The origin for the default player character is that you were a student at the wizards guild, and you became obsessed with your mortality. fearing death you stole a forbidden tome and left for new lands, in hopes of finding immortality. As far as family, friends, or life up to that point, it's up to you as the player to decide what your characters life was like before venturing out.
I could make some kind of map. But I'm not sure how much information I can present to the player through it. Just a generic representation of map zones, like green for forests and a little house for town areas.