What are your thoughts on a character who's basically an occulist/armchair philosopher sort of character? Always believed in magic, knows it doesn't exist in this world, but believes there must be a way to find it?
Just trying to think of a concept before making a CS.
Just finished my app. Having finished a first draft I'm actually tantalizing over the idea of making Gideon a woman (change name obviously if I do decide on that) but then I may also just drop the idea within the day. I'll wait and see if I actually need to adjust anything first.
Several leagues north of Cornerstone Bridge, and the Commonwealth/Barak Kazul Territory Border
Rattus Regius Ignatius Fell-Eye had marched his army southwards steadily for the past few days, encountering scattered and weak resistance from what few Humans had not already fled west to the perceived safety of their more developed heartlands, his foraging bands had looted everything they could find, killing those who resisted, enslaving those who cowered, and burning what remained in their wake. Of their lesser-minded Kin within the Commonwealth, they had come across some and subsequently liberated them into their own forces (though their instincts compelled them to join their fellows more than anything), subsequently replenishing some the Rattus Commenus Packs he'd scattered when first entering Commonwealth territory.
When messengers came to his ear and told of Dwarven troops harrying his scouts, Ignatius grinned. The Dwarves had come to face his challenge to the Humans, and now the true mettle of The Vermintide would be put to the test for the first time in living memory.
Less than an hour of marching later brought them over a hill and through a small woodland, and brought him face to face with the Dwarven Throng itself upon a wide field likely used to once allow herds to graze upon. Banners were flying in the breeze, the Dwarven ranged units and warriors all neatly assembled with their infamous artillery seting up on the rise of a hill on the western flank, he spied the whole menagerie of Dwarven troops, Rifles, Crossbows, Warriors of all stripes and experience, Catapults, and even the rarely seen Heavy Cavalry the Dwarves fared for supporting such large hosts. His past raids from years before had given him a knowledge of what heraldry represented which Dwarven clans, and he spied dozens of them represented here, but one in particular made him grin all the more, the banner of the Royal House of Thundrim Kadrin, the banner of the self-proclaimed High King of all Dwarves.
Hated enemy of him though he was, Ignatius could respect the Dwarf King's bravery and intent to face the threat to his people in person rather than leave it to lackeys. He would have to make it his job to not disappoint him and his eager Throng, then.
Putting aside his more amusing thoughts for the moment, Ignatius directed his orders to his fellow Ring Members who were with him. The Vermintide would form ranks and prepare for battle immediately, and the chaos of tens of thousands of Rodent-kin poured onto their side of the field, coalescing into semblances of order. Allowing the Rangers whom had harried their scouts to flee without pursuit as they readied their own lines.
The Clan Packs gathered at the front, the freshly conscripted Rattus Irregulars and Militia all ready and eager to finally face a real challenge and earn glory and loot on the battlefield. With the various clan leaders all struggling to keep their troops in a semblance of order and stop them from breaking ranks and just rushing out with the help of slightly more experienced and better equipped Ironclaws. Their rag-tag groups of Hunters all gathered at their flanks and immediately behind them. Behind the lines of Clans, The Vermin Guard assembled in practiced and ordered discipline, their own banners and armour the uniform of the Under-Republic rather than clans, with their own Marksmen doing likewise in regular and practiced formations. The lines and gaps were punctuated by the massive towering forms of the Rattus Giganti, their handlers close at hand to lead them and the swarming packs of Rattus Commeni all about them and underfoot.
Bubonic Philosophers walked between the lines, preparing themselves to assist officers and lend their own aid to the fray when the time came, checking their potions, bombs, and other equipment they carried on their persons.
While in the center of the fray, surrounded by his own unit of Steel-Fanged Rattus Faber, Ignatius climbed atop the back of a Rattus Gigantus to survey the sight before him. Retribution was sheathed at his side, he stood on the shoulders of his great and lumbering Kin and looked left and right at the massive number of Vermin assembled with him. A shrill horn blown by one of his Steel-Fanged silenced the mass of chittering and squeaks among the host.
Several hundred metres of plains separated the two huge armies, but even at this distance they could hear the warcries of the Dwarves. So, responding in kind, Ignatius let out a great hissing snarl, and the boom of nearly 60,000 rodents echoed him. He drew Retribution, the Adamanthine blade ringing as it did. Scanning the field, he spotted the area where the High King's banners would be, and glowered over in the High King's direction with the most carnivorous grin he could muster.
He shouted over the pall in the warcries, he spun Retribution and pointed it at the Dwarven lines:
"Now my kin, let us exact our vengeance upon these Dwarves as your ancestors once did, so long ago. Clan Rats! Charge!"
Shortly afterwards, the deafening cries intensified as the first lines of the Vermintide, some 20,000 strong, broke into sprints across the field towards the Dwarven lines, the mass of Clan Rattus Packs almost literally looking like a wave heading towards the harden point that the Dwarves had made for themselves.
HOMEWORLD: Noctis Quatro, another Hive World like Aphrodus Primaris, it was suffering from immense levels of poverty and destitution after the system's main resource-based industries had begun to run dry over a decade before Gideon's birth. Hive-Gang activity of all kinds was a major problem and the Arbites there often had to call in forces from neighbouring planets, or even call upon Naval units to help maintain order, but it was a constant struggle to the point where the Arbites were given extraordinary powers by the Governor to keep the Emperor's Laws enforced. Sentence penalties for even small transgressions were raised, and the Hive-World became effectively a police-state of a higher degree than most Imperial Worlds. There was no real solid "good" areas of Noctis Quatro left by Gideon's time, since anyone with money or means had left the planet to neighbouring systems or simply neighbouring worlds that were not as bad off. The only people left were those either unable to leave, didn't want to leave (for whatever reason), and those who were made to be there by Imperial Office.
AGE: 35
GENDER: Male
APPEARANCE: Young and rogue-ish, Gideon possesses an athletic body that so has mostly been able to avoid signs of the major stresses of Arbites careers. Malnutrition in his family line and early life stunted his growth, making him slightly shorter for his age than most and contributing to his relatively thin frame. His hair is a rusty brown and often is unkempt, and he often made a game of trying to frustrate the more particular officers and Schola Progium Headmasters by going through various styles of facial hair that was often equally unkempt. Though now he mostly keeps himself clean-shaved, he still doesn't keep his hair very well-maintained. He has dark green eyes and a pale complexion (as most Hive-City dwellers do), with a small Penal Brand scarred onto his right cheek and marring his otherwise normal-looking face.
ROLE: Arbitrator
UNIFORM: Standard Black Carapace Armour, though he's carved his initials onto the side of his helmet and keeps two sets of running tallies on his left and right bracers. The tallies are unmarked for distinction as to meaning, but his left bracer marks the number of personal kills, while the right bracer marks the number of deaths either to civilians or fellow Arbites. Gideon doesn't submit his armour in for retouching but for once a standard month (if such an opportunity is even available) in order to keep these tallies, so his armour often looks the most second-hand of the whole unit.
EXPERTISE: -Fist-fighting (Growing up on Noctis Quatro as an orphan and member of a Hive-gang, Gideon had to learn from an early age to defend himself even if a capable weapon was not in reach. When he entered the Schola, he decided to refine his techniques a bit so that they were more of a martial art and less street-thug tricks.)
-Gambler/Gamer (A fan of all kinds of card games, Gideon loves to kill time by trying to win other peoples' pay checks or simply trying to beat them in a game. He's competent at Regicide, though he's mostly learned through observing other people play)
-Pick-Pocket (Previous experience as a pick-pocket for his gang on Noctis has left Gideon with experience in the field. Though not the most useful tool for his current profession, it is useful to help spot pick-pockets and other criminals and to know how they think.)
-Lock-Picking (Similar to Pick-pocketing, its mostly mostly experience, though this one CAN potentialy be applied to his work if the Arbites want to go for a more subtle approach as opposed to just blasting a door down)
-Running (Specifically stamina, though he had to adjust to wearing Carapace armour and heavier amounts of gear, Gideon always had a runner's physique. He never set any records, and certainly won't with Carapace armour, but he also won't be collapsing half-way through a chase from loss of energy).
-Improvisation (Quick-witted to suitability to rapid changes in situations came naturally to Gideon living in an area like Noctis where rival gangers or Arbites could come bursting in at any moment and screw up plans. Similarly as an Arbitrator, Gideon is usually quick on the uptake to try and morph to suit the needs of a situation if things don't go according to plan.)
-Smart-ass comments to "Holier than thou" types (A life-time of dealing with Arbites that have treated him like a life-long criminal-in-waiting, which he admittedly was minus the life-long part, or simply as scum that needed to be beaten sense into has left Gideon with a sarcastic view of pretentious people. The only reason it didn't turn to total bitterness towards people of authority was because on Noctis, the Arbites were tough in spite of the fact that their actions literally changed nothing in regards to everyday life, life on the Hive was going to remain shit for the forseeable future, and everyone knew it. It left Gideon and many others like him mostly mocking the efforts of Arbites who saw themselves as the Emperor's lynch-pins in a region. Though now an Arbitrator himself, and having loyalty to his office and dedication to duty drilled into him from the Schola, the old vocal rebelliousness and cynicism still comes out in his attitude towards people he thinks are high on themselves and their cause, especially since his current placement hasn't really done much to change his views. He holds zealous Ecclesiarchs in even lesser regard than Arbites, whom at the very least he can respect for their common experience.)
EQUIPMENT:
- Primary weapon: Standard issue Combat Shotgun, with a flashlight attachment and fittings for a laser sight or suppressor if needed.
- Secondary weapon: Handcannon (//A Lammark Combination Thousander model possibly? Its a specific type of revolver used in at least one 40k book I know. It is basically a large caliber revolver with two barrels [one capable of firing a single shot slug or breaching round, the other able to fire six bullets before reloading] that you set by adjusting the firing hammer, but it functions very similarly to a Handcannon in terms of caliber and reliability.)
- Melee weapon: Shock Maul, uncustomized.
- Tertiary equipment: Carapace Armour
- Tertiary equipment: Grenades
- Tertiary equipment: A bandolier to hold shells for his shotgun and a pouch for bullets for his revolver.
- Memento: An Emperor's Tarot Deck (Though not a Psyker of any level to actually use them, Gideon likes the intricately drawn pictures on the cards enough to keep them.)
- Memento: A wind-up Chrono-meter
- Memento: A punched Imperial Crown coin from Noctis Quatro (purposefully defaced with a hole punch, that is)
BIOGRAPHY: Gideon Xanthous was born a bastard son of the Ecclesiarch Lucian Xanthous on the Hive-world Noctis Quatro. His mother was a prostitute on the destitute and economically dying Hive-world, and the Ecclesiarch had used his holy office to take advantage of her and many others for the pleasure of those who, in their words, worked so tirelessly to try to bring keep the Emperor's faith alight in these darkening times the Hive-world was facing. His mother, Ellaria Laurentia left with a baby boy and a father who would under no circumstances acknowledge his bastard progeny or the way he came upon fathering that progeny, was left to raise Gideon on the streets of the steadily de-stabilizing Hive.
By the time he was 7, Gideon was on the cramped and winding streets trying to find a way to earn more Thrones for him and his mother. Pickpocketing, scavenging, or stealing stuff to fence, sell, or pawn to various elements both criminal and legal. Often they went hungry for days, usually never having more than a handful of Thrones, and their general situation never really improving. Dodging Arbites was also became a chore, but that was the case for many on Noctis Quatro anyway. By the time he was 10, his mother Ellaria died of some kind of cold that was making its way through the Hive, Gideon never found out exactly what it was, just that one day when he woke up, she no longer had a pulse after hacking her lungs out for the last week.
Being alone in a rapidly becoming more lawless Hive-City is a recipe for disaster for almost anyone, and Gideon knew it even at his age. So, seeking security and stability, he joined in a Hive-Gang, basically taking his thieving work "pro", and turning him into a foot-soldier who could not only protect himself, but his other Gangers and their territory. It was tough, and the life was cruel, but such was the nature of life on Noctis Quatro, and those who didn't toughen up and took risks would end up in the gutter, if not by other Gangers then by the Arbites.
For six years, Hive-Ganging was Gideon's life. And although it was relatively stable and he had found a new family, it was not by any means "good". They routinely took what they needed from others who needed it just as badly, beat up or even outright murdered rival gangers with others doing the same or trying to do the same to them, and Arbites constantly searching for them. Gideon did things he is not necessarily proud of, but he justified it by believing that nobody did on his homeworld, certainly not him, his "adopted" brothers and sisters, the local Arbites, his mother, or his absentee father she had told him about.
Then, his world was turned upside down. It was late one night, Gideon was asleep, and awoke to the sound of walls blasting down. The Arbites Strike Force that had obviously been assigned to break them up had found their hideout and were now storming in to arrest them all, or shoot those who put up any resistance. In seconds, the black-armoured ministers of the Emperor's justice were all over the decrepit building they had made home, their watchers subdued or eliminated before they could even call an alarm. Thinking fast, Gideon decided that as shitty as his life was, he was in no rush to see whether or not the Emperor would actually guard his soul in death or not. And knowing he faced a fight he had no chance of winning or escaping cleanly, he merely rolled himself onto his knees and put his hands behind his head, a traditional posture of submission to Arbites authority. The last thing he felt that night was of a shock maul's quick and sharp zap before blacking out.
He woke up in the Arbites' Offices, cuffed to a chair, and spent the next three hours answering questions of the people who came in, tough Arbites mostly, they asked him questions about his various crimes, but mostly about his parentage and who his father was. He found out at the end from their own ID tests that they discovered who his father had been, and were thus undergoing a new investigation into corruption within the Ecclesiarchy (if it weren't taken from by the Ecclesiarchy's own enforcers before they got anywhere). They told Gideon that the discovery of his parentage gave him a unique option from that of his fellow Gangers, whom were going to be split up and divided amongst various labour and penal units throughout the system for upwards of twenty or thirty years for their crimes. Gideon could go and join their fate, and likely leave himself as broken as them, or allow himself be inducted into the Schola Progenium as an orphan of an Ecclesiarch was allowed to do as much as many other children of Imperial Officials, and likely be made into a servant of the Adeptus Arbites. As much as Gideon had come to hate the Arbites of his world, he knew he'd rather take his chances into becoming one himself than to join the back-breaking and monotonous work of the penal legions, the choice was relatively simple for him to make, and in short time he was on his way out of system and on to the nearest Schola.
His experience in the Schola was interesting, to say the least, he got along with mixed relations with the other students, and he did his best to be an irritant to the more zealous teachers. His parentage and childhood had left him with a distaste for the more moralistic Ecclesiarchs and Arbites, and that distaste did not really lessen despite his teachers' best efforts. All the same, he learned to accept the duties that were expected of him, and learned all kinds of techniques and knowledge that befit an Arbitrator. They refined his fighting styles and taught him how to use higher caliber guns than the trash he'd used on Noctis, as well as the basics of the Lex Imperialis and how to function as a disciplined unit with his fellow Arbitrators. He came to actually like the idea of being made into a force to finally do some good to perhaps make people's lives safer, though the memories of his morally decaying world still made him internally laugh at his own assertions. Either way, he passed through the Schola's programs with distinction and became an Arbitrator of the Adeptus Arbites.
Now an Arbitrator at 24 years old, Gideon was assigned to the Hive-world Aphrodus Primaris, it reminded him of his homeworld, minus the fact that it was not in a state of total economic collapse yet. Far from it, business was booming with the enormous mineral wealth of the planet driving the nearby Forge-worlds, even some of the fabled Astartes used the world to draw up fresh Initiates. Gideon was eager to get to work on it, it felt like he had stepped several centuries back in time on his own world, even the smells of pollution were not as bad as Noctis. To other off-worlders the planet must have been disgusting, but to Gideon he felt like he was home.
He spent the next 10 years working the beat of Precinct 32, located in the Augurspire, called such because of how much drill-work was done within that part of the Hive particularly back during the founding of the Hive-world. Lots of mining was still done there, though the rush was moving to other sectors of the Hive and other Hive-Cities, leaving Gangs to grow in the worsening conditions and the corporations working to squeeze every Throne they could get away with out of their work force making the situation even more tense. The signs of Precinct were regularly defaced with the name "Augur's Pyre" with the Gangs regularly using fire in their armaments to burn out their opponents, the Arbites had their hands full working as part-time Fire Suppression forces just as much as actual Arbites work, often since the actual Fire Suppression forces were afraid of being murdered by the Gangers who started them.
His early life as a Ganger on a planet even more lawless served him well in the Precinct over his career, and more than a few times he saved his fellows and civilians from injury or death with his intuition. Pickpockets were never a problem on Gideon's patrols, as he knew almost every trick of the trade and could spot most of them like sore thumbs, and his knowledge of ganger-culture lent itself well to Investigators and Chasteners who wanted good angles to push on targets on occasion. Though for the most part, like most Arbitrators, his work consisted of ensuring the Lex Imperialis was maintained through the use of his skills with a Shock Maul, his fists, or his guns.
His big break came in the form of his performance during a raid on ganger-den that had been found to be spreading narcotics throughout the Hive and for their pyromanics setting fire to the dwellings of those who couldn't pay up their rackets, the Gas-lighters. The raid had been meticulously planned in advance by the tacticians within the Precinct and everything was expected to go by the book as nearly three dozen Arbitrators and Shocktroopers would storm of the building and subdue or eliminate the entire gang in one fell swoop. Initially it did go as planned, with the Shocktroopers leading the way by blasting their way in through four entrance points and storming in with Gideon and the other Arbitrators on their heels. Meeting minimal resistance, everything was going fine until they had made it several feet inside and hidden incendiaries in the walls started blowing up in a wave of flame that must have been activated from further within. The blasts knocked many of the assault teams to the ground and some had even caught fire with the flames sticking to their armour. Gideon got lucky, his position in the center of the assault party and meant he was merely knocked back as some of his fellows at the sides caught the full force of the blasts. With potentially half of the Arbites knocked out, dazed, or trying desperately to put the fires out on their armour, the gangers within counter-attacked with their array of gruesome melee weapons wreathed in flame, primitive molotovs, and even a few home-made flamethrowers. Gideon did exactly what the crazied criminals would not expect, and as soon as he got up, kept up the charged, his suppression shield sliding down with practiced ease and his shotgun flaring as he met the enemy counter attack head on, a couple other Arbites who were in his position following his lead. The minutes after became a blur of adrenaline, at some point Gideon had dropped his spent shotgun and retracted the bulky shield, swapping out for his maul, a dozen different foes had come at him before the wiser gangers with molotovs and flamethrowers entered his peripheral. Acting fast, he threw a concussion grenade, stunning the ranged opponents long enough for him to draw his Lamarck Thousander and shooting the crude fuel tank of the nearest flamethrower. The explosion covered the rest of the counterattackers in flames and Gideon left them screaming in agony as the flames engulfed the hall and he ran back to his other less-dazed Arbites.
The whole operation being botched, Gideon and the surviving Arbites dragged their incapacitated and injured fellows out the way they came. The building was still surrounded, but their assault was effectively broken. Reinforcements came within minutes along with the Fire Suppression units, but by then Command had decided to let the flames gut the building and merely keep it contained, let the gangers burn to their own flames and mop up any survivors the flames didn't get afterwards. Gideon found out shortly afterwards that the other three assault teams had all been basically massacred as those who were not taken out outright had retreated back to the perimeter line in the face of the counter assault. Gideon's admittedly brash but heroic action to led his few remaining capable Arbites to meet the charge had saved the lives of his team and potentially stopped the gangers from rushing the whole perimeter force.
He was given a commendation from the Offices for his bravery, but Gideon took the whole experience as a sign to move on. He had never been much of a religious man, but he knew that realistically he and his fellows should have been dead along with most of his unit. Whether or not the God-Emperor had turned his gaze upon him for the briefest of moments to help him overcome such a chaotic situation, or it was just his experience in dealing with chaotic situations cooly that came out in spades, he submitted for a transfer to another Precinct. He'd lost a lot of people he'd known for a while in that raid too, and he figured that moving to another Precinct would serve him better to not think about them. The Offices understood his reasoning, it wasn't an uncommon case for Arbites who had survived an incredibly traumatic experience to request transfers, he may not have faced the horrors of Chaos or some of the more horrifying Xenos, but he'd seen the charred corpses of near over two dozen of his fellows and heard their screams of agony as much as those of his enemies. He wasn't quitting, but he needed a change of scenery and faces, so to speak. The former could not really be offered on Aphrodus Primaris, but the latter certainly could.
Thus, when Judge Catulo offered him a position in Strike Team Omnicron in Rancunhive, Precinct S-12, he took up the offer even though he knew it meant likely tougher work. He had heard some vague reports of the situation over there. He saw it as a fresh start, and it left him with a desire to try and make a more tangible life over there, maybe even start a family of his own, or perhaps simply some nice prostitutes. He found that to be a more tantalizing prospect to give him more of a sense of purpose than any moralistic adage, and life wasn't meant to be spent alone.
PERSONALITY: Gideon is a fairly resilient individual, and years of living in destitute situations have left him without much high expectations of others. He has known what it is like to be poor and desperate and therefore has some sympathy for the downtrodden in Imperial society. Though his teachings in the Schola have hardened him as to the necessity of the Arbites and what they do, and the potential costs of the Emperor's laws not being maintained, and having merely that faintest glimpse of what has happened to other planets and worlds before, he is not squeamish about performing what must be done in the service of his office. Doesn't mean that he likes everything he does, but then his mentors drilled into him that duty doesn't necessarily mean having to like everything you do in the process of holding to it.
One other lasting blemish on Gideon's personality is his resentment towards more moralistic authority figures. Coming partially from his experiences with Arbites on his homeworld, but moreso from the fact that his father was an Ecclesiarch who refused to even acknowledge him or support his mother have coloured his view of people who blindly speak in absolutist morals. He has seen how hollow those can become on necessity, and has more respect for people who share that realistic view rather than the noxious optimism he views are only held by fools. His disrespect goes mostly into banter though, he doesn't let personal gripes get in the way of his job.
MISCELLANEOUS: He has a lot of sympathy towards Prostitutes, and not just ones he peruses. Comes from the fact that one was his mother.
