( PLAYER ★ INFORMATION )

NAME: Ardruna
AGE: 30
CONTACT:

Ardruna, email: ardruna@gmail.com, AIM: Mirisa Erato
CURRENT CHARACTERS & LATEST AC: Nerdanel, November AC thread

RESERVATION LINK: here

( CHARACTER ★ INFORMATION )

NAME & AGE: Prince Edgar of Etheria; age is unspecified, but his appearance and behavior suggests late teens or early twenties, or at least the racial equivalent thereof, since he's not actually human.

CANON & CANON POINT: King's Quest, specifically appearing in King's Quest IV: the Perils of Rosella and King's Quest VII: The Princeless Bride, their hintbooks and the King's Quest Companion. He is coming in from shortly after the finale of KQ7.

CANON INFORMATION: King's Quest Wiki
Edgar's Official Wiki page
Edgar's Unofficial Wiki Page
Edgar's First Appearance
Edgar Frees Rosella
Lolotte's Death and Edgar's Discovery
Genesta Releases Edgar From Lolotte's Curse
Edgar's First Appearance as King Otar Fenris III
Edgar and Malicia discuss her plan, and he reveals his lost memory
Edgar's Happy Ending

Edgar was born the son of Lord Oberon and Lady Titania, heir to the fairy kingdom of Etheria in the realm of Eldritch. Shortly after his birth, the evil fairy Lolotte was to be banished from the realm of Etheria for her treachery and wicked deeds. In revenge for her banishment, as she was leaving, she kidnapped the infant prince, taking him with her into the mountains of the faraway land of Tamir. While there, she used her magic to twist his body into that of a misshapen green-skinned hunchback, and tried to twist his mind as well, telling him that she was his mother by a human man. Just who this man was, Edgar was never certain, for the story changed from anyone from a drugged prisoner to an evil magician. However, some part of Edgar knew that he was not truly Lolotte's son, though he never acted upon it.

Years passed. While Oberon and Titania searched vainly for their lost child, Lolotte grew ever more power-hungry, amassing a legion of bat-winged goons (who were often Edgar's only companions aside from his "mother"), and one day deciding to steal a talisman from the rightful ruler of Tamir, the good fairy Genesta. With it, she would steal the power behind Genesta's life force and take over the land by force. However, one day, Lolotte's goons brought before her a beautiful young woman named Rosella, seemingly a peasant girl. Lolotte accused the girl of being a spy, and ordered her imprisoned. Edgar, however, was smitten with Rosella at first sight, knowing she was "special" from the moment he laid eyes on her. In fairness, she was the first woman other than Lolotte that he had ever seen that close. Edgar believed Rosella's story and begged Lolotte to offer her a chance to prove her innocence. Lolotte agreed, and assigned the girl a series of tasks, each more dangerous than the last, promising to set her free and reward her if she succeeded.

Indeed, Rosella was able to complete each task: taming a unicorn, retrieving the hen that laid the golden eggs and Pandora's box, bringing each to Lolotte. For her reward, the wicked fairy announced that Rosella was to marry Edgar the very next morning! Rosella was stripped of her possessions and locked in Edgar's room for the night, while he was to sleep elsewhere. Late that night, however, he snuck up to the west tower and slipped a red rose beneath the door with a small golden key attached that would unlock the bedroom doors. Freed, Rosella retrieved her items, including Cupid's Bow, with which she shot Lolotte while she slept. The evil fairy had no love in her heart, and so the arrow poisoned and ultimately killed her. At dawn, Edgar discovered Lolotte's death, and, bowing to Rosella, declared that she was free. In a sense, he felt free himself from Lolotte's spells, but he was too shy to say anything else to Rosella at the time.

After Rosella returned the stolen talisman to Genesta, Edgar unexpectedly found himself summoned to the beach of the good fairy's island. He was equally startled to see Rosella no longer dressed as a peasant, but as a princess. Genesta declared that Edgar had a beautiful soul and did not deserve to be in the body Lolotte had given him. With her magic, she gave Edgar a form to match his soul: that of a handsome young prince. (Worth noting: Genesta's spell did not undo Lolotte's curse upon him and change him back to his natural form, but rather simply gave him an appearance Genesta felt was palatable.) No longer feeling unworthy of her beauty, Edgar summoned up all his courage and impulsively confessed his love for Princess Rosella, asking for her hand in marriage then and there. After a few agonizing moments of consideration, Rosella apologized but said she had to return home to save her dying father, and thus could not marry him. However, she suggested they might meet again one day. Edgar was sorely disappointed, but clung to the hope that he might, in fact, be reunited with his beloved in the future.

Edgar returned to the cheerless castle in the mountains, having known no other home. Although he offered to release Lolotte's goons from their servitude in the wake of her death, many chose to stay on to serve their new young master, who was otherwise living alone. Of course, rumor began to spread beyond Tamir of the strange young fairy prince residing in the mountain castle, and eventually word reached Etheria. Intrigued and ever-hopeful, Oberon and Titania came to Tamir to see the young man for themselves and were ecstatic to discover he was, in fact, their long-lost child. Returning to Etheria, they threw a lavish ball in Edgar's honor, but the night of the party, Edgar once more vanished from the gardens. Oberon and Titania were crushed, and immediately began searching for him yet again, following allegations that he had been taken away by an evil wind. This time, his mother's sister, the evil Malicia (who had also been cast out of Etheria), was behind his disappearance.

Wanting revenge for her exile, Malicia decided that she wished to set off the volcano that comprised the Vulcanix Underground and cover all of Eldritch in slag while blasting Etheria right out of the skies. Unfortunately, she knew there was no way the trolls would allow her do so, and so she needed to get rid of their leader—and decided that Edgar would be the perfect person to help her.

Under the wicked fairy's power, Edgar was again transformed, this time into the form of the troll King Otar Fenris III, and Malicia erased his memories, brainwashing him into believing he was the leader of the Vulcanix Underground as well, while the real King Otar was imprisoned in the Land of Ooga Booga, and secretly supplanted by the unwitting Edgar. Yet, even in the fog of his mind, nearly all of his memories lost, he still longed for Rosella to be his bride, and came up with a plan to make it happen.

He sent a dragonet (which resembled a tiny flying seahorse) from Etheria into Daventry and showed the image of the Etherian castle in the reflection of the water to enchant and entice her—and it worked. Rosella followed the creature by jumping into the water from which it had emerged, and plunged into an interworldly vortex (followed immediately by her mother Queen Valanice) from which he snatched her from her mother's reaching hand and into the Vulcanix Underground. Unfortunately, this had the unexpected effect of transforming Rosella into a troll as well. Needless to say, this did not make her any happier with the prospect of becoming his wife, despite his attempts to reassure her.

Luckily, the real King Otar's nursemaid Matilda knew how to turn Rosella back into a human girl, and, with ingredients Rosella was able to recover, made a potion that did just that. Edgar-as-Otar was thrilled, and Rosella equally relieved. Malicia, however, was not at all happy with Rosella "distracting" her puppet-king, and tried to lock Rosella in her room. The princess was able to escape through a ventilation duct, but not before overhearing Malicia berating Edgar-as-Otar for his "obsession" with Rosella and demanding to know if he'd learned to work the controls to the volcano. He admitted he had, but also expressed concern for Eldritch and the various kingdoms within it. Malicia dismissed his concerns, and indicated it would be the only way to get rid of the "blight of Etheria." Once Malicia left, Edgar-as-Otar lamented that he didn't know what was right anymore and wished he had his memory back so he could figure it out.

Rosella was able to escape to Ooga Booga and rescue the real King Otar from the Boogeyman's lair, much to Malicia's annoyance. At the king's urging, she also broke into Malicia's house, stealing a mysterious device needing to be plugged into the Vulcanix Underground—one that the fairy had stolen from Otar in the first place. They found a secret entrance into the Underground through the palace of the Archduke of Falderal, but when they arrived in the control room, they found it already occupied by Edgar-as-Otar who was igniting the volcano on Malicia's orders. The real King Otar declared him an imposter, and the two began to fight and wrestle. Using a wand she had acquired in her journeys through Eldritch, Rosella turned the imposter King back into his true form as Prince Edgar, much to her shock, as well as that of King Otar.

Edgar, finally back to his old self, however, was disoriented, not knowing where he was, nor the why nor how he had gotten there, let alone what was going on. Just then, Malicia appeared, and zapped King Otar into unconsciousness, Rosella into the volcano itself, and spirited Edgar right out of the Underground. While Rosella escaped from the volcano and worked to revive Otar and stop the eruption, Edgar quickly found and mounted Necromancer, the flying black steed of Count Tsepish of Ooga Booga, and went to Etheria to seek help. On horseback, his cloak drawn up to hide his face, he picked up Rosella's mother, Valanice, from where she was stranded in Etheria, took her to the Land of Ooga Booga, reopened the collapsed entrance to the Vulcanix Underground, and guided Valanice to reunite with Rosella at last.

They arrived just as Rosella and King Otar were able to stop the eruption in its tracks. Rosella tried to explain how she had gotten there, and was just starting to try and explain Edgar's role in the entire mess when Malicia arrived, furious that Rosella had thwarted her plan. Edgar leapt in front of Rosella to protect her, declaring that the wicked Malicia was not to touch his beloved princess. Malicia threatened to enslave his mind once more, but Edgar resisted, insisting he would never allow such a thing again. Malicia turned as if to leave, but Edgar, suspecting it was a ruse, fired a ball of magical energy at her. It hit, and caused her own magical attack to miss Edgar and, after ricocheting about the room, strike her as well. Thinking the twin shots had incapacitated her, Edgar turned his back on Malicia to see if Rosella was all right... and was promptly zapped in the back by a deadly lightning attack from the wicked fairy. He collapsed to the ground, barely clinging to life. Rosella cried out his name, and, before Malicia could attack her next, pulled the freshly-charged mysterious device from its socket and used it on Malicia first.

Malicia was defeated, turned into a baby by the mysterious device, as was her dog. Using the extra life she had gained from a cat she had rescued in Ooga Booga, Rosella was able to restore Edgar to life. He was joyfully reunited with his family again. However, he confessed to Rosella that he was the one to lure her away from Daventry, assuring her that he wasn't in his right mind at the time, and begged her forgiveness. She readily gave it, asking Edgar to show her the sights of Etheria, seeing as that was why she had come in the first place. He eagerly obliged, first showing her the capital and the royal palace—much of it by air. As she gazed out over the city from one of the palace balconies, she admired its beauty. Edgar again took the opportunity to confess that he had loved her from the moment he first laid eyes on her, and asked for the honor of courting her—having finally learned his lesson about proposing marriage too quickly. She agreed, and the overjoyed Edgar celebrated with their first kiss.

Etheria rejoiced. At least for the moment.

PERSONALITY: Truthfully, Edgar has spent so much of his life under the influence of magical brainwashing and being forced into personae not his own that he isn't entirely sure who he really is in terms of being "Edgar." He is, in fact, missing some parts of his memory, thanks to Malicia. It is nearly impossible for him to tell exactly where the magical mental enslavement ends and where his own memories and thoughts begin—something he secretly finds incredibly frustrating, since it makes his grasp of self tenuous at best. In many ways, he is still trying to figure out his own identity. This often makes him seem rather bland in personality at first glance, but, as described in hintbook for King's Quest 4, he has a strong, inner strength of his own and a great deal of bravery when he chooses to call on them.

He believes what Genesta told him—that he has a "beautiful soul"-—and he genuinely wants to do the right thing in life. Of course, being reared by an evil foster mother doesn't exactly set the most reliable reference point for a moral compass, but he honestly tries his best. He has a kind and gentle heart, and hates the idea of innocents being trapped, enslaved or harmed in any way. Thus, he will go out of his way to ensure their comfort, or--better yet—-their freedom if he can. He sympathizes with anyone or anything in such a situation, having spent so many years tricked and manipulated into similar circumstances.

Having been heavily sheltered for the vast majority of his life, Edgar is largely ignorant of the wider world, with nearly all of his knowledge coming secondhand from books or oral tradition. He is trusting of other people, often quite naїvely so, and is willing to give them the benefit of the doubt if he otherwise has no reason to be suspicious. Needless to say, this has led him into trouble more than once. If an information source is lacking on something he wants or needs to know, he likes to use his own intuition to try and puzzle it out for himself rather than asking for help.

For all his apparent gullibility and ease of manipulation, Edgar is far from stupid. He is cunning and crafty enough to develop and execute elaborate plans in secret without being found out-—even if they don't always work out quite the way he expects. He also knows exactly what he wants when he sees it, and will do everything in his power to get it, even if it means resorting to less-than-honest tactics. Like kidnapping, for instance. Violence is not his preferred method of getting things done, as he almost never loses his temper, but he is willing to fight if necessary. For Edgar, the ends justify the means (although he will apologize for his actions afterward), and he would much rather beg forgiveness than ask permission. Nowhere has this been more evident than in his feelings for Princess Rosella of Daventry. Although he would never force or coerce her into it (the kidnapping was just to get her in close proximity, honest!), wanting her to come to him willingly instead, he has shown dogged persistence in trying to win her hand in marriage. He is extremely protective of Rosella, and will not hesitate to interpose himself between her and a threat, even at the risk of his own life.

Admittedly, although he does his best to be polite and genteel, Edgar is quite shy, especially early on (he seems to be somewhat better about it in KQ7) and not especially comfortable with social interactions, particularly with most other males. While he talks to women fine, we never see him individually address another male character. After all, he'd had so few people in his upbringing to look up to or even talk to (no, not even the goons, as nearly all are incapable of using actual speech rather than just strange gutteral sounds), and even fewer that he could consider actual friends--nearly all of them female. He is working on overcoming it, but he becomes embarrassed easily, and has been known to blush and look at his feet when he doesn't know what to say. He's spent so little time among his own people, let alone as part of a royal household, that he isn't really sure how a fairy prince, or, for that matter, the Etherian people in general, should properly act. He doesn't expect to be treated as royalty, either. Although he will use his full name and address for formal introductions, he's perfectly content to be known simply as "Edgar." Having encountered them in both Tamir and Eldritch, though, he is aware that different worlds are home to different types of fae. He is also extremely inexperienced in terms of romantic relationships, having only ever kissed one girl in all his life, and nothing more. Although he has some general idea of how the mechanics are supposed to work, he honestly does not know what would be expected of him in a healthy relationship, let alone how to act in the bedroom.

COURT ALLIANCE & REASONING: Hmm, Morla and Solais might have a bit of a fight over this fellow.

Had Lolotte left well enough alone and Edgar been raised in Etheria with his parents, he would absolutely be Seelie beyond any doubt. In Faerie tradition, Oberon and Titania are the leaders of the Seelie court, and Edgar would have been groomed to follow in their footsteps. And, if you asked him what he wanted, Edgar would immediately say he belongs with the Seelie. That is home and where he is supposed to be by birthright. He is good, sweet, and kind, and tired of being a pawn of chaos and destruction. He does not like being party to that kind of thing, and he worries about the consequences of such actions, especially for innocent bystanders. He presents his love with a red rose that it is heavily implied he cultivated, the only thing of beauty in Lolotte's dark mountain castle. He is willing to lay down his life to protect his beloved princess and would rather die than submit to the forces of evil again. All of his disobedience to those he answers to he attempts to justify in the name of love and "not being in his right mind," promising that he "never would have done so, had he known." Having been freed from the tyranny of Lolotte and Malicia, Edgar is eager to finally be able to serve the light for the first time in his life.

But, realistically, Edgar's upbringing, indeed, all he has ever truly known, has been decidedly Unseelie, thanks to Lolotte and Malicia. His entire life, he's been a slave and pawn to wickedness, destruction and chaos. He barely seems to react to changes in his situation. Having his body transformed against his will? Practically a regular Tuesday, as it has happened at least four times that we know of, and Edgar accepts it without question. Suddenly getting married? All he does is blush. The only person he ever knew as a mother up until that point is murdered in her bed and Edgar doesn't even act surprised, let alone remorseful. True, Lolotte wasn't going to be winning any Mother of the Year awards at any point ever, but one would still expect it to cause at least some level of shock. Nor does he call Rosella out on being a murderer, even if what she did was ultimately for the best. His big plan to lure his sweetheart to him goes very unexpectedly wrong, and rather than trying to fix it, Edgar decides to just roll with it and make the best of things. He conspires in usurpery, manipulates and kidnaps a young woman, and almost single-handedly destroys an entire realm in one blow, openly admits doing so, and although he does apologize, he is never made to answer for his crimes beyond giving a tour to his girlfriend (which probably involved a lot of faking it since his net time spent in the place can be measured in a matter of days). That doesn't even qualify as a slap on the wrist for almost destroying the world, and yet he seems perfectly content to get away with almost murder. Sure, he didn't actually do it, but there was still a lot of chaos, confusion and people's lives at risk as a direct result of his actions.

So, which shall it be? Will Solais welcome him into her court and allow him to walk in the light as he's always dreamed? Or will Morla claim him as her own and sentence him once again to the dark he's always known? That, dear mods, I leave for you to answer.

ABILITIES: The exact limits of Edgar's abilities are hard to pinpoint, since he spends most of his screentime awkwardly standing around, but we do see some action bits, supplemented by hints, details and insight from the Hintbooks and Companion.

-Immortality. Edgar is an Etherian, who are all implied to be immortal figures (his parents are Oberon and Titania, and his extended family includes Mab and the Fates, among others), so he can't die of natural causes. However, as illustrated in KQ4 and KQ7, they can most definitely be killed. Lolotte dies courtesy of a magic arrow, and Edgar himself will die from Malicia's spell if the Extra Life is not used on him in time. So, he is vulnerable to both magic and, at least, magical weapons. It's not clear what effect normal weapons would have on him, but as he is a fairy prince, it is probably safe to assume that he shares the same vulnerability to iron that other fae creatures do.

-Magic. We only see Edgar spellcast once, which is an offensive ball of energy. This appears to be an innate, rather than learned, ability, and seems to work similarly to the abilities of other magical creatures (fairies, genies, etc.) in the game series, but very unlike the learned wizardry we see with the human characters, since it requires no spell components or spoken incantations. Seeing as Edgar has spent his life as a pawn, and for the vast majority of his life believed himself to be half-human, he almost certainly possesses little, if any, training in using his powers, and thus does not know their full extent. As the son of Oberon and Titania, however, they very likely have the potential to be quite powerful. Since he is most likely vulnerable to iron, this is his only method of attack and defense aside from fisticuffs, and as we never see him wielding an actual weapon, it is assumed he also lacks any weapon skills.

-Creature Control. Edgar appears to have some sway over magical creatures. It is implied that he is the one to care for the unicorn in Lolotte's stables while it is there, since it would shy away from Lolotte and the goons. He is the one to send the dragonet that lures Rosella into Eldritch, and he seems to have no issue riding Necromancer the flying horse, even without the benefit of the magic flute required by Queen Valanice, one of the human protagonists, in KQ7.

-Minioning. Edgar's spent essentially his entire life doing just this. And he appears to be quite competent at it, since he does, in fact, accomplish everything we see he is told to do, and still has time to try and get the girl in between tasks. He is only berated for being distracted and, when he finally stands up for himself, disobedient, not in any actual failing at his job. He's also evidently very good at getting himself kidnapped, like any good evil pawn.

-Mechanics. Despite his presumed iron vulnerability, Edgar seems to have a certain intuitive knack for handling mechanics. He is able to figure out on his own how to operate a volcano without benefit of an instruction manual or anyone teaching him to use the controls. He is also a capable pilot of the Etherian swan cruisers, though how much is magic and how much is actual mechanics isn't indicated by the game. Still, pretty good for having next to no flight instruction time. We also see some mechanical torture implements in the cell at Lolotte's castle, and though he certainly would not enjoy doing so, Edgar most likely does know how to use them.

-Horticulture. The first time we see Edgar do something other than standing around blushing, he is giving a rose to Rosella. Seeing as there are no places to pick roses anywhere we can see in Tamir, it likely came from the castle grounds, and since the rose is described as his, presumably Edgar is the one who cultivates them there.

-Charm/Glamour/Persuasion. This is largely an implied skill happening off camera, but Edgar does appear to have a curious knack for getting things he wants. It is he who convinces Lolotte to allow Rosella to prove herself--and Lolotte was ready to condemn Rosella to imprisonment and probably death without any real probable cause. His room in the castle is described as being "quite comfortable," even more so than Lolotte's own, and it's highly unlikely this happened simply out of any goodness of her heart because there is no goodness in her heart. When he proposes to Rosella the first time, having known her for less than a day and only spoken a few sentences total to her, she seriously considers agreeing to it, and only declines because she is on a tight schedule to save her father. In the Underground, as the false troll king, he seems to be doing a pretty decent job of keeping things running and pulling off the ruse, because no one notices except for Otar's old nursemaid. And let's not forget that even after openly admitting to his misdeeds, not only does he escape any consequences, he manages to get the girl and is even applauded by the guy who should be most upset with him. Indeed, Otar attacks Edgar when he finds him at the controls to the volcano, but then promptly forgets all about it when Edgar's real identity is revealed. Must have some mad skills there, Edgar. Mad skills, indeed.

INVENTORY: -Clothing (tunics, hosen, shirts, shoes, belts and a cloak with a golden clasp)
-Red rose

( WRITING ★ SAMPLES )

NETWORK SAMPLE:
[He looks like he's still figuring out how the locket works when it comes on.]
--just like a magic mirror, seems easy enough.

Oh! Um. [He fidgets, not used to addressing large audiences.] Hello. I'm Edgar. Ah, Prince Edgar of Etheria, officially, but, really, just "Edgar" is fine.

I know we're going to be here a while, but is there... any way to contact our homes? It's just... this sort of thing happens to me... more often than I'd like... [He actually starts blushing a little, but works to keep his composure] and I'm sure my parents are worried. I just want to let them know that I'm all right. That they don't need to come looking for me again.

Otherwise, is there anywhere good that I can plant roses? They're a nice reminder of home.

And, um... [Awkward pausing, yup.] No, I... I think that's all. For now. Thank you.

[There is a momentary look of relief as he's closing the connection.]

LOG SAMPLE:
It was dark where he was. Underground, surely. That... was normal, wasn't it? Being in the dark and the gloom? Yes... that seemed right... He was King Otar Fenris III of the Vulcanix Underground. This was where he was supposed to be, in the dark, under the volcano.

No. No, I'm not. My name is--

His name. What was his name? It wasn't Otar. It was... It was... It was beyond his memory, lost somewhere in the fog of his mind. But Malicia said who he was. Taught him how a troll king is supposed to act. And wanting him to learn to control the volcano. But wasn't he supposed to already know how? How to handle the heat and the light and...

And that reminded him of something else. Sunshine. The beach of an island. Golden sun and golden sand and a girl with golden hair...

A girl. A girl he'd watched from a window high in the mountains. Her name... What was her name? It was like a flower... A flower as beautiful as she was...

Rosella.

His memories were vague, but this girl was important. She was special. She knew the truth. She was the sun that would burn away the fog in his mind. She could help him!

And she was beautiful. Very beautiful. And... he wanted to marry her. He knew that much. Hmm. Perhaps it was time for the Troll King to take a wife. Why not Rosella? Wasn't she a princess? That seemed right.

Now... where was she from? Not here. No, definitely not here. Not Eldritch. Tamir? No, no, no. That wasn't right either. She had told him once. Hadn't she? There had to be a way to find her.

He fought through the fog of his mind. There was a castle in the clouds... The seat of Etheria... Home. Wait, was that right? He wasn't sure. But it was pretty. Enough to attract his princess? Coax her into coming? And a song... Four notes. He whistled them. And again. And again. And soon, a small buzzing was in his ear. A little dragonet had come to him, down from Etheria. He murmured gently to the little winged beast, telling it of his princess and what it needed to do...

Find her. Bring her here.