Sir Gideon presenting himself!

[Gideon]

Sir Gideon the half-elf

Let me introduce my sigfig, and some small MOCs illustrating his backstory!

Sir Gideon by Gideon_83, on Flickr

Gideon was born as the offspring of the daughter of a minor Avalonian lord and an unknown elvish father. Some rumors say he was a warrior, others that he was a criminal, and yet others had heard from someone who had heard from someone that... Only Gideon's mother knew for certain.

Love in Avalonia by Gideon_83, on Flickr

Being regarded as "a filthy half-breed bastard", both by most humans and by virtually all elves, he has all his life had a hard time getting accepted in the world of Historica. Gideon’s mother died in childbirth, and he grew up in the care of his reluctant and sorrow-stricken grandfather, the lord of the small earldom of Norshire in the north-eastern part of Avalonia, not far from the Mitgardian border. Gideon’s early years he spent among the human children in his grandfather’s castle Nordana Hall. Neither his grandfather, nor the other humans in the castle were particularly found of the half-elf, so Gideon learned many hard lessons from children and grownups alike that he wasn’t “one of them”.

Training children by Gideon_83, on Flickr

When the other boys were sent off to squire for one famous knight or another and eventually earn their golden spurs, Gideon was left to train and serve with the household garrison. The life as a common man-at-arms was a miserable one where he was treated worse than ever, especially since his grandfather had died and his uncle had assumed the earlship. It however gave him ample opportunities to train in all kinds of weapon skills, not only those considered chivalrous enough for a proper knight. Finally, Gideon decided that he had spent enough time in a place where he had never been welcome, he set out to make his own place in the world.

Gideons bitterness, well founded or not, towards Avalonians and their feudal society knows few bounds. Being a half-elf however also has its advantages. From his fathers kind, Gideon has inherited both the elvish intelligence and longevity. Even though he is still considered a youngster by elvish standards he is over 150 years old. From his mother, being of Mitgardian descent, some of the raw strength and endurance of the northmen has been passed down to him. To a great extent Gideon's life has been a life of violence, earning hard-won respect and a fair share of gold with his diverse and deadly weapon skills.

Caravan by Gideon_83, on Flickr

As a mercenary he has travelled all over Historica and served lords, merchant princes, chieftains and kings. He even served as a captain in the Petraean city guard for a while, before growing bored by the dull slow-paced ceremonial lifestyle.

Petraean city wall by Gideon_83, on Flickr

Gideon still finds Kaliphlin and its vibrant cities to be his favorite place in the world. Its diverse nature means that most people don’t seem to care about his background. In his service to wealthy and sly Kaliphlin merchants Gideon also picked up many of the tricks of the trade. Combined with the numerous useful connections he has made during his travels all around Historica, it has enabled him to earn a fair bit of gold on the trade of rare Kaliphlin goods and artifacts. In recent years Gideon has mostly led a lifestyle of the wandering adventurer, never really trusting anyone but himself.

Sir Gideon in full armor by Gideon_83, on Flickr

Thanks to his noble descent, Gideon likes to style himself "Sir Gideon” although he never was formally knighted, as such honours are usually not bestowed upon half-breed. The human house he descends from has been extinct ever since his mother's great-nephew was slain in a Drow raid many years ago. Formally Gideon therefore may have inherited the lordship of Norshire, but he has never actually been given the position. Instead the shire has just been left to the care of the castellan of Nordana Hall who in turn passed it to his son and so on, making the present castellan Hedrik Lefteye the de facto earl of Norshire. But a small part of Gideon’s conscience tells him that it is may be his duty to return in the desperate hour when the chaos of Revolword have also reached Norshire...

I am posting my sigfig here since it is not clear to which guild Sir Gideon's loyalties ultimately lie, with a legal claim to an Avalonian earldom, elvish and Mitgardian ancestry but Kaliphlin gold in his purse.

Perhaps something or someone can give him good reasons to join one of the guilds?

Should he return home north to try to save what can be saved of his family’s earldom, or join his Mitgardian brethren in the fight against Revolword? Or even go west to take up arms with the elves, if they would have him? And maybe even learn some more things about his past... Or maybe he will just continue roaming Historica, prosper on the riches of Kaliphlin, explore Avalonias mysteries and who knows what else he might encounter?

For a while anyway, Sir Gideon remains a guildless traveller caught in the fray of the Revolword war. Whatever outcome it may have he will surely, willing or unwilling, play some part in the saga of Historica.

I am a latecomer to GoH, but I am hoping that GoH will live on past Challenge VI since I have seen how this can be an excellent way of developing ones build and photo skills. After lurking around here for a few months I have gotten a huge amount of inspiration! It remains to be seen however if time and bricks will permit that to be translated into MOCs telling the story of my reluctant hero...

Edited February 25, 2013 by Gideon

[SkaForHire]

How about this for convincing: join Kaliphlin, please? Great backstory, and some very impressive introduction builds!!! There are many adventures to be had in the various guilds, and we all know Kaliphlinites earn more frequent sailing miles then any of the other guilds.

On another note, I am pretty sure GoH will still exist after challenge VI.. .a lot of us have talked about what to do next, and we may even see some more member driven challenges in the future.

[de Gothia]

Great to finally see you here Gideon! Most welcome! Some great mocs aswell!!

I think you should pick the guild that you find the most attractive...

[Kayne]

Very nice builds! You can certainly fit into any of our guilds, and your building style is already very good! Of course, if you were to join Kaliphlin you explore every type of terrain in Historica since they are all represented here

[TheAshTree]

WOW very nice. Good job!

[TheLegoDr]

Great backstory and great builds to link the story to the character.

Welcome aboard!

I do like the builds, especially the first one since I am a sucker for good landscaping/waterfalls.

I do like the story. I would like to come up with something creative for my figure, but I just haven't come up with it yet. I finally came up with a name I think, so that's a start.

I do hope GoH will still be around since some people (me included) are just now getting involved.

Welcome again. I can't wait to see/read more from you.

[Brickington]

Some great mocs and story! I would pick either Avalonia, Mitgardia, Kaliphin, or Nocturnus. One those are a good choice.

[kabel]

Wow Gideon, this is definetely the best introduction I've seen so far!! As for which guild you should join, I'd hate to say it, but it sounds like Kaliphlin to me!

And yes, most of us will stick around here, espcially since the History forum has become a mere LOTR forum and here we have a true community of real castle freaks!!

[Legonardo]

Welcome to the guilds! join kaliphlin!

[NiceMarmot]

Wow Gideon, this is definetely the best introduction I've seen so far!!

I was thinking the same thing. Definitely the best sigfig introduction we've seen in all the history of GoH! Some serious MOCs there!

Personally I'd go with Kaliphlin also, as we have all the climate and geographical areas of Historica represented, so you can build anything and it will fit in. Plus we have the best attitude (unless you're feeling truly evil).

[Legonardo]

Some great mocs and story! I would pick either Avalonia, Mitgardia, Kaliphin, or Nocturnus. One those are a good choice.

no Varlyrio?

but seriously go for kaliphlin, its not my guild but I think it suits you best (based on your smashing intro)

[Kai NRG]

Yes! Join Kaliphlin! Seriously, apart from my bias, judging by your intro you'd fit right in! Great job on all those builds, I love the city wall especially"

[robuko]

Well met, Sir Gideon,

What a sensational introduction! Whether you visit or live there, you are always welcome in Kaliphlin. The current skirmish and kerfuffle offers high profits to canny traders with an eye on the longer term. We can ensure your security and comfort any time, should you wish it.

[Brickington]

no Varlyrio?

You seem to always find somewhere I went wrong.

But seriously, I think you should join Kaliphin, you have to many tan pieces to not.

[soccerkid6]

Wow Gideon, this is definetely the best introduction I've seen so far!!

snip

I third this, really impressive intro for your character: the waterfall scene has beautiful landscaping, the huge rounded tower looks great, and the Petrean city wall build is stunning

Any guild would be fine for you to join considering your character's backstory, something helpful to remember when deciding is that it's quite all right to build scenes located in Guilds you aren't a part of

And I'm sure GoH will be going much longer than the sixth challenge

Edited February 26, 2013 by soccerkid6

[Gideon]

Thank you very much for your kind words!

Based on your feedback Sir Gideon feels most at home in Kaliphlin and will pledge his allegiance to the red and dark blue colors of Lord Dextrus Flagg!

To be honest (as I wrote in the questions thread) I had a feeling that my backstory was taking Sir Gideon to Kaliphlin all the time, even though I originally had planned to join Avalonia.

My supply of tan bricks isn't great, it was a hard squeece getting that wall and tower built, I should probably not show any picture of the other side to the public. But it was an interesting challenge to use a forced perspective background to fake a feeling of standing on a high wall (it is actually only about 10 bricks high), my first attempt ever att that tecnique.

After having spent the last couple of weeks devising this backstory and building the MOCs my mind is a bit empty, soI will have to start over again and find out where the story leads my sigfig. I will probably not have time to make a serious effort at challenge VI, but maybe get some freebuilds out there showing something of the war.

Here is a new picture showing Sir Gideon in his familiar Kaliphlin environment:

Sir Gideon

Edited February 26, 2013 by Gideon

[Kai NRG]

Welcome to Kaliphlin! And trust me, if you could build that wall, you have way more tan than I do! (This is about what I can build... maybe a bit more now, but not much! And no 1x1 tiles...) Not all walls and castles or houses need to be built out of tan though - white and grey are both great colors!

[Mike S]

Wow Gideon, this is definetely the best introduction I've seen so far!!

I was thinking the same thing. Definitely the best sigfig introduction we've seen in all the history of GoH! Some serious MOCs there!

I agree with kabel and NiceMarmot... This is an awesome character intro! Great job on all the MOCs! And welcome to Kaliphlin!

[Infernum]

Wow! I agree, great intro! Welcome to the guilds!

[Maxim I]

Indeed a really amazing backstory you got there!!!

As said in the Kaliphlin topic, welcome to our beloved Guild! It is a really wise choice, as Kaliphlinites are never judging people based on their looks (we are salesmen)

The glorious city of Mpya Stedor in the South East corner of Kaliphlin would be honoured to host you when you need a place in your travels!

[Esurient]

Very nice story and great MOC skills! Love that castle wall!

[Niku]

Wow one of the best intros I have read.

Welcome Gideon.

[I Scream Clone]

Welcome aboard and what a great introduction topic, so many nice builds! I am sure you will fit in really well with all the gang around Historica.

[Gunman]

welcome to GoH Gideon :) cool sigfig! top introduction

[Sir Jonathan]

Welcome to Kaliphlin! And trust me, if you could build that wall, you have way more tan than I do! (This is about what I can build... maybe a bit more now, but not much! And no 1x1 tiles...) Not all walls and castles or houses need to be built out of tan though - white and grey are both great colors!

I have alot of white and red bricks (i just signed up for Kaliphlin, just need my sigfig done. I dunno if its okay if i built with red bricks too on my MOC´s)

Anyway that was a great story for your sigfig Gideon. And really great MOC´s too (love the waterfall)