Loremaster Tomas Ridgwell

"I do indeed believe in peace however a man can only go as far as he lets himself, that's why I will succeed, I don't have those limits" -Tomas Ridgwell-

Biography
Early age

From the moment Tomas was born his parents wanted him to become a great warrior of Hallengard. They prepared sparring instructors and everything however little Tom grew up not being interested in what they wanted for him and instead spent most of his time listening to bards singing and reading old stories in Hallengards library.

Young age

At a young age he started holding conversations with himself which could sometimes be a bit creepy but most of the time the conversations were more mature and early on he could make desicions in crucial times. He would also joke a lot with his parents making songs about either their joy or missfortunes. But this would come to an end when house Ridgwell was betrayed and everyone but he and his sister Elena were murdered placing their house at the brink of destruciton.

Adult age

As his life went on he soon grew into an adult who could live for himself and often would try to help out people as much as possible and he could be very serious. However he kept his humorous personality but not mocking anyone like he did when he was young but would instead write more jokes about certain occupations even roasting himself when he got bored.

One day he heard people speak of a battle in Aedwin where a marshal of Hallengard had gathered ten men and taken the vassal of Aedwin. Excited about this Tomas quickly found the marshal and had him tell everything about the mission. He wrote down the entire story publishing it as "The Verse of Jurgen von Hoensbroeck" which tells of the brave marshal's quest to defeat sir Marcus II.

Later he would join the Hallengardian guard only to realize that he didn't want that life and resigning pretty early on to instead focus on writing his stories and delving deep into the history of the world and trying to avoid the religious aspects that would cloud the truth.

In time Tomas Ridgwell pledged fealty to king Marich Haberford of Hallengard and starter working as a military officer. With time he even starter recruiting soldiers for house Ridgwell and the popularity of the house quickly grew and several people joined up with Tomas Ridgwell putting him in charge of the greater portion of Hallengards army and guard.

One day on his travels Tomas ended up meeting a woman called Aenora Laurent and decided to accompany her to Hallengard to make his travels less dull. With time they grew closer going through a lot together. One day when they were headed for Aedwin they ran into the ambassador of Hallengard, Osvald Bösendorfer who had been attacked by bandits. In the battle Tomas was hurt and Aenora tended to his wounds. After that Tomas proposed to Aenora and within short they were wed and had adopted Rickon.

The capture of sir Marcus II
This is actually an event he did not take part of as at that moment he was on a ship home from the winterlands to return to Hallengard however hearing of the events he sought out the leading officer of the siege called Jurgen von Hoensbroeck and wrote a story about him called "The verse of Jurgen von Hoensbroeck"

The fall of spiravit
Yet another event Tomas wasn't a part of however when spiravit fell Marcus ended up taking the throne which led to another conflict between the two great nations of the Hales.

The death of king Marcus II
This was a battle that Tomas did take part of along with the rest of house Ridgwell under the leadership of king Marick Haberford. After Tomas brought Marcus to his knees the ambassador of Hallengard, Osvald Bösendorfer, executed the king against Marick's wishes. After the battle Tomas returned into Aedwin finding Azur in dire need of help to save a girl called Victoria.

A pointless battle
Another battle he was part of was the peasant uprising when Aedwinian pagans had run amock in Hallengard and sent an army to take them down but what really sparked everything was the murder of a farmer from Hallengard. The motviations for the battle differed depending on the person. Some people wanted to avenge the farmers, some wanted to make a statement and others just wanted a reason to overthrow the queen. Tomas was a part of the battle however he tried to stop the attack by telling his troops to march back to Hallengard after Sion had secured it however at that point the peasants had rallied his troops forcing him into a battle that wasn't supposed to be and turned into several people being murdered even though the farmers had been ordered not to kill anyone and afterwards they wanted queen Caprica dead which Sion and Tomas were against and ordered that they would bring her back to Aedwin safely. These events led to Tomas developing feelings for a woman called Aenora Laurent who would later become his wife.

A lord and a nomad, the story of Tomas and Aenora (upcomming chapter in SotS)
It was a normal day, Tomas Ridgwell was on the road from Hallengard on his way to Aedwin for no specific reason but mainly because he was bored. On his way he ran into a lonesome woman who caught his eye rather quickly. She was dressed in a long green dress, she was as pale as Hallengard's snow but had beautiful eyes and long black hair. After her came a man running and shouting for her to wait. Apparently he acted like a travel companion to her. Tomas got curious about what was going on so he went to ask them who they were. The man called Earl was a traveler from Aedwin while the woman was a nomad by the name of Aenora Laurent. They were both headed for Hallengard to check it out. Tomas who had wanted to provide the people with security offered to escort them to which they said yes even though they did not know his name. When they arrived at the gates Tomas shouted to let them in. Upon the gate keeper asking his name he revealed to Aenora and Earl that he was infact lord Tomas Ridgwell of Hallengard to which they were suprised. He treated them to drinks at the inn and got to know the two however he would grow closer to Aenora. They got seperated but all the time they kept running into eachother and getting to know eachother more and more. During the peasant uprising in Aedwin they fought side by side to protect eachother. Tomas got an arrow to the leg but Aenora was trained to act as a medic and helped him where they discussed the battle and started falling for eachother. In the time to come, the two agreed upon their feelings for eachother when they ran into eachother however also said it would be hard concidering their differing lifestyles but they were cut off by Osvald who had just been robbed. The three chased after the thieves, met up with Gregore and caught them. In the battle between the two sides Osvald was cut down. Enraged over Osvald's fall Tomas cut down the last bandit while Gregore shot the second one with his bow. Tomas decided right there to execute the two bandits and that it what they did. Though Osvald turned out to have still been alive which made Tomas relieved but also a bit mad at himself for ordering the deaths of the men. As the adrenaline of the battle passed he noticed that his chest had a big gash cut up by a zweihander. They set back to Hallengard but Tomas' condition got worse and when they got there he decided he needed help to which he asked Aenora. The two got inside a house where she could patch him up. They picked up the conversation they had before the battle and Tomas stuck out his hand to her and bowed down. He asked for her hand in marriage to which she answered yes. Soon after they were married and adopted their first son Rickon and not long after they adopted Bendum.

Conflicts he took part of
This is a list of conflicts he took part of:

- The execution of king Marcus II

- The peasant uprising

- The sewer siege

- Death's siege on Aedwin

Conflicts he led
- The extermination of the cult

- The peace treaty with king Addy

Personality
He has a great interest for the worlds history and wants to find out the history of the world by reading books, listening to folklore and try to find the information in caves and castles.

He has a tendensy of trying to lighten up the mood in te most dire situations. His humorous personality can either be something that makes people adore him and want to be around him but it can also offend some people depending on their personality.

He has a tendensy of deciding things after talking to himself about the matter and usually coming to a rather good conclusion instead of doing something rash.

His most important personal value is for the people to be secure, safe and live good lives with no feeling of being left by their rulers. His work as a diplomate has mainly been to ensure the well being of the common folk but also to take care of his own family as he is a loving lord, husband and father.

Relationships
One of the most important relationships he has is to his wife Aenora who he married not long before the death cult attacked Aedwin. Together they adopted a young squire of Hallengard called Rickon and they later adopted Bendum but at this moment they do not have a child with their blood.

The second one is Azur Reinwald. Meeting Azur he saw a naive man who was truely innocent but also a bit inexperienced. Noticing they had a mutual interest for books and stories they grew to become friends. Even though Azur was inexperienced and naive, Tomas still respected him for his kindness and good heart. With time Tomas started seeing him as a little brother.

Several notable of his friends are Sion, Caprica and Rhett. Sion and Tomas met while Tomas was in military service for Hallengard's army and later was the one to pass on regency to Sion. Caprica and Tomas met with Tomas' work as a lord to protect the peace and also help Aedwin during sieges and they became friends. Rhett and Tomas don't know eachother too much however Rhett being married to Caprica Tomas would trust him with a lot even bringing him along to important missions that could decide the fate of the kingdoms growing ever closer.

Trivia
I created this character because of my interest of game lore and the HBO series game of thrones. I wanted to make someone who would search for the information and write about it and make people aware of what is going on in the world around them. However as time progressed his kindness and concern for the people became more apparent I decided to make him into a loving lord who would keep his family but also the kingdoms safe and at peace becoming more like Ned Stark.

Creating this character I also hoped that other players would join my organization and help me out in gathering information or go to me when they had interesting stories.

Starting out with this character I never expected him to be set in a ruler position and instead intended for him to find more peace and kind of be more like a free man however as the plot unfolded he stood there as the leader of likely the most powerful and influential houses in Hallengard.

Another fun fact about Tomas is that while everyone in Hallengard hates Cecile Gaubert Tomas actually respects her for the wits she has displayed and actually would like her as an ally without Lauchette taking anything from the Hales.