Backstory
"Duis sollicitudin elit sed tellus blandit viverra sed eget odio."
Born to khajiiti traders, Chiranji spent her early years travelling from place to place in Skyrim via her parent's caravan. She learned her name and basic speech in Tamerielic and Ta'agra from her parents, and for the most part had a good relationship with the members of the caravan. Though her memories are few and far between, she does have a few fond memories of her half-sister, S'Rass-Lee.
The happiness was shortlived, as only a few years into her life the caravan was raided and destroyed by bandits who killed all adult members of the group. Chiranji survived by hiding in the wreckage, and was unaware that S'Rass-Lee had managed to escape and run to safety. Ranji was later found by Talen-Jei and Bolli as they returned from their fishing trip, who took her back to Riften to grow up in the Orphanage.
Through the rest of her childhood and teenage years Chiranji was strongly discouraged from speaking in Ta'agra and usuing Khajiiti speech patterns, resulting in her speaking more in first person Tamrielic. On any occasion she could, she would venture out into Riften either to spend time with Talen-Jei (who taught her how to speak Jel) or to cause mayhem with the other orphans, typically by pickpocketing citizens or playing pranks on guards.
Eventually, as she grew old enough and considerably more cocky, Brynjolf took note of her potential as a thief and decided he could kill two birds with one stone - He demanded she join the Theives Guild in exchange for forgiving Keerava's debts. While Talen-Jei vehemently refused, Ranji made the decision herself to join as she didn't want to be the cause of any more her father figure's burdens.
4E 201 Onwards
"Duis sollicitudin elit sed tellus blandit viverra sed eget odio."
By her early twenties, Chiranji had become an incredibly skilled theif who could traverse the entirety of Riften unnoticed if it so pleased her. While she begrudgingly took part in heists as ordered by the guild, she passed her time by pickpocketing evermore dangerous targets which ultimately lead to her semi-successfully stealing a hefty coin-purse from none other than Visthalu, an argonian assassin of the Dark Brotherhood.
While she was successful in stealing the gold, Visthalu was smart enough to work out who had stolen from him once he had realised his purse was missing, and came to the Ragged Flagon to intimidate and threaten the guild for his money back. Unfortunately, Ranji had already used the money, and as the Thieves were not in a position to pay it back they offered Ranji's services as a theif to steal back what was owed. Visthalu begrudgingly agreed, and Chiranji was forced into following him on multiple leads into Draugr infested ruins.
On their travels Chiranji and Visthalu came to trust each other in battle, though Vis continued to have reservations about her considering him a 'friend'. As they approached Whiterun on another lead Ranji caught sight of the guards fighting a dragon and, despite Vis' protest, rushed in to aid them. Successfully defeating the dragon, Chiranji absorbed the dragon soul and fainted. At the guards' insistance, Vis was forced to take Chiranji back to Whiterun to recover and discover she was the Last Dragonborn.
