Name: "Sir" Giles Fortesque of Gallowmere
Age: 22
Race: Caucasian
Class: Peasant Conscript
Occupation: According to Giles, he is a Knight Errant. His "duties" include slaying fell beasts, hunting those who practice sorcery, preventing injustice, and protecting the people of Gaia from evil in whatever form it might take. What he actually does for a living is something of a mystery, but somehow he manages to scrape a living here and there.
Appearance: Giles is a slim man of average height, with a bit of a tan. Once you strip away the armor and the knightly ruse, he truly does look the part of an impoverished commoner, with thick calloused hands and a wiry frame that seems to have seen too many lean winters. His brown hair is a bit shaggy and often unkempt, but he is nonetheless clean shaven as he is unable to grow a beard beyond a few stray whiskers. Neither particularly handsome nor particularly ugly, Giles doesn't look the part of the dashing knight, wooer of maidens fair and fearless leader of men on the battlefield; he looks like he'd be more suited to toiling away in some mine or chopping wood in some hamlet in the middle of nowhere.
Weapon(s): Giles' primary weapon is a rather plain
arming sword. As this was the very same sword he was issued after being conscripted, it has seen better days. After years of use and a lack of funds for proper upkeep, the blade has lost its luster and is even chipped in some places. Nonetheless, it is still sharp enough to get the job done in a pinch, although any respectable knight wouldn't be caught carrying such a plain and shoddy weapon into battle. It is sheathed at his left hip for a quick draw if need be. In addition, he keeps a simple iron dagger strapped to the small of his back (hidden beneath his tabard) for both utility purposes, and also as a concealed weapon if he's ever disarmed.
Armour: Giles has neither the funds nor the training to fight in a suit of plate armor like most knights, so he instead opts to wear a suit of light steel chainmail for protection. Under this he wears a blue arming doublet, some black cloth trousers, a pair of dark brown leather boots, and some black leather gloves. His blue tabard bears the crest of Gallowmere, a golden two-headed eagle.
Inventory: Because it would be unbecoming of a knight to be seen carrying around all of his possessions (such duties fall to the squire, a luxury Giles cannot afford), Giles keeps most of his items in the saddlebags of his "trusty" horse, Canderous. The only items Sir Giles Fortesque keeps on his person are his weapons and his wallet. In Canderous' saddlebags, Giles also has:
-A lockpicking set
-An extra iron dagger
-A small hammer
-A cloth bedroll
-A change of commoner's clothes
-Two spare arming doublets
-An armorer's hammer
-Spare armor parts
-Parchment, pens, envelopes
-Two full canteens
-A small set of pots, plates, and silverware
-His patents of nobility, verifying him as Sir Giles Fortesque of Gallowmere, third son of Sir Daniel Fortesque of Gallowmere. Knighted by Lord Peregrin of Gallowmere in honor of "deeds of outstanding courage, kindness, and bravery in service to Gallowmere."
-A manuscript entitled "A Knight Errant: The Triumphs of Sir Daniel Fortesque", bound in leather and wrapped in a thick cloth for protection.
Place of Birth: Giles was born in Gallowmere, which is not, as he claims, a powerful kingdom known for brave knights and a just, shrewd ruler in Lord Cecil Peregrin. Rather, Gallowmere is a colloquial name (known to very few) for the rather small and unremarkable hamlet located in the west of Southern Gaia. In truth this hamlet has no formal name, and only houses a handful of families and one measly, pitiful excuse for a grain mill. Although it used to be a common stop along a trade route for merchants on their way to the capital, a more direct and better protected route that circumvented this village was later established, and as such there was rarely any reason for people to pass through. The hamlet known as Gallowmere dissolved into nothing when the last of the families living there made the very shrewd decision to abandon it for good.
Marital Status: Unmarried
Brief History: Giles Dirtborn grew up in a small, one room cottage at the edge of the small hamlet of Gallowmere, a dirt road farmtown about two days ride from anything important. Giles never met his father, and his mother (Elizabeth) was a lowly peasant who worked long days in the village's grain mill. Giles had joined her at the mill by the time he was seven. A gentle boy who never asked for much, Giles' primary escape from a childhood of poverty and hardship were the stories his mother would tell him of his father, a righteous knight named Sir Daniel Fortesque. Sir Daniel traveled around all of Gaia, rescuing maidens, finding treasure, and most importantly, slaying mythical beasts. Giles' father felled such monsters as the Stained Glass Demon, the Guardians of the Graveyard, the Pumpkin King, and Lord Palethorn the Wicked. Sir Daniel met his end in battle with the evil sorceror Zarok only a year after Giles was born.
When Giles came of age he was conscripted to serve a five year tour of duty in the King's Army, like most young men of the peasant class. It quickly became apparent that Giles was not well suited for the military. After all, a gentle peasant boy with cowardly tendencies and a physique that would fail to intimidate most butterflies does not a mighty soldier make. Nevertheless, Giles survived his training and was assigned to a small, rather unremarkable fort near the eastern coast, as his superiors figured this the place where he would be the least likely to cause any significant damage.
On the second year of his conscription, Giles (now twenty) received an urgent letter from his mother. Apparently she had fallen seriously ill recently and could no longer work at the mill. With no money for medicine and her condition worsening every day, she begged Giles to return home so that he could take care of her. Unfortunately, if Giles were to leave his post and travel home, he would be charged with desertion, a crime that is punishable by death. Although at first he resisted the urge to return home, eventually the guilt of doing nothing to help his mother overcame his fear of being punished for desertion. One night, while out on patrol with his unit, Giles abandoned his post as watchman and stole away into the darkness, dead-set on returning to his mother's side even if it meant he would be executed if caught.
Although it took nearly two months, Giles eventually made his way back to Gallowmere, but his mother was not there waiting for him. His cabin was deserted, and according to the other townsfolk, no one had seen his mother for weeks. A letter from his fort commander found on his mother's nightstand revealed something very interesting; apparently, the night that Giles abandoned his post, his unit was ambushed by bandits. The brigands left no survivors and burned the camp to the ground afterwards. Giles, along with the rest of his unit, was presumed dead. Although he was relieved that he would not be considered a deserter, he was also overcome with a great deal of guilt as he knew that had he not deserted his post, he likely would have prevented the ambush and saved those men's lives.
It would seem as though Elizabeth, believing her son to be dead, no longer had any reason to stay in Gallowmere, and left town of her own accord. Searching through the cabin, Giles found no clues as to where she was going, or what it was she was planning to do. He did, however, find two items of particular interest. The first was a parcel of patents of nobility for the Fortesque family line, stretching all the way back to Solus Fortesque, Giles' great great grandfather. The most recent addition to the patents, written in his mother's handwriting, was a patent for Giles himself, proclaiming him a knight of Gallowmere by the decree of Lord Cecil Peregrin. The second was a manuscript titled "A Knight Errant: The Triumphs of Sir Daniel Fortesque." The book, unfinished and fairly haphazard, recounted all the stories Elizabeth had told her young son. The story ended abruptly, the last page of which being a new chapter entitled "Sir Giles Fortesque of Gallowmere", but containing no text beyond that.
For months Giles tenaciously searched for his mother, but to no avail. For all Giles knew she had already perished, and the answers to the many questions these two items had raised would remain unanswered. After much thought, Giles resolved to become a knight errant like his father before him, shedding his birth name of Giles Dirtborn and taking up the title of Sir Giles Fortesque of Gallowmere. He had always longed to be a renowned and respected knight, and although he lacked the martial prowess or noble upbringing usually required for the title, he believed that as long as he was willing to help others and protect the realm, his efforts would be recognized.
Two years of life on the road have left Giles a bit less optimistic about the life of a knight errant, but he still continues to try to make a name for himself in Gaia. Deep down he wishes to embark on an epic quest that will be remembered forever in song and legend, but at the moment he's more concerned with being able to find a safe, warm place to sleep at night. The world of Gaia is simply not as calamitous as the stories of his father led him to believe -- at least, for now.
Other: Giles' longest and most faithful companion is the Dirtborn family horse, Canderous. A former plow-horse, Canderous was purchased from a local farmer who had no need for such a lazy old thing. Just as Giles is far from a real knight, Canderous is similarly far from a real knight's warhorse; to say the "noble steed" had seen better days would be an understatement (if it had ever seen any good days at all). Skinny, short, and dirt-brown, Canderous always looks tired and walks with a crooked, almost stumbling gait. Giles never rides him into battle, as the old thing can barely break into a gallop anymore. The most noteworthy thing about Canderous is his staunch refusal to die -- despite living with the Dirtborns for nearly 20 years now, the aging, sickly horse seems dead set on outliving his master.
