[b]Who and what are you? From where do you come, to where are you going? Tell us about yourself.[/b]

I am Gideon Xanthous, a human born on Dantooine, who was tempted by hearing of the Sith teachings to Korriban, and having completed my training to the satisfaction of my instructors, I was taken on as an apprentice of a Sith Lord, Fa'los. Having wandered the Outer Rim under my new master and teacher, searching for Jedi and Republic Agents working covertly against the Empire outside the bounds of Republic and Sith space, as well as any vestiges of the Dark Side to learn more of the ancient Sith or expand our powers and understanding of the Force. I now make my to the capital, following the unexpected death of my master, to settle my deceased Lord's affairs and seeking reassignment with perhaps a chance try to claim the mantle of Sith Lord, should the Dark Council, and the Darth whose network I am a part of, see fit.

[b]Few men truly serve more than one cause. Sure, you might pay lip service to many and support others, but which cause do you serve most? The Galactic Republic and the Jedi order, or the glorious Sith Empire? If you have other causes you pay some service to, you may mention them as well.[/b]

I serve the Sith, though only the Empire through assisting Imperial Intelligence in some of its endeavours as my Lord was commanded to do so, not as a fighter on the front lines. For although I share their distaste for the Republic and their Jedi Order, whom coddle weakness and stagnation in the name of "peace", I have not wished to be involved in the constant struggles between Lords and their pupils that have caused so much bloodshed for our kind. Nor do many among them accept me, for in many of their eyes I was seen as weaker for what they see in me as an gentler heart than most Sith. They fool themselves to think that I am any less devoted to the Sith Code than them, I just see no use in wasted potential. I hold to the Sith Code above all, and what I believe it means, regardless of whether or not my fellows in the Empire hold the same views.

[b]Eyes grow weak with age. They cannot see you clearly. Would you kindly describe what you look like and the sort of clothes you wear? Do not leave out anything you think would be relevant. Are you young? Old? Human? Alien? Male? Female? Scarred? Deformed? Yellow? Blue? Green? Red?[/b]

I am a human male getting into my middle ages (38) with a trimmed chin strap of black hair and short, well-kept black hair being prominent facial features. I have green eyes, tanned skin, 165 cm (5"6'), 63.5 kg (140 lbs), and possess scars across my back and arms from old injuries due to blades and electrocution. I wear Dark Jedi robes given to me following my graduation, they are well worn and stitched in many places to maintain them due to the massive amount of wear and tear on them, as are my shoes which are simply constructed leather shoes.

I also have kept my old cloth wraps and pantaloons from my previous life on Dantooine to use in the event that I need to wear something less conspicuous for whatever reason. The Dark Jedi Robes are mostly for more formal occasions or situations wherein I’m not afraid to show off my status, low though it may be. 

[b]Now you have described somewhat about yourself, but you have not covered why you fight. Is it out of idealistic belief, or is it something else?[/b]

I fight because peace is a lie, and there is only passion. Through passion, I gain strength. Through strength, I gain power. Through power, I gain victory. Through victory, my chains are broken. The Force shall free me. Simply, I fight because it is a necessity in obtaining greater power and a stronger connection with the Force as the ancient Sith did. All Sith fight, and if I am to become a Lord amongst them, I must fight as well.

[b]Surely you are not like everyone else. What sort of skills make you stand out from the rest? Do they stand out because you excel at them, or because you fail miserably?[/b]

I stand out from other Sith for my "failings", for although I was adept at wielding a lightsaber and could utilize the Force as well as your average initiate, many claim that my heart was not cold enough to truly match the Sith for their hatred for weakness. Specifically in the fact that I showed mercy to the opponents I dueled, I could not bring myself to strike down a potentially useful fellow Sith simply because I was faster, stronger in will or strength or hadn't missed a step when they had. What I viewed as avoiding wasting a life who could prove useful to the Empire with greater training, my teachers viewed as a severe weakness on my part. They claimed that such mercy could mean not only my death in a real fight, but the deaths of fellow Sith if I was ever in a position of command as a Sith Lord. They eventually made me learn this lesson, making it a more and more painful one to learn as they tried to beat and burn it into me, I finally came to the conclusion that in this situation at least, if the initiates could not prove themselves, they would be killed, so I went along with what my instructors taught me, even though I believed some of their teachings could have been different.

Luckily for me, a particular Sith Lord by the name of Fa'los was residing at Korriban at the time observing the Academy and its pupils for a potential apprentice, it was not an uncommon thing for the odd Master or Lord in need of an apprentice to stop by the Academy to see if any of the initiates held promise, though it wasn't common for a Lord to actually take any of the initiates, the war demanded that most be sent out to fight in the front lines. Why did Lord Fa'los pick me? He claimed that the way I interpreted the Sith Code along with my styles of fighting aligned closely with his own, and that out of most of the initiates, I had the better chance of succeeding as his apprentice.

[b]You have not been in touch with the rest so far. How do you relate to them? Are there any friends of yours among them? any enemies? Or perhaps you even have family therein? Do not hesitate here because you do not see yourself mentioned in other players' character sheets. They may simply have forgotten to write you up. Correct that mistake, would you?[/b]

Gideon does not like Jewel Namore to begin with, knowing that her rise to power came from the fact that she manipulated fellow Sith, which he views is a poor way of having earned her status as a Sith Lord. He would never say that to her face though, as he is not foolish enough to offend a higher ranking Sith over his opinions of how Sith Lords should prove themselves.

He is also nervous of Lord Sish and his apprentice Zanna, for he worries that the former will find him to be weak and seek to become an obstacle in his path, and the latter because of her unbridled ambitions posing an equal threat. But he doesn’t give them too much thought otherwise, nor does he know them personally, only by reputation.

Jayda Enor and Ntaaj Thaiv fascinate Gideon due to their unconventional natures as Sith, but he doesn’t know much about them. He may try to get acquainted with them first.

Gideon has a great deal of respect for Darth Nyiss, though they have never met, Lord Fa’los kept him abreast with her ascendancy to power and lectured on some of the tactics she used to gain her position in the Empire, so that he may learn by example. He privately looks forward to the chance to prove himself worthy of being her apprentice, but if that doesn’t come to pass, then he will be content having assisted in the endeavour of a Darth whose ideals fall along a similar vein to his own. 

Her uncle, “Guide” was also spoken of by Lord Fa’los, as he had worked with the Pureblood decades before he took Gideon as an apprentice, but Gideon knows little of him outside of his teachings, nor would the Pureblood know anything about him.

Minder 62 has encountered Gideon before through the work he and the departed Lord Fa’los did for Imperial Intelligence, though they don’t know each other on a personal basis, and Gideon has no idea he is involved with the project.

[b]The past makes you who you are. What sort of events made you the one you are? Do some events mean more to you than others? Did you have a good or a bad life?[/b]

My unexpected departure from Korriban after the completion of my training to become a member of the Sith Empire had a huge effect on my life, it was what caused me to wander throughout the Outer Rim under the guiding hand of Lord Fa'los, taking odd jobs to book passage on ships and trying to keep a low profile as we were on assignment from the Empire to hunt down Republic agents and Jedi who may use covert methods of trying to enter Sith Space or strike at us, either on Sith Worlds, or the odd neutral worlds. He had been assigned to this mission by his own Darth, and we coordinated our efforts with Imperial Intelligence when able to do so. Our studies never stopped though, the galaxy simply became our testing grounds.

Such a life put me in contact with a lot of people though, I saw people of all walks of life, races, and fortunes and learned how and why people act the way they do, Lord Fa'los emphasized this interaction and understanding of the psychology of individuals, groups, and societies along with cause and effect was as crucial in understanding how to play, and how to win at the conflicts which the Sith embroiled themselves in. Such experiential knowledge is essential in discerning one's weaknesses beyond mere combat prowess. For he believed, just as I believe that a true Sith should know not just how to break one's opponents through combat, but through every other means they can, emotionally, intellectually, anything which can be put to the test in a conflict. After all, is true power not that which enables the wielder the ability to destroy an opponent in any number of ways to ensure victory? And is victory not ever truly obtained until an opponent is utterly broken and vanquished?

One of the most rewarding, or proudest moments of my life was when I bested a rival apprentice for the first time in a duel. The situation arose on Nar Shaddaa while we were working for Sith Intelligence, keeping our eyes open for Republic agents who may use the Smuggler's Moon as a nexus for their operations. A chance meeting of myself, Lord Fa'los and a rival Sith Lord with his own pupil quickly escalated into a contest of who was the better Master, specifically whose understanding of the Sith Code produced the better apprentice? For Fa'los' rival understood passion as being the key to power, a literal understanding of the Sith Code, and had taught his apprentice to feed off of his emotions to give him greater power during conflicts. Fa'los instructed me in how passion has its place in gaining power, but uncontrolled passion leads to ruin, a true Sith has to know when to unleash their passions, and how to utilize that power, which may not necessarily be physical strength, or willpower. The two Lords arranged the duel between us in a secluded section of the city without distractions from potential interlopers and we were told to fight each other through all the means we had until one of us forced the other to yield and supplicate before the other as being the greater, humiliating their Master. We fought for over an hour, our lightsabers not being the only thing which connected. Every time I had the chance I would taunt and banter to my rival, and even utilized the Soresu form against his Shien, letting him become enraged and frustrated at my constant verbal jabs and his inability to land a successful strike.

Eventually he had become so weak that he could barely swing his arms effectively anymore, but I still kept up with the dodging, focusing my energy into making him wear himself out without even landing a blow on him. When his legs finally gave out underneath him from being so tired, I took his lightsaber in an instant and forced him to supplicate before me, using the Force to make him utter the humiliating words when he wouldn't say them willingly. His Master was so enraged that he executed the poor apprentice right there, cutting off his limbs and throwing him off the catwalk to the ground impossibly far below in his fury. Fa'los couldn't have been more proud of me though, using the duel as a lesson that these results proved that there were many ways which a Sith could hold power over an opponent, and more than one way to achieve victory through passion and power and still be a Sith. I always wondered if he would have done the same thing to me as his rival had done to his apprentice if I had failed, I had no doubt that something equal would have happened to me. Fa'los may have had a slightly different idea of what weakness meant than other Sith, but he did not disagree that those who proved to be the weaker should deserve no mercy from the stronger, woe to the vanquished was the apt phrase.

It has not been an easy life, being a wanderer and Pariah among most parts of the galaxy, but I would say it has been rewarding given the path that I have chosen.

[b]No good character is without his or her flaws. Nobody’s perfect. The heroes, be they good or evil, tend to have more blatant flaws than the tagalongs. What be thine flaws?[/b]

I have never been a very tough fighter, I cannot take many direct hits without going down, which is why I rely mostly on dodging blows or avoiding fights altogether.

I also have aquaphobia, to the point where I won’t even use drowning-based torture techniques on targets due to my squeamishness, despite their potential usefulness as a mostly non-lethal torture technique. Nor will I go into public baths or any sort of wash basin that has water which can reach up to my neck in depth. It came from a childhood incident where I almost drowned when I attempted to cross a fordless river on Dantooine, the river had been engorged by heavy rains and I lost my footing trying to cross it. The current sweeping me downstream nearly a mile before I could stop myself, and my lungs dangerously filled with water. Since then, I’ve always had aquaphobia.

Sith have also argued that I suffer from Lima Syndrome, wherein I become sentimental about my captured targets. It is true that I am a bit more lenient on prisoners in regards to their treatment, but that is because I believe that working my way into their trust opens as many doors to obtaining information than breaking their minds or bodies outright. Patient, slow torture through mind games, or simply persuasion or coercion, in my opinion can be just as effective. The reason I draw criticism from other Sith on this is that I will try to stop overly cruel punishments if I can, or simply refuse to perform such acts unless ordered. I have never let such sentimentalities get in the way of my missions, nor would I dream of betraying my fellow Sith for an enemy, but I don’t see a point in being unnecessarily cruel. 

[b]No matter if you are a Jedi or a Sith, you probably made a lightsaber once upon a time. What does it look like?[/b]

It is a standard single-bladed lightsaber of average dimensions and parts, it has an orange crystal though, rather than the traditional Sith red. Lord Fa'los specifically gave me this crystal when showing how to assemble one from scratch in order to symbolize both personally and outwardly, that I was different from other Sith given my interpretation of the Sith Code. But also as a more practical reason, the red lightsaber is instantly recognized by anybody as belonging to a Sith regardless of whether you're in Republic, neutral, or Sith space, if I was to keep a low profile while still keeping my lightsaber, we had to make sure that I was not immediately recognizable by the colour of my lightsaber. Perhaps one day, once I'm reassigned to a different task that doesn't involve covert actions, or become a Sith Lord then I will change the crystal to red, but now it stays orange.

If you wield a Lightsaber, which of the Seven combat forms has your order trained you in?
Soresu was the combat form I was trained in. It offered the skills necessary to fight offensively, as a Sith must, but also those needed to be able to adapt to specific weaknesses of an enemy through its heavy reliance on defensive tactics to give its user time to decipher their opponents. It is also the form which best complements my lack of toughness, making me as good as fighter as anybody else if not better for those who aren't experienced with fighting those who've learned the Soresu form.

[b]What sort of person are you? Do you use the Force for combat, or do you prefer to wield its more mystical branches? Is there something you excel at above all other things? Is there something you are hopelessly bad at? What limitations do you have? Don’t forget that this is in the middle of a war. Anyone of truly great skill would have been at or near the front lines.[/b]

As a utilizer of Soresu, I use the Force to aid me mostly in defensive maneuvers or to overwhelm an opponent following a break in their defenses. I am not very skilled in fights between multiple targets by myself, especially ones wielding lightsabers, be they Jedi or Sith due to the fact that I cannot focus on a particular enemy when that occurs. In such situations, I try to flee, as only a fool fights a battle he knows he cannot win.

I am also skilled in torture and interrogation using indirect methods from my experiences with Lord Fa'los while we were on assignment in the Outer Rim. I learned many different ways of breaking a target's will without having to break bones or mutilate bodies, things which cause a lot of noise and are quite noticeable in situations where we are trying to be covert in our operations. Granted, I have never attempted to convert anybody to the Sith cause using my methods, but I do have a successful record for being able to break the will of my targets and obtaining necessary information out of them, and in theory it shouldn't be much more difficult to change those methods over to the process of conversion, would it?

[b]a) You are a Sith. How come you arrived now, several days after the others? Why would the powerful Darth Nyiss let you in at such a late time?[/b]

Due to the lack of results on turning most of the Jedi so far by the Sith already aboard, Darth Nyiss would be looking for Sith who are available who at least have some experience with indirectly breaking people's resolve and leave them susceptible to conversion. As to why I am late, Lord Fa'los died unexpectedly of a chronic illness while we were on assignment, meaning that I had to return his body and possessions to the capital anyway so that he may be buried with the other Sith Lords, and so that I could be reassigned by Lord Fa’los’ Master after giving my reports on our work to Imperial Intelligence ,based on where they may need me. So I was not expecting to be free to be able to assist in this matter, but since circumstances allow, I would be able to lend my aid in her cause.

[b]Is there anything else you would like to mention about yourself? You know there is something. Don't be shy.[/b]