Post by Queen Amedessa of Conté on May 3, 2007 21:42:45 GMT -5
Player
Alias: Shell
Gender: Female
Contact: AIM- Jo11yGreenGiant3
Location/Time: USA, GMT-8
Character
Name: Gideon of Genlith
Gender: Male
Age: 37
City: Corus
Status: Duke
Personality
Gideon has a fierce love of learning and devouring books is one of his most favorite pastimes. He'll read anything from epic poems and fictional stories to histories and biographies, and legends about the gods and elementals to law books. Gideon is very intelligent, and learns quickly and well. He's a thorough man, and also doesn't like to do things by halves - it's all or nothing. When he cannot complete things he becomes disappointed with himself, and feels that he is not worth the affection and esteem his friends and colleagues give him since he can't follow through on the commitments he's made.
Gideon is quite friendly with those he knows, but can be rather stiff with those he doesn't. This is partly because of his nature, but also partly because of his desire to preserve at least some of his dignity, as many believe that as such a high ranking noble, he is obligated to maintain a certain distance from 'lesser' people. They also expect him to distance himself from 'those above him' - in other words, Queen Amedessa. His close friendship with the queen annoyed many, but in the case Gideon didn't care. He made the decision to be stiff with those who wanted him to be stiff, and with those he didn't know, and be friendly and close with his friends.
Gideon greatly enjoys hunting and riding, especially with Eles, whom he taught the craft to. Inwardly, he takes a good deal of pride from the fact that he was the one who helped bring out her inner spirit so that she now has the confidence and strength to stand by what she believes in. Gideon is also a good giver of advice and currently acts as Eles's chief counselor. He is extremely loyal to her and the Crown, and he treasures their friendship dearly.
Gideon is firm in his opinions, and doesn't like to play games with people. He's usually pretty straightforward, and can also be very persuasive if he feels that there is a need. Gideon tries to be as honest as he can, but as most know, that is not always possible. He's a decent liar, but Gideon is most definitely not proud of that fact. However, he acknowledges its usefulness, and employs it when he must.
Gideon's reasons for marriage were practical: his mother was urging him to (and she too gave good advice), he needed an heir as his father was dead and he had no siblings, and he was getting on in years and didn't want to be some decript old man when he married so that his wife - who would have to be young to produce an heir - would cry when she heard who she was to be married to, and wish that she could have married someone younger. Malin was a practical choice for marriage too. Gideon feels the emptiness between them, hopes that he and Malin won't suffer the same doom that his father and mother, and even his grandparents, suffered - an unhappy marriage.
-Personality Flaw:
Gideon tries to be an enduring sort of person, and let stinging remarks or criticisms or other things roll off his shoulders. Depending on his state of mind when anger begins to build, he can hold off an explosion for varying lengths of time. But when his anger does get the better of him - which is becoming less and less as the years go on - he becomes quite hotheaded and liable to do any rash or reckless act or say any inappropriate or insulting remark that pops into his head. Cooling his temper also takes a while.
Another one of Gideon's flaws is that he can be rather thingyy sometimes. He'll boast that he can learn to do anything he sets his mind to, and then someone will challenge him to do something difficult. Gideon will give a smarmy response about how he can learn to do it, thank you very much, and then go off and try to do it. And more often than not, he succeeds in doing whatever the challenge happened to be. When he fails though, his self-esteem takes a hard blow, and he's miserable for about a week.
Appearance
Gideon's appearance is not so strikingly unique as one would expect of such a revered person; he is tall, but certainly there are others taller than he. His stature is erect and his demeanour both as polite and elegant as would be expected of a duke. He generally tries to maintain a decorum that presents him as reserved, yet with an opinion ready on his tongue. Although in his late thirties, Gideon's hair is still a rich brown and spared of any grey hairs; Enoch himself did not turn grey until he was nearly fifty. However dark his hair, Gideon's eyes are a gentle, bright hazel that belies his quickness of mind as well as his friendly nature.
-Appearance Flaw: Just like anyone else, Gideon's appearance has its imperfections––namely his nose. Even though it is not so large as to be obtrusive, it is certainly long, and in his courting days as a young marquis, Gideon had often wished it to be less prominent. As he has aged, it remains still one of his more defining features, but has begun to conform more to the lines of his face and the dark draw of his brows.
History
In his day, Enoch of Genlith was well regarded by his peers, especially by the King, and valued for his aptitude as a statesman. He first became acquainted with Artagan, oddly enough, during a ceremony held in his honour for a succeeding in his campaign against a brief, albeit bloody, border skirmish with Tusaine. During the banquet held later on that evening, the two became deeply involved in discussions about battle strategies and diplomacy tactics. Since his debut as a promising officer, the then Duke of Genlith kept his son close at hand at Corus and therefore enabled Enoch and Artagan's friendship to grow.
Once crowned, Artagan appointed Enoch as the Ambassador to Tusaine. For most of his life, Enoch spent his time travelling back and forth between Corus, Genlith and Tusaine. Like his own father before him, Enoch married later than his peers and was with his young bride long enough to beget a son. The marriage was strictly political, and so as soon as Gideon was born neither Enoch or Daena concerned themselves much about any other children. As long as there was a son to inherit the duchy, they could both live independently of one another.
Gideon spent most of his childhood in either Genlith or Corus. While his father was on duty as ambassador in Tusaine, Gideon remained at Genlith with his mother. Daena was an attentive, if not doting mother, and impressed upon her son the importance of his studies. Luckily, Gideon took an early interest in gaining knowledge––whether it be from books or from the outside world. If there were one thing Daena truly admired about her son while he was young, was his willingness to asborb almost any and every detail.
Despite not having any real affection for her husband, Daena encouraged Enoch to spend as much time as he could with his son when he wasn't away. Enoch was more than ready to oblige, since his own relationship with his father had been distanced and stifling. Enoch, too, admired Gideon's ability to learn and tried his best to provide his son with all the material he could. At an early age, Gideon accompanied his father to Court and listened attentively to how and what decisions were made. This continued with frequency until Gideon became a page, at which time it became more difficult to squeeze in a sitting with his father in between training and studies.
Gideon trained as both a page and a squire, during which time he also studied in non-Gift-oriented classes at the University. Like his father, Gideon was active and thoroughly enjoyed exercise; but he also took from words the same essence that his father did––the essence that romanticised diplomacy and the importance of law and decision. After being knighted, Gideon dismissed himself from Genlith and spent the following three years studying history and law at the University.
When Gideon was 21, his father began a rapid decline in health. Over the past two years, it had been noticed that Enoch's sense of place and time was beginning to slip away. By the time Gideon was 23, Enoch had lost touch with almost all aspect of the present––and as painful as it was for Gideon, the healers assured him there was nothing that they could do and that Enoch's fate rested with the Gods. Later that year, Enoch succumbed to a stroke and the role of Duke of Genlith fell to Gideon. Strangely, Gideon found Enoch's death easy to bear and acknowledge after the difficult and painful years that preceded it. The knowledge that his father was at peace and would no longer suffer living in a world separate from those he knew and loved was a relief to him.
Because of Enoch's friendship with Artagan, Gideon was constantly thrown together with Amedessa, who was nine years his junior. They came to know each other extremely well and treated one another as closely as brother and sister. The young princess (whom Gideon knew as 'Eles') looked up to Gideon and spent as much time with him as he would tolerate. From Gideon, Amedessa learned to ride recklessly and to hunt, the art of language, the beauty of history and the importance of law, to swear dark oaths under her breath and to be strong in her opinions. Gideon influenced her to make use of her intelligence and voice her ideas, which frequently throughout her adolescence her family tried to quell and tame; in essence he encouraged Amedessa's inner character to prevail and to prove herself a true Conté, despite the pressures to fall into the role of a pretty princess.
Their friendship became closer as the two grew older, with Amedessa still turning to Gideon for advise and counsel. At Court, Gideon is clearly one of her favourites and is her chief advisor on all matters; he is the only person that seemingly can persuade her to consider matters that elsewise would repulse her.
Some say that when Amedessa was first crowned and pressured to marry, she may have consented to wed Gideon. Other rumours exist that Gideon asked (on more than one occassion) for her hand and she refused him. There exists even still speculation as to their relationship, as they are frequently seen together––despite the knowledge that neither would be so imprudent as to pursue illicit relations with one another. The two remain a favourite of the gossips nonetheless, who maintain the tales they spin as passionately as if they were cold, hard fact.
Gideon married late in the summer this past year, and like in the case of his father, his marriage was practical. For a brief period, Gideon and his new wife remained at Genlith, only to relocate to Corus some months later while allowing Daena to remain in full charge of the goings-on at the duchy. Although Malin and Gideon do not have much in common with one another, Gideon desires to be a more present figure in her life than Enoch was in Daena's and tries his best to be a good husband, if he cannot be wholly affectionate. How Malin feels about him and their marriage, Gideon is not confident, but he hopes that perhaps once their child is born that it will mend the emptiness he perceives Malin suffers.
Family
Enoch of Genlith
Father, 72, Deceased.
Daena of Olau-Genlith
Mother, 59, NPC.
Malin of Goldenlake-Genlith
Wife, 21, NPC.
