Aefenglom App

[unyieldingmarch]

Player Information
Name: Ax
Age: 33
Contact: Plurk @ Intercession
Other Characters: Chandra Nalaar

Character Information
Name: Edelgard von Hresvelg
Canon: Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Canon Point: Post Crimson Flower
Age: 23 (23rd Birthday occurs during gameplay, contradicting the wiki slightly)
History: Wiki Link.

As the game has multiple routes and several worldstate decisions that must be made by the player, Edelgard's worldstate is as follows: The player avatar was female and followed the Crimson Flower route, all characters that could be spared were, and all characters that could be recruited in battle were.

Personality:
To note for sensitive readers, Edelgard's personality section will include oblique references to human experimentation, trauma, and the deaths of children. Obviously, there are spoilers for the game as well.

Edelgard von Hresvelg is a young woman who has been defined, in large part, by her ambitions and goals. She is an extremely ambitious person, seeking to completely revolutionize the entire continent of Fodlan by tearing down the deeply entrenched establishments of both nobility and Church of Seiros. A cunning and ruthless consequentionalist, Edelgard has few qualms with sacrificing others for what she perceives as the greater good. The end goal, a more just society free from the control of an oppressive deity and a corrupt political system, is her vision for the future and she's not above killing or starting a war to see it made real. A war, as she states during one route, is the most expeditious way to reform the society, that will cause the least amount of suffering for future generations. She wants to create a meritocracy free from the influence of the Church and Crests, where hard work and ability are rewarded.

Her motivation behind this is largely motivated by a series of brutal personal traumas experienced during her childhood. She was abducted in secret by a shadowy organization called "Those Who Slither In The Dark" (TWSITD for short), with the support of the nobility, and alongside her siblings was subjected to human experimentation in an attempt to implant her with a second Crest. She was the only survivor that was not driven mad by the pain, though the experience left her with gaps in her memory and with fears of anything that reminds her of her captivity such as rats, and being alone in the dark. She would rather be seen as a villain than let anyone, anywhere go through what she did.

These traumas instilled in her an abiding hatred for Crests, magical marks inherited among the nobility that are preached as "holy" by the Church of Seiros, as well as the nobility that uses these teachings to maintain power. Crests define Fodlan's society, those that possess them have power and privilege regardless of their actual merits or contributions to society. Nobles born without crests are often disinherited or cast aside, and because of this, to Edelgard they symbolize corruption in both the nobility and the Church. As an example, during the early stages of the game Edelgard and her classmates are tasked to hunt down a disinherited, Crestless, noble named Miklan who has turned to banditry. After his demise, Edelgard says that it was a waste and shows real sympathy, as Miklan had a talent for leadership.

Her reasons behind detesting the Church itself run a little deeper than that. Edelgard does not dismiss religion as bad, merely the Church of Seiros due to it's teachings regarding Crests and thus tacit approval of the corruption and injustices rampant in the heavily stratified society. The Church preaches that faith in the Goddess will protect the faithful, yet she was tortured for years and lost all of her siblings, so was her faith simply not enough, or is the Church a sham? She chose to believe that it was false, though does not begrudge others their own faith. Moreover, she sees the head of the Church, Rhea, to be an evil and oppressive force that is intent on holding back humanity. Rhea's true nature as an intolerant, uncaring dragon called the Immaculate One does little to change this belief.

With her motivations for why she does what she does covered, there are many other facets to Edelgard's personality. First and foremost, and perhaps most obviously, she is a pragmatist. Nothing she does is without purpose, and she is willing to do things that she personally finds distasteful (such as using TWSITD in her plans) if it means a better chance of accomplishing her goal. She may plan to turn on TWSITD as soon as she can, but for the sake of her goal, she's able to swallow her feelings to move forward and that applies to nearly anything. There are few compromises she won't make if it means accomplishing her goal on her terms. It is also worth noting Edelgard has no desire to rule, and does so only as a means to accomplish her work, abdicating the throne to a worthy successor in most of her endings.

In public Edelgard presents herself with dignity, modesty, and a reserved air. She has a serious persona, and a no-nonsense attitude for the most part. She dislikes not being in control of situations, though she is not as much of a control freak as some people believe, except for when it comes to herself. She rarely is seen losing control over her emotions, instead keeping a tight rein on them no matter how angry she is. She's not the kind of person to let herself be goaded into anything, and she is unswerving in her dedication to her goals, no matter the personal cost. She is charismatic, a natural leader with a great deal of practice at command, and an excellent student during her academy days.

To those whom she trusts, Edelgard is unflinchingly loyal, willing to put her personal safety on the line to protect her allies much to her retainer's displeasure. She is not the kind of leader that stands in the back, instead prefering to fight on the front lines, boldly wearing bright colors and charging into battle with an enchanted axe. She also recognizes the importance of listening to others, accepting their thoughts and using their suggestions when necessary, thus allowing her allies and retainers to have a good bit more latitude than many other nobles might grant their companions.

In private, there is a divide, as her public persona is more one of necessity while her private one is a side she can only show some people. When away from the eyes of the masses Edelgard is a melancholic, contemplative person. Still polite and somewhat formal, she has a sense of wistfulness to her, an almost longing for better days. She shows regret for the blood spilled and sacrifices made that have resulted from her actions, and even shows some remorse for the lives lost. She says several times during the Crimson Flower route that she would prefer to force an enemy to surrender than to kill them, and shows some reluctance to execute Dimitri despite his opposition to her goals. She still does, because she's not given any real choice. Claude, the other enemy leader, and several former schoolmates she chooses to spare or even recruit based on player choices.

Edelgard's kindness is also not something that comes out in public, but in private she is shown to be very sweet with the people she cares for. Her affection is understated, but she seems to take pride in seeing her friends succeed, and she earnestly supports them when and where she can. She offers reassurances to scared classmates like Bernadetta, gentle encouragement to others that have doubts like Petra, and uses her power to make the dreams of others a reality such as sponsoring a Crestology school for Linhardt. She also admits to drawing and painting portraits of people she cares for, though she is too embarrassed to show them to anyone else. She's simply not given to overt displays of physical affection, but it is there, in her own way.

Finally, there is one important relationship to touch on. Byleth, the player avatar, and their relationship with Edelgard has an immense impact on her. During the prologue, Byleth endangers themself to protect Edelgard from a bandit and that leaves an impression on her. She values Byleth's input, even allowing them to guide battlefield strategy instead of herself, showing a level of trust that she displays only to her personal retainer Hubert. She goes against Hubert's advice in including Byleth in some of her plans and opening up her generally private personality to them, enough that others comment on how emotionally important Byleth is to Edelgard.

So, in summary, Edelgard is a deeply flawed but complex young woman. Edelgard is a cunning, ambitious, highly intelligent and highly private person. She has been deeply affected by terrible experiences, and is hellbent on casting down the system that allows such injustices to occur. She is ruthless and willing to push boundaries to obtain her desired result of a meritocratic society free of corruption. She also is kind, and not without compassion, despite her willingness to do terrible things. She does not have any malice towards most, and the few that she does have more than earned her anger. In the end she's stubbornly pursuing her dream of a brighter future, with no desire for personal glory, but instead as a means to raise up the oppressed and provide a better world for all.

Abilities & Skills:

Edelgard is practiced at many, many things and some of her skills verge on the supernatural. She's a talented user of magic, capable of learning White, Black, and Dark magic with a high degree of skill. She's got a lot of experience with magic, but that's not relevant as she is a Monster in game.

She's spent a lifetime training to lead a nation, to lead troops on a battlefield, and to fight as an individual. She is a skilled warrior with any weapon she touches, but her weapon of choice is a battle axe. In her world, which operates on anime physics, she's shown being able to make massive leaps and dodge supernaturally quick, though it's treated as totally normal. In Aef, she'd be limited by her monster biology.

Edelgard also possesses two Crests, genetic markers of noble lineage. Normally people can only have one, but due to story elements she has been biologically altered to have a second. These crests, the Crest of Seiros and the Crest of Flames make her physically stronger and able to siphon life force from enemies she hits in battle. The double crests also periodically cause great pain in Edelgard, a reaction to the alterations to her body.

I am unsure of if these abilities and pain would carry over into the game or not. I would prefer not.

Inventory/Companions:

Aymr, a large battle-axe made out of dragonbone that glows when she wields it.
Adrestian Emperor's Armor, a suit of dark red armor that's extremely durable, but made out of rare metals so as not to be heavy.
Soft, padded clothing worn underneath her armor
A sketchpad
A pin made out of jet in the shape of an eagle
A coinpouch and several magic rings bearing various jewels, all without functioning enchantments.

Choice: Vampire
Reason: I want Edelgard to be a vampire because , in a sense, it's an symbol for how some from her world see her: a monster that looks human. Making her a vampire means she can blend in better to human society, yet still have something monstrous underneath. I want her to think on that during gameplay, and to deal with the struggle of trying to stay in control and not destroy her image by freaking out and turning feral. She spends so much of her life trying to maintain the mask of normalcy, and I think making her into a reflection of that in ways she can't control would be fun.

Sample:

TDM Top level
TDM thread with Caspar
TDM thread with Zero