Gizel Godwin
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Gizel Godwin is the son of Marscal Godwin and scion of the Godwin family. He is a scheming, manipulative person who enjoys plotting for its own sake.
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[edit] Statistics
Name: Gizel Godwin
Origin: Queendom of Falena
Age: 23
Race: Human
Family: Marscal Godwin (father), Rosalind Godwin (mother), Lymsleia (wife, posthumously annulled)
Affiliation: House of Godwin; also self-proclaimed Commander of the Queen's Knights and King.
[edit] Biography
[edit] Early History
Gizel is the son of Marscal and Rosalind Godwin. Rosalind was one of the many victims of the covert conflict between Princesses Fahlzram and Shahrewar. When she died, Gizel cried for days and locked himself in his room. After that, though, he believed that his mother would want him to make Falena a strong nation so that no one would suffer through the vestiges of war.
During the civil war, Gizel was slated to marry Sialeeds, and both of them were reportedly happy with the union. After Arshtat became Queen, both Sialeeds and Haswar agreed to never marry or have children so as to avoid another succession conflict. This, of course, cancelled the engagement. Both Gizel and Sialeeds were not happy with this arrangement, but did it anyway.
During the interim, the Godwins prospered in Falena. Their land was untouched by the Armes invasion eight years before the start of the game, and Gizel and Marscal proved able administrators. They successfully stop Ferid and Arshtat from banning gladiatorial combat, a mainstay of entertainment in Stormfirst (although cruelty to gladiators became banned and their treatment regulated). After Nether Gate is disbanded, the Godwins apparently manage to move past the fact that they were responsible for Rosalind's death. They offer members of Nether Gate sanctuary in exchange for their services. At least some members that refused to disband went to Nagarea, however, so the Godwins did not get all of Nether Gate. It is implied that standards for Nether Gate fell under Godwin control; one of Gizel's favorites is Childerich, an erratic, emotional, and cruel assassin. Oboro, a member (and possibly leader?) of the Intelligence division of Nether Gate (the only division that took the order to disband gracefully), comments that Childerich would have made a horrible assassin in his time; he's far too emotional and out of control.
[edit] Political Maneuvering
The Prince first meets Gizel when he is en route to Stormfist. The royal ship is attacked by lizards, and Gizel arrives to destroy the beasts. Sialeeds comments that it's entirely possible it was all a setup by Gizel, although a strange one since it seems too obvious. Gizel greets the party warmly, and escorts the royal party around the Stormfist arena. Although Gizel plays an excellent host, he schemes to win the Sacred Games through any means, and to eliminate anyone who could potentially beat Childerich, his representative. He lays many half-baked schemes to cover his tracks rather than one major elaborate one, under the theory that at least one of them would work. His plan to eliminate Zegai relied a lot on luck: it was only chance that Armes would take the bait of the secret passage under Stormfist, and that the gladiator Shoon would hear them talking. However, when it succeeds, Gizel plays his cards right. He acts just as surprised as the royal party, and does not try to implicate Salum or Euram in such a plot. After Zegai is disqualified and imprisoned, Marscal warns Gizel not to engage in intrigue too much.
During the Sacred Games, Gizel has several plots to get rid of Belcoot, the favorite other than Childerich. The plan that succeeds was getting Marina, the young innkeeper, to place Dark Arcanum in Belcoot's food. Because the girl loves Belcoot, he figures she'll use it so that Belcoot won't be engaged to someone else. The Prince's entourage reassure Marina afterward by saying that Gizel would have ensured his victory no matter what, and that it's possible that she even saved Belcoot's life. It's unclear if this is actually correct, or was merely said as consolation. Gizel does say that he has other plans ready, but he'd prefer for the plan involving Marina to work.
After the end of the Games, Gizel sees off the royal party. As they leave, Marscal tells Gizel that while his plans may have worked in the short term, the Prince seems to have changed because of this incident. In general, while they may not have any proof, Gizel has not made any friends in the royal family, who know that he is entirely too hungry for power.
While Gizel has successfully started a non-violent path to become King, he realizes that his path is fraught with peril. The royal family has a considerable amount of time from the engagement to the actual wedding, not to mention until the fairly young Queen Arshtat actually dies. Additionally, Ferid took Zegai for "questioning" as an Armes spy. Given time to research the matter, it would not be hard for the royal family to prove the Sacred Games fixed and annul the engagement, or even simply dummy up a different charge against Gizel. Worse, Arshtat's increasing erraticness could mean that even with no proof, she might simply decide to simply annihilate Stormfirst as she did Lordlake.
[edit] The Coup
Gizel decides that immediate action is required. He makes his move during the engagement banquet. He arranges for his cooks to make the meal, and places Dark Arcanum in the banquet food. He also conspires with Alenia and Zahhak to have some people on the inside. His plan is to drug everyone so that his takeover can be as bloodless as possible, but all of the royal family, minus Lymsleia, would have to be killed. Both sides underestimate each other. Arshtat and Ferid are ready for the plot, and while letting some guards take the Dark Arcanum, maintain a reserve force who weren't at the banquet, and also have the royal family & Knights take an antidote prepared by Murad. However, the royals did not know that the Godwins had elite remnants of Nether Gate on their side, which help turn the tide against them. With their help, Godwin successfully captures the Princess, Miakis, and Galleon. The attack was even more of a gamble than the Godwins knew; had Ferid and Georg not preferred a Falena in civil war to a scorched Falena, the attackers and Gizel would have been annihilated by the Sun Rune, along with Stormfist and perhaps most of Falena.
[edit] Falenan Civil War
Gizel handles planning and strategy in Sol-Falena for the duration of the war, allowing others to command his armies. He implausibly claims that Georg single-handedly killed the King and Queen, kidnapped the Prince and Lady Sialeeds, and was somehow also responsible for a slew of deaths in the royal palace. When the Prince shows up leading a "rebel" army, doubt is cast on the legitimacy of the Godwin coup. Gizel also loses the public relations battle, something which was already difficult for him considering the violent nature of his rise to power. The Prince bloodlessly restores Lordlake and leads an inspired, volunteer army, while the Godwins strengthen the "royal" army as quickly as possible via massive impressment and drafting. The Godwins also inexplicably drive the normally disinterested non-humans of Falena into the Prince's arms by wasting Nether Gate's talents on attacking populaces that would have happily stayed out of the war.
To their credit, the Godwins research the power of the Sun Rune, a powerful trump card in case of emergency. Otherwise, with regards to Runes, Gizel takes some terrible risks. He gives the Twilight Rune to Alenia, knowing that Doraat will likely fall to the Prince's onslaught (as he sends Miakis with Alenia, figuring that she might give credence to his claim that Georg was the true killer of the Queen).
Gizel also has many domestic problems with his ten-year old wife, Lymsleia. Initially, he sequesters her in her room with Miakis to prevent her from committing suicide. But Gizel needs Lym to become Queen so that he can become Commander of the Queen's Knights. Lym refuses, she knows what he'll do with such a position. But Gizel threatens Miakis and the Princess capitulates. Lym and Gizel constantly try to get the better of each other, with Lym even riding out onto the front lines of battle to escape her husband and meet her brother. But her plans fail due to Sialeeds's defection. Gizel is pleased to see her again, although he can tell she did not leave her nephew for his benefit.
Given a new chance to win the war (as, if Lymsleia had been "captured," the Godwins would have been forced to sue for peace on the spot), Gizel recruits the gullible Commander Sparna and the Armes Southern Mountain Corps to his side via offering all of the former Barows territory to Armes. The offer, of course, is costless, as if the Godwins lose the war their offer would have been irrelevant, and if they win, the Godwins hope to have finished researching the Sun Rune for use as a "negotiating tool" with Armes. He matches this canny act with a less calculated one, nominating his favorite assassin Childerich to be a Queen's Knight, a move that startles even Alenia. While a feared warrior, Childerich is an abysmal commander and Knight. Childerich destroys whatever goodwill the Godwins had left via senselessly slaughtering Godwin-loyal citizens in Doraat, and by his general maniacal nature.
[edit] The Last Stand
As the Godwin faction crumbles, Gizel prepares to make his stand in Sol-Falena. He knows the Prince will storm the palace looking for Lymsleia. He initially tells Lym to leave, but she refuses. So Gizel waits with her in the throne room, telling Alenia and Zahhak that he wants to speak to the Prince and that the King must never abandon the Queen. However, they do not listen and die attempting to prevent the Prince from coming in.
When the Prince enters the throne room, Gizel and the Prince talk. Although Gizel threatens Lym's life, Lym calls his bluff and knows he won't do it. Gizel claims that he merely wanted Falena to be strong, and felt that he was the man to do it. Gizel challenges the Prince to a duel to the death, with the Prince accepting and being victorious. Gizel is at peace when he dies, and mentions that the Prince is not the real winner of this conflict. The only real winner was Sialeeds, who insured that the powerful nobles were completely discredited and annihilated. He then dies, to join with his love in death.
When the Prince sees a vision of Arshtat in the Sun Rune, Gizel is also seen among the crowd, congratulating the Prince.
