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The young king of Figaro Castle,
Imperial ally, and champion of the technological revolution...
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— Himself
King Edgar of Figaro is known for three things: his staunch commitment to protecting his people, his genius for tinkering with advanced technology like auto-crossbows and airships, and of course his charm and charisma, which he lavishes on the many, many pretty young men who he welcomes in his kingdom. He cuts a dashing and dynamic figure, and he's been known to run off on adventure from time to time, usually to make sure his people are safe from outside threats. Some, also, say that contact with mysterious mystical beings has gifted the young king with the power of magic.
Background
Edgar Roni Figaro was born one of a set of twins. His brother, Sabin, and he were also born as the princes of a city-state called Figaro. They grew up wanting for nothing, well-educated and well-loved. However, their young lives were marked twice by tragedy. When they were children, their mother was killed in a tragic accident. Some ten years later, their father fell ill and died. Left mourning and with a kingdom that needed a leader, the two brothers met to discuss what they should do.
Neither wanted to be king. Each brother wanted his freedom to leave Figaro and travel the world. Yet, Edgar felt that Sabin's need was greater than his own. As such, his sense of loyalty overcame his usual scruples, and he obtained a two-headed coin. He told his brother they would decide who became king on a coin-toss, and he made sure Sabin won it. When Sabin elected to choose his freedom, Edgar dutifully assumed the role of king. He proved good at it, too, and within a few years he had fully assimilated into the role.
Edgar has since become well-loved by his people and adept at diplomacy, placing his kingdom first and taking great care to keep his people happy. Of course, the joke is that nobody is happier in Figaro than its handsome young men--for the king is well-known to have a "type"--but, Edgar reasons, if that's the worst thing anyone has to say about him, then he must be doing something right.
SIGNATURE ABILITY
Royal Shock
When the tides of battle seem to have turned against Edgar, and he is in danger of being defeated, he can delve deep within himself and execute a specialized technique known as Royal Shock. This attack channels raw magical energy, summoning a column of beams of silver-blue light that focus on a single enemy target. This deals extremely potent damage that, generally, most enemies will find impossible to evade and that cannot be simply ignored, absorbed, or deflected. He cannot simply perform this ability lightly, however. To unleash this devastating attack, he must have built up the energy to unleash it. This is usually accomplished by building up his energy throughout a battle, then unleashing it all at once. It is very difficult to perform under normal circumstances, but it becomes much easier for Edgar to manage when he has taken significant harm in a battle, as the desperation of injury will fuel him. The ability takes time to recover from use, so it is highly unlikely that he could ever perform it more than once per battle--if that often. Most fights simply do not provide sufficient threat for Edgar to build up the desperate energy to perform this technique.
SKILLS
As a very active and healthy young man, Edgar is fully capable in all areas of general athletic endeavor. He can swim, climb, run, tumble, and otherwise move around with expert ability.
Brawling - Competent Level
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While Edgar is no martial arts expert, he's a capable unarmed fighter. This may be in part due to the much more advanced skills of his twin brother rubbing off on him, but mostly it comes as a necessary companion to his training with melee weapons. He much prefers armed combat, but he can get by with his fists and feet if he needs to.
Edgar is a highly charming, and some might even say seductive, individual. His reputation as a lover of many beautiful young men is infamous in much of the old Laellu Empire, but beyond that he also has a great deal of personal presence and magnetism, which also makes him a natural leader and a very effective public speaker and diplomat.
Edgar has a classical education, knowing about everything from art and culture to mathematics and herb lore. He is not an expert in these areas, but he's fully competent. He's also fairly well-versed in various mystic and beast lore, all the usual things one can learn through academic study. He also has a sense of artistic flair and, though few know it, is an exceptionally talented interior decorator.
Edgar is a tinkerer, or what he calls an engineer. He is extremely adept at building and using complex machinery, such as clockwork mechanisms or even devices that run on steam or wind power. Since his exposure to magic, he has also begun to experiment with more advanced designs, drawing on the complex flows and forces of magical energy to create such wonders as auto-crossbows, power-saws, and the burrowing capabilities of Figaro Castle, itself.
Melee Weapons - Expert Level
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Edgar is a highly skilled duelist and melee weapon fighter. He is especially well-trained in fighting with swords, spears, and halberds.
As the king of a nation, Edgar is not only a skilled and charismatic ruler, but he understands well the nature of politics. After all, he keeps up very careful diplomatic relations with not only Altur and Lyne, but Sylvania and Muurht as well. Keeping political ties with such diverse groups who aren't always on the best terms with one another can be tricky, but Edgar constantly rises to the challenge.
Spellcraft - Competent Level
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Edgar is not one of the world's foremost wizards, nor is he ever likely to be. However, he has learned to be a competent spellcaster and understands magic and the principles behind it well enough to incorporate some elements of enchantment into his mechanical designs.
Survivalism - Competent Level
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Having traveled far and wide, Edgar has achieved a fair measure of prowess as a survivor in the wilderness. He can ride a raft down raging rivers, hike across vast wilderness, camp in even hostile environments, and otherwise survive quite effectively in nature despite being a machine-obsessed nobleman.
ABILITIES
Magic: Attack Magic - Enhanced Level
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Edgar is able to cast offensive magics of varying sorts, such as the Fira, Blizzara, and Thundara spells, the Bio (poison elemental) spell, the Drain spell (sapping life force from a target to himself), the Gravity spell (which harms a target with "heavy" force). Essentially, he can wield elemental forces to deal up to Enhanced-level damage or effects.
Machine: Auto-Crossbow - Basic Level
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The auto-crossbow is an ideal weapon for attacking many enemies at once, though it does relatively little damage. Its arrows are fired so quickly that they are very difficult to dodge (Supreme-level), but they deal only light (Basic-level) damage.
Machine: Bio-Blaster - Basic Level
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The bio-blaster fires a cone of toxic energy that can strike multiple enemies at once. It creates a cloud effect that lingers in place for a few moments, making it difficult to evade, and inflicts a low (Basic) amount of damage against susceptible enemies that continues to recur over time. It may have a much greater immediate effect (up to Enhanced) against enemies especially vulnerable to toxins, while to those with especially strong defenses against toxins, it may be entirely ineffective.
Machine: Drill - Enhanced Level
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The drill is a powerful device, suited for boring through dense materials or inflicting fairly serious damage against a single target. This is mundane physical damage of the piercing type, but it does tend to penetrate armor as though it were Enhanced+ rather than only Enhanced.
Magic: Effect Magic - Enhanced Level
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Edgar can cast effect-based magics to an Enhanced degree, allowing him to perform such spells as Scan (which reveals basic information about a target, such as how generally powerful it is and any weaknesses it might have), Slow (to reduce a target's speed), Haste (to enhance a target's speed), Silence (to render a target unable to cast magic), Sleep, Confuse, Protect (which creates a shield against physical damage around a target), Shell (which creates a shield against magical damage around a target), or Float (which allows a target to float up to a few feet above the ground, avoiding environmental hazards and fall damage).
Edgar carries a variety of fairly typical equipment and gear, such as a tent and camping supplies and other survival or personal care items, including his royal signet ring and various royal accoutrements. The most notable item is a bag of holding, allowing him to transport his various tools, many of which are fairly heavy or bulky, without difficulty. He also owns a bit of a curiosity: a golden coin of Figaro mint, which features "heads" on both sides rather than "heads" on one side and "tails" on the other side.
Machine: Flash - Enhanced Level
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The flash device is just what it sounds like: a very bright light that strobes at enemies in front of Edgar, tending to dazzle or blind any without sufficient protection or resistance to such effects. It causes no physical harm, but it tends to work very well as a distraction.
This set of finely crafted armor is paired with a heater shield of the same make. All were forged via runic means to offer strong physical protection (Enhanced) but improved defense against magical attacks (Enhanced+). This defense is further increased (to Supreme) against magic-based elemental attacks such as those of fire, ice, lightning, wind, earth, or water types.
Magic: Healing Magic - Basic Level
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Edgar is able to cast basic restorative and healing magic, allowing him to cast such spells as Cure (which heals minor wounds), Raise (which brings someone back from the brink of death), or Antidote (which purges poisons).
Weapon: Longinus - Enhanced+ Level
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Named after a famed soldier of ancient legend, the Longinus is a powerful and lightweight spear. Effectively indestructible, it is an artifact-level weapon that inflicts high-level (Enhanced+) damage. A blessed weapon, it causes particular harm against creatures of true evil, such as Owrgs or other corrupted creatures or anything vulnerable to positively aligned divine damage. (Such creatures may find their ability to defend against its attacks less effective, as though it were dealing Supreme-level attacks, but the actual damage inflicted remains only Enhanced+.)
Machine: Noise-Blaster - Enhanced Level
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This weapon causes no physical harm, but it fires a cone of sound that can disorient enemies. Against those without some ability to resist it, it tends to cause confusion and make them behave erratically, perhaps even attacking their own allies, until they are able to shake off the effects. If calibrated a bit differently, it can also be effective as a stunning, non-lethal weapon.
Machine: Power Saw - Supreme Level
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The circular blade of this power saw is made of the nearly unbreakable metal widely known as "mithril." Propelled by an alchemical motor, it spins at high speeds and can cut through nearly anything, particularly if given enough time. When wielded as a weapon in combat, it can be extremely deadly.
Edgar carries a pair of special ancient relics with him. These are magic items of significant power, ancient and effectively unbreakable. One is an ornate silk ribbon, and the other is a tiny sphere that can be kept hidden in a pocket or, if removed from his pocket or person, will hover around him and go where he goes. The ribbon protects him from being directly affected by various effects, such as being compelled, put to sleep, transformed, mentally manipulated, blinded, turned to stone, made undead, poisoned, or silenced. The orb, known as a "Safety Bit," protects him from death-related magics, such that magic can still damage him, but it cannot simply snuff out his life. These objects grant no defense or damage-resistance properties, otherwise, mainly protecting against what might be termed "status ailments."
Weapon: Thunder Blade - Enhanced Level
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Imbued with the power of lightning, this sword crackles with energy. It deals damage in the same way as a finely crafted broadsword, slashing and piercing, as well as electrical damage. This makes it dangerous to most targets, and it deals at least Enhanced+ damage to targets specifically vulnerable to electrical attacks. However, it may be reduced in strength or even utterly harmless against targets that are specifically resistant to electricity-based attacks.
ADVANTAGES
Edgar maintains a number of allies, including those who operate outside the law. When dealing with these less than officially savory types, Edgar even maintains a secret identity as "Gerad," allowing him to occasionally dabble in black market or other illicit dealings when it would benefit his kingdom to do so.
Edgar is the king of a city-state kingdom called Figaro, which is located west of the Black Forest in a desert region known as Geruda Valley. It has a close relationship with the city of Southport, which is a port city located southwest of Figaro on the coast of the Bay of Omens, offering Southport protection and support in exchange for access to a thriving port for trade and other benefits. Figaro itself is a massive castle-town, a wonder of engineering. Its partly enchanted, partly machine structure allows it to actually fold up into a massive pod, which can burrow underground and slowly travel between locations. However, due to the nature of its construction, it can only surface in deserts, so its travel locations are limited.
Figaro lacks a standing army, but it has a royal guard who exist to protect the people of the two cities. It is noted for its stables of chocobos, small navy, and various high quality exports. As a fairly wealthy kingdom, its people live very well. It maintains diplomatic and trade relations with the various other kingdoms of the former Laellu Empire, including Altur and Lyne, and the elvish kingdom of Sylvania. As a skilled diplomat who does well by his people, Edgar is generally a very popular monarch who inspires great loyalty in his people.
As the king of Figaro, Edgar is quite wealthy. He is not as opulently rich as some monarchs, as most of Figaro's wealth is spent on its people and infrastructure, but he does have extensive resources and can generally get almost any worldly goods that he might desire, ranging from chocobos to ride, a ship to sail on, or various supplies.
WEAKNESSES
Despite his romantic weaknesses for pretty young men, Edgar otherwise follows a very careful personal code. He strives in all things to behave honorably; for example, he is courteous to others and he avoids lying, stealing, or taking advantage of others' weaknesses. If forced to choose between his honor and his loyalty to his people, he will choose his people every time. On the other hand, Edgar cares very much about proper behavior, and so (apart from his lecherous tendencies) he maintains a fairly strict personal code.
Edgar really, really enjoys the company of pretty young men. He has a tremendous weakness for them. As such, when he's not taking his job seriously or obsessing over some new bit of gadgetry, he spends most of his free time pursuing romance with various attractive young men. On the positive side, he does tend to treat them very well. On the negative side, his tendency toward lavish gifts for his various lovers can strain his personal budget a bit.
Edgar is the king of a city-state, Figaro, and must also look after the needs of its smaller neighbor, Southport. As he is dedicated to being a responsible and benevolent monarch, he devotes a great deal of time and energy to looking after the needs of his people. His sense of responsibility is so great that, despite the fact that neither he nor his brother wished to be king, he arranged matters so that he would serve as king, allowing his brother to freely choose the path of his life. Edgar would willingly die for his people, so he would certainly go to various other great lengths to protect them and ensure their happiness.
