D&D 5E Need help creating backstory for my Lvl 8 5E Warforged Psionic Fighter.

I've decided on building a Warforged Battlemind out of the UA release on Psionics. I have picked the race, the class, and I am to start him at Level 8 to join up with the current party. Now I want to flesh him out and give him a backstory of sorts, but all I have is a concept of my character.

Warforged. His name - Marathon. I created him due to being inspired by the character of Riddick from Pitch Black/Chronicles of Riddick, creating a very dangerous, dark killer, however he does have sort sort of morality deep down.

He was built by a corrupt military unit who tasked him with escorting newly conscripted soldiers down into the passageways of the Underdark to clear out Drow Elves. They called this the 'Marathon', putting bets on to see who could survive the longest and come back to tell about it. Marathon however was always the survivor. Being a construct he couldn't say much about it, but he did begin to learn the concept of corruption and wickedness in the hearts of humans.

One day, he 'ran the Marathon' again, but this time, they found several Drow dead. They then came across a hidden path into a dungeon. There they found what appeared to be a sort of shrine/temple to a large metallic structure in the form of a bestial demon.

At this point I can't figure out what this event could be here, but I want it to be the means that Marathon attained his psychic powers, broke his programming, escaped the temple, massacred the military unit responsible for the marathon, and escaped into the world.

Sorry if I trail off a bit, I've been going back and forth trying to get a cool character concept for a Warforged. First he was a Ranger, then I initially made him a Fighter/Paladin who became devoted to the Raven Queen from 4e (not really, actually falling in love with her), then I made him a Winter themed Paladin. I reckon I can stick with this current concept but I really do need help trying to create a good backstory. Can anyone offer any suggestions?

When in doubt regarding psionic powers, blame mindflayers also props for the deadpool-esque naming convention, very flavorful

TheMaskhaoticOne said:

At this point I can't figure out what this event could be here, but I want it to be the means that Marathon attained his psychic powers, broke his programming, escaped the temple, massacred the military unit responsible for the marathon, and escaped into the world.

Click to expand...

My first thought is to have some sort of "magical" surge that either short-circuited his inherent magical matrix or overclocked that matrix...basically think of every Sci-Fi movie where a robot gained self-awareness and add magic to that story.

As for the event that cause the magic backlash...could be anything from an Artifact to an Avatar's death. Maybe a powerful curse was enacted or he stumbled into a pocket of Wild Magic. Maybe run some ideas through your DM because any of those could be awesome plot hooks for future adventures.

The bestial demon of metal could be a shrine to "The Fury". It's a deity from Eberron. A member of the dark six. This fits the autonomous robot theme.

Here is a bit on the fury.

THE FURY

“The Sovereign of Rage and Ruin,”
Neutral Evil
Daughter to Arawai and the Devourer, the Fury is a deity of passion driven to extremes. She is patron to all who allow their passions to consume them, regardless of whom else they worship. Her followers cultivate rage and resentment among the so-called “civilized,” to better spread the influence of their god. The Fury watches over barbarians everywhere, as well as certain types of artists, crafters, and bards. She is also the deity of favor among many intelligent monsters.
Portfolio: Anger, extremism, insanity, passion, revenge.Domains: Evil, Liberation‡, Hatred‡, Madness*, Passion*, Wrath‡.
Priest Training: In all matters, the Fury’s priests are passionate. They must have an intimate understanding of pain and loss. Many were bereaved during the Last War, and many fought in it.
Quests: The Fury demands her followers inflame passion by every means possible to break down the strictures of formality and custom.
Prayers and Rites: The Fury’s rites are deeply personal affairs. Sacrifices almost always involve bloodshed, sometimes on the part of the petitioner, sometimes not. One word that never describes any rite conducted in the Fury’s name is “somber.”
Shrines: Shrines to the Fury are as varied as her worshipers. Among certain drow sects, temples are strangely elaborate and meticulously maintained. By contrast, a monstrous shrine might be little more than a pile of bones, with fresh kills piled regularly on top.
Favored Weapon: Rapier.
Holy Symbol: A red-and-black, winged wyrm with a woman’s head and upper body.
Reference: http://eberronunlimited.wikidot.com/the-dark-six

Back to the story, your character finds a band of heroes who have killed the drow in the name of the Sovereign Host. They wish to destroy the heretic temple to The Fury and depart from where they entered. The soldiers talk about alerting the rest of the unit about the intruders. They take off, but you don't follow. You wish to join the band of heroes but are concerned with the military unit continuing their evil deeds. You hear faint whispers and see the figure of the metal demon begin talking to you. No one else sees this. "Your passion draws me closer to you." she says. "I can give you the power to destroy them. Isn't that what you want?" "To leave this place? To stop the death pool?" At this point the heroes see you staring at the shrine. They grow concerned. "She's speaking to you isn't she?" Don't listen. She's deceiving you by luring you with what you're most passionate about." Shouts a clerics. You begin to feel as a fountain does. A spring of energy rises fromthe tip of your toes tot he rest of your body as you are filled with a strange potency that you've never felt before. You feel powerful. You grow angry with rage as you think about the military unit and all the ones that died for money. The images of their faces run through your mind.Your mind is racing with computations. Possibilities. All scenarios. Killing the heroes- Killing the military unit- Just Running away- Asking the heroes to kill the military unit- Everything. You kneel down and clutch your head. You don't know what to do. For the first time you as a construct with logical parameters and programmed responses don't know what to do. While kneeled, the cleric begins to mutter words. Light fills the ground below you as he casts, "Protection from Evil and Good". The whispers stop. You get up and feel calm and collected again. After a moment to think it over, you decide to go with the heroes and ask them to save you from this place. The cleric says, by "Insert your deity if you have/want one's name here" name, I will get you out of this place. You smile. The heroes destroy the shrine, consecrate the ground, begin to leave. It is at this moment as you turn away that a "projectile of your choice" hits your new cleric friend. The military unit returns and you hear the leader shout, "Focus the cleric men." You move to protect the wounded cleric and wind up taking a few shots. They command you to attack, but you can't. You refuse. You choose not to follow orders and they call you out as a traitor as they continue their barrages. The band begins to run as you carry the cleric. You notice him losing a lot of blood and the military unit is gaining given their knowledge of the tunnels. You know a skirmish is inevitable and slow. You tell the band they must fight, and they agree. the battle ensues and the military has the upper hand. Just as you recognize the battle is lost, you see the cleric shout as a massive burst of energy bursts throughout the general area. You're invigorated and regain the will to fight once again. You notice everyone else bolstered and believe you can win the battle. You also know, however that the burst will attract more drow. Time is now extremely limited. You notice some rubble falling from the ceiling. The burst must have shaken loose the structure of the tunnels and now there is an imminent collapse at hand. You run to grab the cleric as the group fends off the military. "The tunnel's collapsing! Back!" screams the captain. some are trapped and some get crushed from larger pieces beginning to fall. "Run for it!" You hear from the band. They all start to take off. You follow with the cleric who is now sickly pale. You notice his gaze looking past you. He closes his eyes as he mutters words again. "May insert God name here be with you always." Your group reaches the entrance, but the rest of the ceiling collapses. You're too late. You leap with great effort, but don't reach the entrance. You black out. You awaken and hear the sounds of clanking. A band of dwarves (you can tell by the odor) are digging nearby. You call out in their general direction. You hear a yelp from one of the dwarves. He is panicked as he asks where you are. You tell him you're trapped in the debris. He asks the other dwarf if he can hear someone taling and the other dwarf says no. "There's someone in my head!" "He says he's trapped in the debris." "Well quit standing there, [Dwarf name], DIG!" They get you out with the cleric still wrapped in your arms, dead.

At this point I think that's enough, lol. Feel free to make any changes of course. Make the cleric female. Make the dwarves elves. Whatever you want. This was my "go at it". Let me know what you think. I hope this helps.