The clan retained its ancestral land, and a few retainers to work it. The Clan now lives in a large farm house at the base of the hill where the ruins of the great manor lay. Cottages within several miles of the house the serfs who are still tied to the McCleod lands. The rest of the McCleod Duchy was divied up amongst various Coalition government units for administration.
Sigmund's father, Roger McCleod, served as sheriff of the local province many years before Sigmund's birth. Late one night Roger was informed of a loud disturbance in the forest outside of the village. No-one dared enter the forest to find out the source of the terrible noise, they sent for the sheriff instead. Roger drew his claymore and cautiously searched. He found a wheeled transport vehicle of the Coalition parked in a clearing, its windows smashed and no sign of the troopers who had ridden in it.
Though Roger did not know it, the energy of a fusion reactor caused great pain to the earth elemental which lived in the ground beneath that small grotto. When vehicles passed by the elemental bore the pain silently, but when these particular troopers decided to park to take their lunch the pain was unbearable. In a blind rage it attacked, killing the troopers. The strong elemental magic in close proximity caused the vehicle's onboard computer to register a fault, and it shut down the reactor. With the source of the pain removed the elemental went dormant and again slipped into the earth, dragging the bodies of the troopers along with it.
Roger knew only that a patrol had somehow been ambushed, and if it were discovered the Coalition would exact a terrible price against the locals. He recruited his eldest son, Robert, and hauled the vehicle away. For several years it was hidden in a cave in the hills. Later it was moved into a concealed area under the floorboards of the McCleod's new barn, an area constructed specifically to hide the vehicle. In all cases the vehicle was dragged by a pair of horses, as it no longer had power and neither Roger nor Robert knew how to drive it.
Sigmund's mother died during his birthing. Her death broke Roger McCleod's will to live. Though he tried to conceal it from his young son he secretly blamed Sigmund for his wife's death. Roger wasted away and died when Sigmund was 8. As was customary all family land and property is passed on to the eldest son. Robert became the McCleod. Robert was 16 years old.
Sigmund had a difficult childhood, as the farm was left short-handed. His brother was a hard man, somewhat cruel and given to abuse to enforce his will. Sigmund grew up a shy, quiet lad. He worked the farm, developing a great strength of body in the process, but in the evenings in secret went to the remnants of the clan's great library to study what he could of the workings of magic or tinker with the hulk of the Coalition wheeled transport.
As he grew older Sigmund withdrew even more into himself, preferring his own company to that of others. As boys approaching manhood are want to do he fell madly in love with many girls but always seemed drawn to a girl two years older than he from the village, Elizabeth. He convinced himself that this was the girl he would marry, this was his true love. Of course he never said anything of the sort to anybody.
A turning point came when Sigmund was 13. He had been steeling himself for six months to go to Elizabeth and confess his feelings. He had told no one. On the day of his resolve, his brother announced that he had received the permission of her parents to court Elizabeth. Two weeks later they announced their plan to marry.
Sigmund was devastated. He felt betrayal and anger of a scale that only the introvert can reach. He especially felt betrayed by Elizabeth, though of course she had no idea of the love he had so carefully hidden from her. On the very night his brother announced his engagement to Elizabeth Sigmund left his ancestral home. He left a note stating only that he had gone.
At 13 a high man is as large as an adult of the more common mannish species. He travelled west, initially living off the silvers he had taken before leaving the farm. During the journey Sigmund underwent a transformation. He had received only betrayal all of his life, never love. His mother and father betrayed him by dying, his brother by marrying the girl he loved. Sigmund resolved never to allow this to happen again. He became boisterous, loud, and arrogant. He began to treat women as playthings, never allowing himself to feel what had once caused him so much pain.
It would have been easiest for Sigmund to sign on as a farmhand somewhere far away from his home, but he had resolved to abandon his previous life completely. He was healthy and very strong, and determined to become a warrior. His first few efforts in this regard were laughable, resulting only in bruises and cracked ribs.
Eventually he met the two people who would mold his life. Jiselle was a warrior, deadly with the two-handed sword. Keledon was a magent, skilled in spellcrafting. They robbed Sigmund one night on the road, taking his money and all valuable possessions and leaving him bound and gagged in a ditch.
Sigmund had always been quite agile for a man of his size, and was able to shrug out of the bonds within two minutes. Jiselle and Keledon obviously thought it would take him much longer, and were talking loudly as they left making it easy for Sigmund to follow. He tracked them to a camp in the woods, and waited until dark. Jiselle had noted him following them earlier in the day, and both of were ready when Sigmund made his attempt. He was bound and gagged again.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Sigmund's character sheet is available in PDF and Zip formats.