Gideon Solanaceae

Gideon brandishing his Arcane Focus, an enchanted tarot deck

## History

High Elves. Among the oldest and most magically gifted of the mortal races. Commanding respect from the lesser races anywhere they went, supremely confident that they had earned their arrogance and that it wasn’t a superiority complex when it was true. Even here in Luperion, capital of the militaristic and Elf-hating Kingdom of Amaria, they were respected, and filled the highest echelons of society… Well, most of them did. Not Gideon.

The elf who would become Gideon  was a bastard. Oh no, he wasn’t overly kind, but he was also literally a bastard. As such, he was not acknowledged by either of his birth parents and so wasn’t seen as a High Elf of Teln, but another one of those damned knife-ears like the ones driven into the jungle. This made life in Luperion rather difficult for he-who-will-be-Gideon, as he wasn’t even a second class citizen. Hell, he’d have killed to be third. He began his life living on scraps, barely scraping by. He managed to eat just enough to have the energy to run faster than the locals who often wanted to do him harm for their sport… well, usually he ran faster. Gideon-in-the-future found a poor semblance of a home in places like the circus. Some of the freaks managed to not look down on him. Certainly some did, because everyone needs to look down on someone and Elves were a prime target in Amaria, but others sympathized with him. It was the closest thing to a home and a family he’d ever known. Eventually he even found a somewhat honest way to make a living there, performing in one of their smaller acts.

It was through that performance that his life would be changed forever. A Red Wizard of Luperi was in the audience one night and recognized very-soon-now-Gideon’s act for what it was: magic. Prizing magical talent more than he despised elves, and perhaps noting that this young boy came from different stock than the savages in the jungles, he immediately took him on as an apprentice, giving him his first real name. Gideon had arrived at last. Life as a wizard’s apprentice wasn’t any easier than life on the street, with all the rigorous studying and constant chores, but the meals were warm and the bed was soft. Gideon regarded it as a significant improvement. Unfortunately, wearing the robes of a wizard’s apprentice seemed to only increase the hatred of the masses in Luperion. He was now not only a dirty knife-ear, he was a dirty knife-ear who was trying to act above his station.

Eventually, Gideon adopted the habit of wearing a mask to disguise his race. This was only marginally effective, as anyone given a moment to think about it would realize who he was and why he was wearing the mask. Then, Gideon’s master-stroke: he began wearing an unapologetically and ridiculously ostentatious hat. It served to grab people’s attention and distract them long enough that by the time they noticed the mask and started processing it, Gideon was already well on his way. He also really likes the hat.

After living as a wizard’s apprentice for more years than he’d previously lived, Gideon realized that he wasn’t growing fast enough. Drawing magic circles in chalk and mixing ingredients in a lab wasn’t enough to truly increase his power, and it certainly wouldn’t increase his notoriety or standing. Gideon wanted the respect given to the trueborn Teln Elves, he wanted money and women, power and sex, status and glory. He had ambitions, and like all servants of the Ravager, he planned to fulfill them by becoming a bigger and more powerful predator. And predators have to eat.

Gideon left his master’s employ amicably if not warmly, the old wizard satisfied that any glory his apprentice won would reflect well back on him as well. Gideon suspected that may have been the reason he took on an elf as a student in the first place: to have a legacy that would last a thousand years. Regardless of his reasons, Gideon was thankful for his teachings, and for his name, but decided that he needed another one. High Elves usually choose their adult names when they reached a hundred years of age. Gideon reckoned he’d one more living in just under a quarter of that than most ever did. He took the name Solanaceae after the most… alchemically interesting, family of plants in deference to his old master.

Stopping only once to look towards the circus on his way out of town, Gideon Solanaceae set off to live a life of adventure and excess. None could see it through his mask, but as he left he wore a wolfish grin nearly from ear to ear.

## Appearance

Fairly tall and quite lithe, and can be difficult for Gideon to maintain the illusion of humanity. For this reason, he often wears havy cloaks or robes to prevent too much of his physique from showing. He hides his Elven features under a half mask and a buff pulled up underneath it, and hopes that his enormous hat will distract people from it long enough that they don't ask him why.

## Personality

Though naturally somewhat withdrawn and brusque, Gideon often has to act more vivacious and over the top to match his attire, in the hope that if his behavior is odd enough, his appearance never even draws attention.

## Relations

Gideon is very sympathetic to carnies and freaks because they formed the closest thing to a family he ever had, back home. Apart from this, he enjoys the company of other wizards, interplanar creatures, and women who don't mind that he'd really rather leave the mask on, thank you very much.

## Aspirations

Gideon craves fame, fortune, and glory. He wants to someday become a household name among the magically inclined like Mordenkainen or Volo. In addition to making  his own iconic spells and accomplishing great deeds, Gideon wants to increase access to magic, in the hopes that a greater number of wizards will increase the rate of overall magical advancement. To accomplish this he plans to write a treatise on safe magical practices and include the formulae of many useful early spells, and leave copies all over the world. If he ever tires of adventuring, he'd like to retire as the head of a formidable Wizard Association of some kind, influencing events and revolutionizing the field of magic from their stronghold on a far plane, ideally one that Gideon crafted himself.