Hey, guys, just wanted to show an image of the character that my book goes over how to make as an example! He's 3500 tris using 3 textures - 1 512x for the body, 1 256x for the head, and 1 256x for the sword.
http://www.mtmckinley.net/book/silenus4.jpg
http://www.mtmckinley.net/book/silenus_steps.jpg
http://www.mtmckinley.net/book/silenus_texture.jpg
And an animation clip:
http://www.mtmckinley.net/book/animation1.zip
No, animation is not required, nor wanted for this challenge.