which Molag Bal was summoned. Along with the virgins, whose bodies were the first to be defiled by the Daedric Prince, Fjorna disrobed and offered herself to Molag Bal in the hope of becoming a daughter of Coldharbour. Forced to endure a harrowing night of unspeakable acts of carnality for the amusement of her Daedric Master, Fjorna would wake three nights later as a daughter of Coldharbour.

Unbeknownst to Fjorna and her son, the sheer amount of blood and carnage during the ritual summoning had also awakened one of the ancient Castle's original occupants, Countess Svetlana the Devourer. Amused by the mother and son duo's dedication to becoming vampires, Svetlana would remain with them for much of the rest of that year, teaching them to use the night powers and master the gifts of Molag Bal. Unfortunately, the presence of the three vampires did not go unnoticed for very long due to Marius' constant desire to hunt the Mortals of Riverwood for sport.

In the year two hundred and one of the Fourth Era, Freja Ironside was sent to Riverwood to put an end to such risky behavior, and it was then that things descended into utter chaos. Believing themselves superior to the thousand year-old Freja, Fjorna and Marius spurned her offer of diplomacy, leading to a brutal confrontation between Freja and Marius. A renowned shieldmaiden, and veteran of a thousand battles, Freja easily slew the much younger fledgling vampire, severing his head as his mother watched in horror.

It was only the return of Alduin that prevented Freja from staying to wipe out the entire bloodline, but this allowed Fjorna time to plot her terrible vengeance. Using the amulet of Mannimarco and her skill in the dark arts of necromancy, Fjorna performed a ritual that raised an army of the undead--an army which she turned loose on the citizens of Riverwood and Whiterun.

Alterted to the peril in which the small village had now found itself, and with more of the undead descending from the hills and moving dangerously close to Whiterun itself, Yarl Balgruuf sent a small army of his own guardsman, aided by two members of the newly-formed Dawnguard to put a stop to Fjorna once and for all.

Winterstone Castle soon fell under siege by the combined might of Whiterun, Falkreath and the Dawnguard, its gates finally being breached during the early morning hours. Inside, more than a hundred corpses were discovered--many of them missing citizens of nearby towns and holds. Fjorna herself had fled, leaving the ancient vampire, Svetlana to fend off the attackers. Weakened from centuries of laying dormant in a crypt, she was no match for the vampire hunters, and was horrifically tortured in the hope of learning Fjorna's location.

In the days that followed, many adventurers, including the vampire, Sonja, and several members of the Companions would continue to fight off the army of undead abominations until one day, the remaining undead thralls simply crumbled to the ground. It seemed as if whatever power had re-animated them was no longer in effect...

Broken under seven days of torture, Svetlana would eventually tell Isran about the hidden entrance to the underground lair where Fjorna was hiding. Despite more than a dozen guards, and two members of the Dawnguard being killed in the attempt, Fjorna would eventually be brought in chains to Dragonsreach, where she would face the Yarl's justice. Our story begins there...