[ooc] tlv application
Character Name: Lord Edward d'Eath
Series: Discworld
Age: Mid-20's, most likely. It's not specified, but since he's recently completed a postgraduate degree, that probably puts him around 23-ish (if I'm understanding the education system right :\). It's unlikely he's older than 26-ish.
From When?: After his death at the hands of Dr. Cruces.
Inmate/Warden: Inmate. He commits murder, covers up another murder, and plots a third, all of which he believes are entirely justified in order to put a king on the throne. He thinks he's a hero, but in truth he's just wildly out of touch with the way the city (and real life) actually is.
He's a professional Assassin as well, but that in itself is seen as alright in Discworld as long as you're Guild certified and only kill on Guild business, so it would be up to a warden whether or not to address that.
Item: n/a
Abilities/Powers: Nothing supernatural. He's a trained assassin, and a very skilled one at that (he was the first person ever to get perfect marks in the postgraduate course). He's also quite well-read, especially on the subject of weaponry, though the Assassins Guild school is known for giving its students a well-rounded education.
Personality: Edward is, as the book says, enraged at history. He truly, honestly believes every cliched, idealized notion about royalty, that kings and queens are inherently good and pure and their touch cures scrofula. He has high standards of himself and other noblemen that he believes must be followed. Chivalry, honor, all that sort of thing. He's bitter that these high-minded ideals of his have fallen by the wayside and that Ankh-Morpork has essentially devolved into a cesspit of immorality. The fact that his antecedents were gamblers, drunkards, and philanderers who squandered the family fortune disgusts him. That the world refuses to act the way he wants it to infuriates him.
What he wants, more than anything, is to restore his family name. It's not about the simple desire for money so much as the social standing, influence, and respect that comes with it. These things, he believes, are his inherent right because he is nobility. He cares more about them than material possessions, though he understands that his immaterial desires usually go hand-in-hand with wealth. And he doesn't want ultimate power for himself (since he's not of royal blood that wouldn't be right), he just wants as much power as he feels he deserves as a Lord.
His worldview is only full of prosperity and grandness for the upper echelons of society. He has very little regard for his servant, Blenkin, and presumably all those who belong to the lower classes. He sees them as human beings, but they're not graced with the inherent superiority of the higher classes, and he's totally blase about sending Blenkin off to the torturer to have his ears trimmed.
He has very little idea of what the world is really like, that the world has never been perfect, and that a title doesn't automatically make someone noble and chivalric, and that the "good old days" weren't really all that good. He's basically living in a delusion in which other people respect and admire him, he can afford things like a personal torturer, he's an inspiring, heroic leader, and he could realistically lead a revolution. He's so obsessed with his ideas and comes off as so crazy and egomaniacal - shouting phrases like "a golden age" and "degraded since the days of kings" and taking every little thing very personally - that no one takes him seriously. He expects a lot from people, and if they don't measure up (ie. turn out to be pragmatists and/or ignore him), he sees them as "traitors and dishonorable men."
He intends to make the world the way it is inside his head. And there is absolutely nothing he will not stoop to in order to make that happen. It's a very clear case of the end justifying the means in his eyes. He believes that what his actions are not only right, but guided by Destiny. He's driven. He spends months plotting, searching, reading, and never giving up hope that his plans will come to fruition, thinking of nothing else. Funds are a concern only to the extent that he needs them to live, and interpersonal relationships are of no importance whatsoever. If somebody told him to get a girlfriend, or a friend, or even a pet, it would probably sound like utter gibberish to him. When he's not busy raging at people for ignoring him, he comes across as very cold and emotionally distant. He doesn't cry at his father's funeral because it's "Not Done." He'd rather be working than doing just about anything else. I'd say the necessities of day-to-day existence are just distractions for him, and he only eats and sleeps because he has to.
When it comes to killing someone, he gets very nervous. Being a trained Assassin, he wouldn't even blink at killing someone he was being paid to kill, but the Guild has a strict policy: no killing if you're not getting money for it. Then it's not Assassination, just common murder. He genuinely didn't want to kill Beano, and even apologizes repeatedly to Beano's corpse, but it's not something he'll allow to get in his way. He may not like everything he has to do, but he will do it in pursuit of his cause.
Edward has an unusual speech impediment - namely, he inserts random pauses in the middle of words when he's stressed, excited, or angry. This may contribute to people not taking him seriously, but he seems unaware of it (or he knows and doesn't care). It's also pointed out specifically that he tends to think in italics (ie. "And it was right that it was Fate, and the city would be Saved from its ignoble present by its glorious past."), which probably goes to show how zealous he is even when he's just thinking to himself.
When he gets his hands on the gonne, it starts turning him into a homicidal maniac. It would urge him to kill anyone that could remotely be a danger to him, just to feed its own bloodlust. And since killing for reasons other than payment is something that makes Edward very agitated, that could easily make him nervy, paranoid, and miserable. Surprisingly, under this kind of extreme stress, he's able to stop himself, see what's in his best interests, and act on common sense regardless of his all-important goals.
His reaction to being aboard the barge would be along the lines of, "I'm too good for this, I've got better things to be doing." He won't understand why anyone would think he needs 'redemption,' except possibly for killing Beano, and even that he feels was justified by his larger purpose. After being betrayed by the one person he trusted to fix everything, he'll be on edge and unwilling to trust anyone. His main concern will be escaping and going home to Ankh-Morpork to find another way to topple Vetinari and put Carrot on the throne.
Path to Redemption: Edward's in pretty deep by the time he dies, but it would be possible to drag him back to the land of the sane. He's able to recognize on his own when he's gone too far and can pull himself back and take the matter to Dr. Cruces. A warden would need to reach that part of him that makes him go to Cruces, the part that acts rationally and intelligently under great duress. He's also capable of distinguishing between murder and Assassination, and that indicates a moral base to build on.
What he really needs is help sorting out the real world from his fantasies. Treating a delusional person simply by telling him he's wrong won't work. So a warden would have to help him realize that he's delusional all on his own. And because he's fairly paranoid, they'd have to start by building trust with him. I don't see this happening overnight, but it's something that a patient warden could do if they gave enough time to it.
History: The d'Eaths were a proud Ankh family who, in the days of the kings, were wealthy and prosperous. But the 34th Lord d'Eath had a penchant for drinking, the 35th had a penchant for chasing anything in a dress, and the 36th, Edward's father, wasted the family's remaining money on gambling. As a child, Edward was sent to the Assassins Guild for the well-rounded education they supplied. Upon his graduation, his father passed away, and he inherited the title and the paltry remains of a once vast fortune.
Bitter about his family's lowly status, Edward became convinced that the d'Eath funds and dignity would be restored in full if only there were a king ruling Ankh-Morpork instead of the Patrician. He sold his estates and enrolled in the postgraduate course at the Assassin's Guild, and was the first person ever to score full marks in it. He spent most of his time in the library, reading old books on weaponry, not knowing what he was looking for until he found it.
It was the perfect weapon for the job, something that would let him easily do away with the Patrician. And when he bumped into Corporal Carrot of the City Watch, he discovered someone to put on the throne. He gathered together a group of aristocrats to show them proof that Carrot was the true heir to the throne, including pictures of old kings and queens with distinct facial features, the tales he had heard when he visited the mine where Carrot was raised, and a ring he had found there. The nobles brushed him off.
But he was not to be deterred. The Assassins Guild bordered on the Guild of Fools and Joculators, and he knew that right on the other side of his bedroom wall was the bedroom of a clown. He figured out which clown it was - one called Beano - and made his acquaintance. He only meant to keep the clown out of the way for a little while, but he accidentally killed him. He took his wig and his fake red nose and put on his makeup and strolled into the Fools Guild. Nobody suspected that he didn't belong.
He cut a hole from Beano's bedroom to his, snuck through and changed back into his Assassin clothing, strolled up to the wall of the Assassins Guild Museum, and used a swamp dragon - a very explosive little critter - to blow a hole through the wall. He absconded with his intended target and headed back through his room to the Fools Guild, changed back into Beano's clown outfit, and strolled right out the front gate while the Assassins Guild was in lockdown.
What exactly had he gone to all this trouble for? The book he'd found it in called it a "gonne." Basically, the Disc's version of a gun, much more accurate, long-range, and powerful than any other weapon ever before produced on the Disc. The Patrician was as good as dead.
But first, he needed to get it working right so he brought it to a dwarf called Hammerhock, a genius at precision mechanisms. In a freak accident, Hammerhock was killed when it discharged and blew a hole in his chest. Edward dragged his body to the river and dumped it.
He became convinced that the gonne was speaking to him, and not only that, it was acting on its own accord. It had killed Hammerhock. On purpose. Edward couldn't take it any more, so he brought the thing to Dr. Cruces, the head of the Assassins Guild. He showed him the proof of who Carrot was, he told him his plans, and he told him that the gonne had a mind of its own and was using him to kill people. Cruces decided that Edward was quite mad, and, of course, he wanted the gonne for himself (or the gonne wanted him for itself), so he killed Edward and dumped his body in the sewer.
Sample Journal Entry: What is this place? Who's in charge here, and who has the arrogance to assume they can bring me here against my will, hold me in ignorance and keep me caged amongst strangers?
I refuse to stay here when my city needs me. You sit safe here in this boat of yours while greater men strive for better things. I cannot do the same. I will not. Be you man, beast, or god, I swear I will escape you. I am the thirty-seventh Lord d'Eath; my word is as good as my life. I will escape you.
Sample RP: Edward couldn't believe what his eyes were seeing. Space. Stars. As far as the eye could see, darkness. The things he could do with a ship like this...
But he didn't want a ship like this. He wanted to go home. If only he could get home, if only he could escape. He wondered where, out there, the Discworld was. Presumably it was somewhere amongst the stars. Perhaps he should be wondering about the worlds lit by some of those other stars, but he couldn't. Leave that to others, who cared for distant lands above their own. All he could think of was his city.
Fury at whatever being had taken him away from Ankh-Morpork welled up in him. What was Lord Vetinari doing in his absence? He could only imagine the atrocities. He had felt the gonne begin to change him, and it had frightened him, but to prevent the things Lord Vetinari could do to Ankh-Morpork.... If he'd succeeded, it might have been worth it. It would have been worth it. If he could find a way back, it would still be worth it. He'd find another way. They'd respect him now. All the traitors, the cowards, the fools who had laughed at him would follow his lead.
I've traveled among the stars, I've gone beyond what anyone has ever dreamed and now, when I am needed, I have returned to you, he'd say. And they'd respect him and call him a hero, and he'd lead the city into a new age. A better age. An age of kings, an age of honor. A glorious future. He'd wipe the slate of history clean and help Ankh-Morpork start again.
Any amount of suffering was worth that.
Special Notes: n/a
Series: Discworld
Age: Mid-20's, most likely. It's not specified, but since he's recently completed a postgraduate degree, that probably puts him around 23-ish (if I'm understanding the education system right :\). It's unlikely he's older than 26-ish.
From When?: After his death at the hands of Dr. Cruces.
Inmate/Warden: Inmate. He commits murder, covers up another murder, and plots a third, all of which he believes are entirely justified in order to put a king on the throne. He thinks he's a hero, but in truth he's just wildly out of touch with the way the city (and real life) actually is.
He's a professional Assassin as well, but that in itself is seen as alright in Discworld as long as you're Guild certified and only kill on Guild business, so it would be up to a warden whether or not to address that.
Item: n/a
Abilities/Powers: Nothing supernatural. He's a trained assassin, and a very skilled one at that (he was the first person ever to get perfect marks in the postgraduate course). He's also quite well-read, especially on the subject of weaponry, though the Assassins Guild school is known for giving its students a well-rounded education.
Personality: Edward is, as the book says, enraged at history. He truly, honestly believes every cliched, idealized notion about royalty, that kings and queens are inherently good and pure and their touch cures scrofula. He has high standards of himself and other noblemen that he believes must be followed. Chivalry, honor, all that sort of thing. He's bitter that these high-minded ideals of his have fallen by the wayside and that Ankh-Morpork has essentially devolved into a cesspit of immorality. The fact that his antecedents were gamblers, drunkards, and philanderers who squandered the family fortune disgusts him. That the world refuses to act the way he wants it to infuriates him.
What he wants, more than anything, is to restore his family name. It's not about the simple desire for money so much as the social standing, influence, and respect that comes with it. These things, he believes, are his inherent right because he is nobility. He cares more about them than material possessions, though he understands that his immaterial desires usually go hand-in-hand with wealth. And he doesn't want ultimate power for himself (since he's not of royal blood that wouldn't be right), he just wants as much power as he feels he deserves as a Lord.
His worldview is only full of prosperity and grandness for the upper echelons of society. He has very little regard for his servant, Blenkin, and presumably all those who belong to the lower classes. He sees them as human beings, but they're not graced with the inherent superiority of the higher classes, and he's totally blase about sending Blenkin off to the torturer to have his ears trimmed.
He has very little idea of what the world is really like, that the world has never been perfect, and that a title doesn't automatically make someone noble and chivalric, and that the "good old days" weren't really all that good. He's basically living in a delusion in which other people respect and admire him, he can afford things like a personal torturer, he's an inspiring, heroic leader, and he could realistically lead a revolution. He's so obsessed with his ideas and comes off as so crazy and egomaniacal - shouting phrases like "a golden age" and "degraded since the days of kings" and taking every little thing very personally - that no one takes him seriously. He expects a lot from people, and if they don't measure up (ie. turn out to be pragmatists and/or ignore him), he sees them as "traitors and dishonorable men."
He intends to make the world the way it is inside his head. And there is absolutely nothing he will not stoop to in order to make that happen. It's a very clear case of the end justifying the means in his eyes. He believes that what his actions are not only right, but guided by Destiny. He's driven. He spends months plotting, searching, reading, and never giving up hope that his plans will come to fruition, thinking of nothing else. Funds are a concern only to the extent that he needs them to live, and interpersonal relationships are of no importance whatsoever. If somebody told him to get a girlfriend, or a friend, or even a pet, it would probably sound like utter gibberish to him. When he's not busy raging at people for ignoring him, he comes across as very cold and emotionally distant. He doesn't cry at his father's funeral because it's "Not Done." He'd rather be working than doing just about anything else. I'd say the necessities of day-to-day existence are just distractions for him, and he only eats and sleeps because he has to.
When it comes to killing someone, he gets very nervous. Being a trained Assassin, he wouldn't even blink at killing someone he was being paid to kill, but the Guild has a strict policy: no killing if you're not getting money for it. Then it's not Assassination, just common murder. He genuinely didn't want to kill Beano, and even apologizes repeatedly to Beano's corpse, but it's not something he'll allow to get in his way. He may not like everything he has to do, but he will do it in pursuit of his cause.
Edward has an unusual speech impediment - namely, he inserts random pauses in the middle of words when he's stressed, excited, or angry. This may contribute to people not taking him seriously, but he seems unaware of it (or he knows and doesn't care). It's also pointed out specifically that he tends to think in italics (ie. "And it was right that it was Fate, and the city would be Saved from its ignoble present by its glorious past."), which probably goes to show how zealous he is even when he's just thinking to himself.
When he gets his hands on the gonne, it starts turning him into a homicidal maniac. It would urge him to kill anyone that could remotely be a danger to him, just to feed its own bloodlust. And since killing for reasons other than payment is something that makes Edward very agitated, that could easily make him nervy, paranoid, and miserable. Surprisingly, under this kind of extreme stress, he's able to stop himself, see what's in his best interests, and act on common sense regardless of his all-important goals.
His reaction to being aboard the barge would be along the lines of, "I'm too good for this, I've got better things to be doing." He won't understand why anyone would think he needs 'redemption,' except possibly for killing Beano, and even that he feels was justified by his larger purpose. After being betrayed by the one person he trusted to fix everything, he'll be on edge and unwilling to trust anyone. His main concern will be escaping and going home to Ankh-Morpork to find another way to topple Vetinari and put Carrot on the throne.
Path to Redemption: Edward's in pretty deep by the time he dies, but it would be possible to drag him back to the land of the sane. He's able to recognize on his own when he's gone too far and can pull himself back and take the matter to Dr. Cruces. A warden would need to reach that part of him that makes him go to Cruces, the part that acts rationally and intelligently under great duress. He's also capable of distinguishing between murder and Assassination, and that indicates a moral base to build on.
What he really needs is help sorting out the real world from his fantasies. Treating a delusional person simply by telling him he's wrong won't work. So a warden would have to help him realize that he's delusional all on his own. And because he's fairly paranoid, they'd have to start by building trust with him. I don't see this happening overnight, but it's something that a patient warden could do if they gave enough time to it.
History: The d'Eaths were a proud Ankh family who, in the days of the kings, were wealthy and prosperous. But the 34th Lord d'Eath had a penchant for drinking, the 35th had a penchant for chasing anything in a dress, and the 36th, Edward's father, wasted the family's remaining money on gambling. As a child, Edward was sent to the Assassins Guild for the well-rounded education they supplied. Upon his graduation, his father passed away, and he inherited the title and the paltry remains of a once vast fortune.
Bitter about his family's lowly status, Edward became convinced that the d'Eath funds and dignity would be restored in full if only there were a king ruling Ankh-Morpork instead of the Patrician. He sold his estates and enrolled in the postgraduate course at the Assassin's Guild, and was the first person ever to score full marks in it. He spent most of his time in the library, reading old books on weaponry, not knowing what he was looking for until he found it.
It was the perfect weapon for the job, something that would let him easily do away with the Patrician. And when he bumped into Corporal Carrot of the City Watch, he discovered someone to put on the throne. He gathered together a group of aristocrats to show them proof that Carrot was the true heir to the throne, including pictures of old kings and queens with distinct facial features, the tales he had heard when he visited the mine where Carrot was raised, and a ring he had found there. The nobles brushed him off.
But he was not to be deterred. The Assassins Guild bordered on the Guild of Fools and Joculators, and he knew that right on the other side of his bedroom wall was the bedroom of a clown. He figured out which clown it was - one called Beano - and made his acquaintance. He only meant to keep the clown out of the way for a little while, but he accidentally killed him. He took his wig and his fake red nose and put on his makeup and strolled into the Fools Guild. Nobody suspected that he didn't belong.
He cut a hole from Beano's bedroom to his, snuck through and changed back into his Assassin clothing, strolled up to the wall of the Assassins Guild Museum, and used a swamp dragon - a very explosive little critter - to blow a hole through the wall. He absconded with his intended target and headed back through his room to the Fools Guild, changed back into Beano's clown outfit, and strolled right out the front gate while the Assassins Guild was in lockdown.
What exactly had he gone to all this trouble for? The book he'd found it in called it a "gonne." Basically, the Disc's version of a gun, much more accurate, long-range, and powerful than any other weapon ever before produced on the Disc. The Patrician was as good as dead.
But first, he needed to get it working right so he brought it to a dwarf called Hammerhock, a genius at precision mechanisms. In a freak accident, Hammerhock was killed when it discharged and blew a hole in his chest. Edward dragged his body to the river and dumped it.
He became convinced that the gonne was speaking to him, and not only that, it was acting on its own accord. It had killed Hammerhock. On purpose. Edward couldn't take it any more, so he brought the thing to Dr. Cruces, the head of the Assassins Guild. He showed him the proof of who Carrot was, he told him his plans, and he told him that the gonne had a mind of its own and was using him to kill people. Cruces decided that Edward was quite mad, and, of course, he wanted the gonne for himself (or the gonne wanted him for itself), so he killed Edward and dumped his body in the sewer.
Sample Journal Entry: What is this place? Who's in charge here, and who has the arrogance to assume they can bring me here against my will, hold me in ignorance and keep me caged amongst strangers?
I refuse to stay here when my city needs me. You sit safe here in this boat of yours while greater men strive for better things. I cannot do the same. I will not. Be you man, beast, or god, I swear I will escape you. I am the thirty-seventh Lord d'Eath; my word is as good as my life. I will escape you.
Sample RP: Edward couldn't believe what his eyes were seeing. Space. Stars. As far as the eye could see, darkness. The things he could do with a ship like this...
But he didn't want a ship like this. He wanted to go home. If only he could get home, if only he could escape. He wondered where, out there, the Discworld was. Presumably it was somewhere amongst the stars. Perhaps he should be wondering about the worlds lit by some of those other stars, but he couldn't. Leave that to others, who cared for distant lands above their own. All he could think of was his city.
Fury at whatever being had taken him away from Ankh-Morpork welled up in him. What was Lord Vetinari doing in his absence? He could only imagine the atrocities. He had felt the gonne begin to change him, and it had frightened him, but to prevent the things Lord Vetinari could do to Ankh-Morpork.... If he'd succeeded, it might have been worth it. It would have been worth it. If he could find a way back, it would still be worth it. He'd find another way. They'd respect him now. All the traitors, the cowards, the fools who had laughed at him would follow his lead.
I've traveled among the stars, I've gone beyond what anyone has ever dreamed and now, when I am needed, I have returned to you, he'd say. And they'd respect him and call him a hero, and he'd lead the city into a new age. A better age. An age of kings, an age of honor. A glorious future. He'd wipe the slate of history clean and help Ankh-Morpork start again.
Any amount of suffering was worth that.
Special Notes: n/a