#garosh

Hmmm, well they’re not stupid, but… least likely to put brain over brawn/most likely to completely misunderstand something would be

Garosh

Astra Stormheart

It depends on when she would find out, but saying ‘not well’ would be putting it lightly. Val’s emotions are fairly volatile, and finding out she’d been lied to would leave her absolutely furious with Astra and Soran in particular.

But Garosh is a stranger to Val. He’s never meant anything to her, and he might have a great deal of love for her, she’ll never love him because he’s no one to her, even when she learns the truth. Soran means more to Val than Garosh does, because Soran actually had some presence in her life prior to Grelod and the Thieves Guild. Garosh has never been present - not by choice, otherwise he’d have been there for her 100% - but that means nothing to Val. If anything, she’d end up rejecting both of them. Soran was hardly ever there, and Garosh is a stranger, but there is one man she will always call her father, and that’s Brynjolf.

Brynjolf helped Val escape Grelod. Brynjolf taught Val how to look after herself. Brynjolf was there to sooth Val when she had nightmares. Brynjolf went to look for Val when Mercer returned from Snow Veil Sanctum alone. Brynjolf heard Karliah out because Val trusted her. Brynjolf agreed to become a Nightingale because he was that furious that Mercer had tried to kill Val, his daughter. Brynjolf risked jumping back into rising, freezing water because Val hadn’t emerged. Brynjolf was always there, 100%, supporting Val through all the shit she went through no matter what because he loved her.

What scares Astra is the realisation of how much Val has turned out like Soran. They both lie, steal and cheat to further their goals, they’re both fairly selfish, and they both prefer cunning and deceit over honour - a value they both spit upon most of the time. They don’t care much how they get the job done, so long as it gets done. The main difference is that Val is a better parent than Soran, she has her rare moments of honour, and she’s got less emotional control, whereas Soran is a master manipulator and will go to any lengths to see his mission done.

It had been Delphine who had tracked him down in the end. That wily breton never gave up, it seemed. As sharp and paranoid as ever, he half wondered if she was going mad when she insisted he come with her to Sky Haven Temple, talking about rebuilding the Blades and insisting the Dragonborn had been found.

Naturally, he’d said no the first ten times. The Blades were long dead and had been since Adal Matar fell all those years ago. The Thalmor were too powerful to be opposed, especially after Skyrim fell away from the Empire. Damn seperatist idiots. The Stormcloaks’ reckless decision to scede from the Empire had only given the Thalmor easier targets. It wouldn’t be long before the Aldmeri Dominion brought its might to bear on Tamriel.

But Delphine was not one to give up. She’d kept up the fight for thirty years after all, an ear to the ground and an eye to the horizon, and she scarcely took no for an answer. And she always witheld her greatest weapon until she was certain it could be used.

And so here he was, standing in the halls of his predecessors. The Temple was ancient and it showed, though with some work it could surely serve as a bulwark against the threat of the Thalmor. Fires burned brightly in their braziers and natural sunlight poured in through cracks in the ceiling, throwing long, sharp shadows against the walls and floor. Most notably that of Alduin’s Wall, the sole reason the temple had been found again at all. As was the woman standing before it.

Just as Delphine had told him, she looked very much like her mother. Much shorter and with dark brown eyes and a nose more similar to his own, the differences were clear, but the similarities were eerie. The eyes, though different in colour, were much the same shape, and the facial shape was too similar for her not to be Astra’s daughter. The most obvious difference between the two was this woman’s lack of height and muscle - perhaps a result of her premature birth, or whatever life she had been left to after Astra’s death.

Garosh stood in the shadows, watching for a while, not quite certain he believed this woman to be his daughter, let alone Dragonborn. She ran her fingers across the carved mural of Alduin falling from the sky in the centre of the wall, sharp discerning eyes scanning over every detail the Akaviri had left behind. The same look Astra always had when searching for a weakness against an enemy. The same look shared very different purposes.

For a fleeting insane moment, he was tempted to speak to her, to tell her the truth of her parentage and to tell her all he knew of her mother. But surely enough it passed. The lie had been enough. It had kept her alive. The truth would only do harm, not good. So he simply watched and waited until she turned from the wall and disappeared up the stairs leading out to the courtyard.

He was an orc warrior of the Adal Matar Stronghold (from the Fight Against the Thalmor mod series)

Joined the Blades to get back at the Thalmor

Is still alive and kicking Thalmor arse

Had he taken Val from Grelod the Kind he would have revealed her orc heritage, which would have led to her being ostracised

Didn’t initially agree with the Stronghold reaching out to the Blades for help

His relationship with Astra endangered the alliance between the Blades and Adal Matar

Agreed to the plan of Astra posing as Soran’s wife in Riften so she and Valkari would be safe from the Thalmor

Avoided rejoining the Blades initially due to Valkari’s involvement with them - he eventually made the journey to Sky Haven

Delphine and Esbern know that he’s Val’s father, but agree not to tell her

He loves cats to the point he adopted a sabre cat cub and raised it - even as an adult, it follows him everywhere

Descended from Gal-gro Bash

Son of the Chief

Has three sisters and one younger brother

His eldest sister taught him how to fight and they have a big sibling rivalry over who is Adal Matar’s best warrior - it’s all in good fun

His family was killed when Adal Matar was destroyed after the Great War ended

100% aware of what his daughter is up to and is very proud of her, regardless of her profession

Has probably met Teldryn at some point in his travels

Has killed so many Dark Brotherhood assassins that they admire his inability to die

Val has met him during a trip to Sky Haven

Has some basic grasp of destruction magic

Absolutely would be best friends with the Iron Bull if they ever met