General Information
Name: Gidian Custos
Age: 46
Race: Nord
Birth Date: 15th of Hearthfire
Birth Place: Solitude, Skyrim
Birthsign: The Lady
Class: Ranger
Gender: Male
Height: 5'6"
Weight: 175 lbs.
Build: Short, and muscular from years of activity
Laterality: Right Handed
Sexuality: Heterosexual
Marital Status: Married
Properties: None, technically disinherited, wanderer
Affiliations: Orphan, taken in by a royal family of the Empire, but leaves. Former Royal Scout and espionage agent of the Imperial Army, Elite Ranger
Afflictions: None
Religion: 8 Divines (The name escapes me)
Patron Deity: Kynareth
Habits: (I'd like to develop these in an RP so it feels more natural)
Hobbies: Archery, knife throwing, Horseback riding, hunting, tracking, unarmed combat, knife fighting, reading, cooking, camping, climbing...
Personality
Positive traits: Calm and collected in dangerous situations, intelligent, cunning, quick thinker, relatively controlled, honest, clever, a calming and seemingly infallible presence...
Negative Traits: Bad temper, acts rashly, overprotective, solitary...
Likes/Loves: Honing his skills, hunting, tracking, camping, outwitting others, young people, his home, his family, climbing, horseback riding...
Dislikes: People whom he sees as self absorbed, ignorant, foolish, stupid, or he just doesn't feel like dealing with, anyone who disagrees with him, laziness, magic(he believes people should achieve greatness through their own skill and merit as well as personal strength and what they have it in them to achieve, not magic), when people underestimate him because he's short...
Fears: Losing his family, failing himself, as well as those who rely on him, dieing too old, weak, and decrepit to take care of himself...
Aspirations: To pass on his skills, knowledge, and experience, to settle down and live with his family, dieing honorably, to see all threats to those he cares about removed, honing his skills to perfection...
Appearance
Hair Length: medium length, unkempt, not enough to quite make a ponytail or cover his eyes
Hair Color: Dark brown and grey
Facial Hair: Roughly trimmed beard/mustache
Facial Hair Color: Dark brown and grey
Eye Color: Steel Grey
Skin Color: Well tanned Caucasian
Scars: Scar on his right shoulder from a cauterized arrow wound, small scratch on the top of his left forearm from a slashing weapon, as well as his left bicep, brutal looking teeth marks from some beast on his right forearm, a horizontal scratch on his left cheek from being grazed by an arrow, and a few scattered cuts on the right side of his face, where a bow splintered into pieces while he was aiming it, as well as smaller scars on his hands from handling knives
Casual Attire: A simple light brown tunic and trousers of the same color, along with an old pair of boots(which are muffled to reduce noise, not with magic, just custom made) and he will almost never be seen without his cloak(which gets described later). And of course, always his wedding ring.
Armour: A set of armour kind of like the thieves guild, that's black. It is also trimmed down, without all the shoulderpads and thick leather bracers. It would not be confused with the armour of a thief, it is sleeker and designed for as much protection as possible while not limiting movement. there are some plates here and there. The boots are built to last, and aid him in negotiating difficult terrain, as well as being stealthy. The hood is connected with the cloak, and does a very good job of hiding the face, as well as coming with a face mask, allowing him to observe others without them realizing it. His cloak is a mottled green and brown color, and is made to distort the outline of his body, and generally make him harder to spot. This, except for with a cape, and more pockets like the theives guild armour:
Credit to "Dark Souls" and FromSoftware and anyone else involved for this picture.
Skills
Master: Archery, One handed(when it comes to knife weapons or smaller swords), Sneaking, Lock-picking, Pickpocketing, Light Amour, Horseback Riding, Tracking, Battle tactics, Scouting, hand to hand combat, climbing
Expert: Speech, Blocking(Actually closer to parrying)
Adept: Alchemy
Apprentice: Smithing(only enough to repair his equipment)
Novice: Everything else. He does not use magic.
Gear: An extremely high powered longbow, a well made Saxe knife, and a smaller leaf-bladed throwing knife. He typically carries around 25-30 arrows, and his two knives are kept in a dual scabbard on his left waist, the Saxe blade on top.
History
Early Life: Gidian's parents died when he was very young, but they left him to his Uncle, a mysterious and somber fellow, who also happened to be one of the Empire's Elite Soldiers. Unable to fulfill his duties as a soldier of the Empire, and raise a small child, he left Gidian with the orphanage as a ward. There, his smaller size became apparent as he grew older, and he became the target of several of the other wards. He quickly learned how to move without being seen or heard, and even how to climb, as there were few places other than up that he could escape his antagonists. He was also very curious, as well as honest. Those seemed to come as natural to him as the rest. Eventually, his Uncle came back to get him, and took him out into the wilds of Skyrim, teaching him all he knew of survival, and passed on his uncanny skills as a ranger. Gidian, though he did love his Uncle, always felt more like an apprentice than a son, or even a nephew. It was not to last, as a noble family passing through the land was attacked by bandits on the road, and Gidian's Uncle died fighting them off. Feeling they owed his Uncle, the noble family took Gidian in, raising him as their own. Although he loved his Uncle, Gidian had never felt happier. Unable to have a child of their own, the noble family showered him with love and affection, and he finally had the family he always wanted. Among the noble families of the realm, he met his best friend, a girl his age, named Ebony. They grew up together.
Early Teens: Gidian found himself with more freedom to do whatever he wanted than ever before. His status as the child of nobles gave him considerable wealth and leniency to practice whatever he so wished, and his parents(he considered them so) supported him in most everything he did. Fascinated by the mysterious past of his Uncle, he began to read about him, from his personal journals to reports of his famous exploits. Deciding he wanted to follow in his Uncle's footsteps, as his Uncle had intended for him (in his last words). He began to train and hone the skill set required of an Elite Ranger of the Imperial Army, which he had never really stopped training to begin with. His whole life had seemed to have been preparing him for the station. He became quite close to his friend Ebony, although he was somewhat of an outcast. Not only was he not born to the noble family that claimed him, he also wasn't being "groomed" as a proper noble. At first, he had felt deeply hurt by this, but he eventually found that his lot in life could not have been better.
Late Teens: His parents now began schooling him on the proper etiquettes of being a noble, as well as teaching him the arts and histories of various subjects. He found less and less time to pursue his own interests, such as practicing and honing his skills as his Uncle had intended, as well as Ebony. But, he eventually came around. He absorbed the knowledge, his natural curiosity getting the better of him, and he soon found that he enjoyed all of the aspects and nuances of nobility and station. He'd settled in quite comfortably with his life. Until he had to make a choice: Carry on the legacy of his estranged Uncle and follow in his footsteps as an Elite Ranger, or Carry on the titles and nobility of his (adoptive) parents. Torn between the two, he lost himself in his training, and honing of his skills, using physical exercise to keep him busy, as well as the mental exercises of study. He also found himself spending more and more time with Ebony, needing her more and more as extra weight was thrust upon his shoulders. When it finally came time to choose, he found that everything seemed to fall into place. His parents encouraged him to pursue what he wanted most, and had arranged his marriage with Ebony(which he wasn't complaining about), ensuring whatever choice he made, the family's titles and holding would stay in the family(by marriage, Ebony isn't related to them). And so, he chose life as an Elite Ranger. It was in his blood, and no matter how much nobility had appealed to him, he found he could not choose it over what he truly desired. And so, he and Ebony were happily married, he became a Ranger's Apprentice, and Ebony would carry on the nobility of her family, as well as his. Gidian excelled as an apprentice, already well trained and well versed in what it would take to be a Ranger. However, he found himself challenged to his absolute limits. The Elite Rangers were no pushovers, and even as capable as he already was, he found himself below average compared to them. Although, he was one of the best among the apprentices. Eventually, he became a full fledged Ranger, and would serve his country honorably.
Adulthood: Participating in numerous battles, skirmishes, and wars, Gidian was an uncanny individual. He was deadly accurate with his bow, and could hit even the most challenging of targets at extreme ranges. He was also deadly efficient with his knives, and when it came to unarmed combat, he was only a little less deadly. Years of conditioning and pulling his powerful bow to full draw had done nothing but good for his physical condition, small, and maybe not very imposing, he made up for it with a strong presence, strength of character, as well as a strong upper body. At some point, he and Ebony had a child, a son named Viscus. Gidian eventually retired, leaving behind a very successful career as well as an impressive legacy... although his version of retirement isn't what most would expect.
Credit to Rextoret for the format of this CC, and credit to the Ranger's Apprentice books for inspiration, as well as the dual knife scabbard, and mottled cloak. Also for the idea of an old, grizzled ranger.