Gideon Doxus Maximus Varnay
Appearance
Gideon is an excellent specimen of physical fitness and perfection. He is built slim but well muscled without any excess, his skin is flawless and pure save for a single deep scar in his chest right over his heart. He wears his hair long and straight, descending in a glossy black cascade down to the middle of his back.
His face is noble and kind but with a teasing hint of the feral monster he is, just slightly shy of gaunt with a look in his eyes reflecting a deep hunger.
He dresses well according to his noble station, but he's just as comfortable totally naked as he is dressed in the latest Allirian finery. When he goes into battle he wears half-plate armor and wields a greatsword with one hand.
His face is noble and kind but with a teasing hint of the feral monster he is, just slightly shy of gaunt with a look in his eyes reflecting a deep hunger.
He dresses well according to his noble station, but he's just as comfortable totally naked as he is dressed in the latest Allirian finery. When he goes into battle he wears half-plate armor and wields a greatsword with one hand.
Personality
Callous, charming, witty, stoic, tactful, blunt, debonair, ruthless, kind, cruel... All of these and more have been used to describe him at one time or another during his long and storied life.
His personality... His true self... is hidden and laired amid masks, disguises and personas that he's developed over the centuries. Lies and deceptions to hide his true intentions are so thick that one has to wonder if even he knows where the truth ends and his lies begin.
He becomes who he needs to be to achieve his goals, if he needs to be a romantic to accomplish his desires then he will become a romantic, if he needs to be a monster... He will become a monster.
His personality... His true self... is hidden and laired amid masks, disguises and personas that he's developed over the centuries. Lies and deceptions to hide his true intentions are so thick that one has to wonder if even he knows where the truth ends and his lies begin.
He becomes who he needs to be to achieve his goals, if he needs to be a romantic to accomplish his desires then he will become a romantic, if he needs to be a monster... He will become a monster.
Skills, Traits & Weaknesses
The Warrior of the Century: When one doesn't die of old age it becomes a chore to fill all that time with something to do, boredom being the great enemy of immortals. He trained with the sword under the best teachers of his time, waited a few hundred years, then trained under the best teachers of that time... And so on until this age, throw in some tricks he learned himself with his extensive experiences and you have a god of the sword.
Higher Learning: What is one to do with so much time on ones hands? The sciences, the magics, the medical fields, the artificer trades, alchemy. Every book on the subject he's studied, and many of them he's written under pen names.
Acrobatics and Athletics: The immortal body is a powerful thing to tame, with the strength to lift tons it can be difficult to not cause destruction with every movement. With that same strength comes a high sense of mobility and speed, as if obstacles simply weren't because moving over or around them is as easy as if they weren't there.
Higher Learning: What is one to do with so much time on ones hands? The sciences, the magics, the medical fields, the artificer trades, alchemy. Every book on the subject he's studied, and many of them he's written under pen names.
Acrobatics and Athletics: The immortal body is a powerful thing to tame, with the strength to lift tons it can be difficult to not cause destruction with every movement. With that same strength comes a high sense of mobility and speed, as if obstacles simply weren't because moving over or around them is as easy as if they weren't there.
Inhuman Traits: Heightened strength, speed and senses thanks to his strain of immortality, and then honed and enhanced over centuries. He possesses retractable fangs and claws which he can use to devastating effect.
Regeneration: So long as he has blood in his system he can heal from nearly any wound, even resurrecting himself if not properly disposed of.
Psionics: He's spent centuries honing his mind, achieving a higher state of thought. He can move things with his mind, read surface thoughts, and he's even able to imitate some magical effects through this ability.
He's especially adept at creating illusions in the minds of others, to trick them into seeing what he wants them to see.
Regeneration: So long as he has blood in his system he can heal from nearly any wound, even resurrecting himself if not properly disposed of.
Psionics: He's spent centuries honing his mind, achieving a higher state of thought. He can move things with his mind, read surface thoughts, and he's even able to imitate some magical effects through this ability.
He's especially adept at creating illusions in the minds of others, to trick them into seeing what he wants them to see.
Sunlight: Sunlight weakens him at first, draining away his strength and powers. Then it begins to burn him, raising blisters and causing his flesh to smoke, blacken and char. Then he bursts into flames and is destroyed.
Silver: For whatever scientific or chemical or magical reason, silver has a unique effect upon Varnay's strain when it comes in contact with their skin. Not only does it burn, but it also has a paralyzing effect, making it so that he cannot pull the silver off of himself. It's somewhat similar to the way humans become paralyzed by electrical currents - the muscles seize and the person becomes unable to disconnect themselves from the source. While in both cases this is not necessarily deadly in small amounts, there is the possibility of major injury with enough exposure.
Silver has the effect, though, of slowing Gideon's ability to heal so greatly that over enough time it could effectively destroy him. The paralysis effect makes it so much more dangerous than other materials in that Gideon's strain could be incapacitated simply by chaining them up with silver chains, handcuffs, or wires. Despite their incredible strength, the paralysis effect makes it so that they cannot break free of these chains without outside assistance.
The Sanctity of Home: While the owner of a given home or house is alive Varnay cannot enter without an invitation due to some connection he has with the fey.
Silver: For whatever scientific or chemical or magical reason, silver has a unique effect upon Varnay's strain when it comes in contact with their skin. Not only does it burn, but it also has a paralyzing effect, making it so that he cannot pull the silver off of himself. It's somewhat similar to the way humans become paralyzed by electrical currents - the muscles seize and the person becomes unable to disconnect themselves from the source. While in both cases this is not necessarily deadly in small amounts, there is the possibility of major injury with enough exposure.
Silver has the effect, though, of slowing Gideon's ability to heal so greatly that over enough time it could effectively destroy him. The paralysis effect makes it so much more dangerous than other materials in that Gideon's strain could be incapacitated simply by chaining them up with silver chains, handcuffs, or wires. Despite their incredible strength, the paralysis effect makes it so that they cannot break free of these chains without outside assistance.
The Sanctity of Home: While the owner of a given home or house is alive Varnay cannot enter without an invitation due to some connection he has with the fey.
Biography
Little is known of Gideon that he doesn't choose to reveal. His past stretches back farther than history can record by imperishable means, when he was human was a time very few survived besides him.
His un-life was long and eventful, as an immortal he lived life to the fullest with all the time in the world to take advantage of all the world had to offer, all of its joys, its suffering, its good, its evils.
He got to see it all because time was no longer his enemy! He fought in war, thrived in peace, and everything in between.
He devoted his eternity to experiencing life to its fullest extent. He's tasted every cultural food, traveled to nearly every land and country, tried every beverage of nearly every year, bedded every type of woman, and read every book and scroll in nearly every library.
Education and indulgence was the depth of his eternity.
He ruled countries and destroyed them, he fought but didn't always win so he had to learn every method of combat and hone his body to be as dangerous as inhumanely possible.
Even age made him stronger. After wandering the world for a few centuries he would go to sleep for a few centuries, allowing time to pass for the world in all its indulgences to be renewed for him to experience all over again. And after a few millenniums of doing this he soon found that he was one of the oldest and most powerful vampires to walk Arethil.
His un-life was long and eventful, as an immortal he lived life to the fullest with all the time in the world to take advantage of all the world had to offer, all of its joys, its suffering, its good, its evils.
He got to see it all because time was no longer his enemy! He fought in war, thrived in peace, and everything in between.
He devoted his eternity to experiencing life to its fullest extent. He's tasted every cultural food, traveled to nearly every land and country, tried every beverage of nearly every year, bedded every type of woman, and read every book and scroll in nearly every library.
Education and indulgence was the depth of his eternity.
He ruled countries and destroyed them, he fought but didn't always win so he had to learn every method of combat and hone his body to be as dangerous as inhumanely possible.
Even age made him stronger. After wandering the world for a few centuries he would go to sleep for a few centuries, allowing time to pass for the world in all its indulgences to be renewed for him to experience all over again. And after a few millenniums of doing this he soon found that he was one of the oldest and most powerful vampires to walk Arethil.
Asleep, at rest, immobile for centuries... Silent, serene, but not at peace... Never at peace, only tired, only bored, waiting for a time that would show him something new and exciting.
The bloodless husk of a man laid in a deep tomb, his dessicated flesh blackened and dry, waiting for the touch of lifeblood to awaken him.
The vampires of Arethil are being slaughtered, hunted down, destroyed. They waged a war that they couldn't win and now they could see the folly of what they've done. Desperate they looked to old stories in hopes of an answer to their problems... Their salvation...
Their salvation laid in an old crypt, ancient and long forgotten... Or it is the final nail in their own coffin. They hope to save themselves before all is lost, but the legendary Gideon cannot be commanded.
The lifeblood that resurrected him came from a team of thirteen thralls... And when he awoke there was a psionic pulse that could be felt by vampires across Arethil... Then even the majority of the vampires who sought him out and woke him up fell prey to his ravenous hunger.
One of the surviving vampires explained why they woke him up and why they needed him, then they arranged his awakening feast to recover his strength.
The bloodless husk of a man laid in a deep tomb, his dessicated flesh blackened and dry, waiting for the touch of lifeblood to awaken him.
The vampires of Arethil are being slaughtered, hunted down, destroyed. They waged a war that they couldn't win and now they could see the folly of what they've done. Desperate they looked to old stories in hopes of an answer to their problems... Their salvation...
Their salvation laid in an old crypt, ancient and long forgotten... Or it is the final nail in their own coffin. They hope to save themselves before all is lost, but the legendary Gideon cannot be commanded.
The lifeblood that resurrected him came from a team of thirteen thralls... And when he awoke there was a psionic pulse that could be felt by vampires across Arethil... Then even the majority of the vampires who sought him out and woke him up fell prey to his ravenous hunger.
One of the surviving vampires explained why they woke him up and why they needed him, then they arranged his awakening feast to recover his strength.