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Deuteragonist and playable character in Koudelka.

Library Entry[]

Born into a distinguished London family. Although this consummate egotist pays no heed to soiling his hands with crime, he agonises over what he really wants from life. For this tortured scion, the interior of Nemeton Abbey, veiled in rumour and superstition, appears as a tantalizing arena to take on his personal demons.
~ Game Manual

Biography[]

Pre-Koudelka[]

Edward was born in London and grew up in a wealthy family that was not blessed with much love. An imaganitive child, he often dreamt up adventures and escapades. Not much of an academic, much to his strict father's displeasure, he dropped out of university and travelled around the country, with no clear destination in mind.

Unsatisfied with his lot, he roamed from place to place, seeking out new excitements and thrills. At one point he made a few attempts at petty crime, but he was not intimidating and could not scare other people.

During some time in London, he heard a rumour about a rich man buying and refurbishing an old monastary, as well as "engaging" numerous prostitutes to come there.

His curiosity piqued, and sensing some adventure, he set off on the long road to Wales.

Koudelka[]

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Meeting Koudelka

Having made his way into the monastery, he was attacked and greviously wounded when a monster tried to kill him.

He was saved by the fortunate arrival of a mysterious woman, Koudelka Iasant, who saved him when the monster returned to kill him.

Healing him, the pair made their way through the desolate abbey, until they came across the caretakers; Bessy and Ogden, who poisoned their food. Too suspicious of them to eat, Koudelka declined the soup and later berated Edward for being so naïve and too trusting of people.

They later came across an unconscious priest who had been attacked by yet another monster.

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Meeting James

Despite saving them, he was sniffy and dismissive of the pair, believing them to be mere thieves based on their appearance, and expressed flat disbelief when they informed him of the caretakers' attempt to poison them. Despite their open mutual dislike, he opted to travel with them, for safety.

As the trio made their way around the dark, monster-filled corridors, James and Edward began to argue over poetry - Edward's love of Byron, in contrast to James' dislike of him - before being shot at by the caretakers - to James' flat refusal of the belief that they were the shooters.

They eventually found themselves in the former hidden Prison of the monastery - filled to the brim with bodies - some hundreds of years old, some very recent. They were haunted by the vengeful spirits there, including the ghost of Charlotte D'Lota, who tried to trick Edward into falling off a high ledge - but he was saved by Koudelka.

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Encountering Charlotte

Edward continued to argue with James, as even when presented with the overwhelming evidence of the caretakers' grisly deeds, the priest was reluctant to believe they were capable of such a thing - but was dismissive of the victims, claiming he wasn't interested in the deaths of "mere liars, thieves, and heathens", to Koudelka and Edward's anger.

Having made their way to the Storage Room, they discovered a vast haul of confiscated artworks, jewels and other objets d'art. Again, the group argued; James wished to see them brought to the Vatican for their historical worth, while Edward, facetiously, was more interested in material worth.

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Murdering Alias

They were attacked by a thief, Alias, who had thus far managed to evade the caretakers, and been witness to their numerous bloody murders. James, however tried to pin the deaths on him, accusing him of commiting them - snidely disparaging his status as a low-class immigrant. Again, to Koudelka and Edward's disgust at James.

After Alias had finished telling them of what he had seen, Edward coldly pulled a gun on him, and shot him dead. James was appalled, as he intended originally to hand the thief over to the police - only for Edward to mockingly point out the danger in leaving him alive to potentially attack again, or the liability in taking him along with them.

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"Is that just a mummy?"

Finding themselves in the abbey Library, James began to frantically search through the alchemic and mystic texts, much to Koudelka and Edward's puzzlement, being deliberately vague to them on the nature of his search. Edward mockingly quoted Shakespeare to him, giving to James the tiniest glimmer of respect for Edward's knowledge of the Bard.

Hidden away in a secret room in the library, the three discovered a lone coffin on a bier. They approched it to discover the emaciated form of Roger Bacon - who promptly sprang to live, startling them, enigmatically speaking of the Formors and the Émigré Document, before abruptly collapsing back into the coffin.

James tried to question the strange man, being met with no response. Tired of his evasiveness, Edward demanded an explanation on the Émigré Document, and James' true purpose for coming to the monastery. Hesitant, he finally told them the whole story; the nature of the Émigré Document and his knowledge of its owner, Patrick.

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Encountering the Gargoyle

Somewhat satisfied with the answers, the trio continued the exploration of the grounds, ending up in the Church Nave. As the church bells tolled midnight, the malignant energies of the spirits in the area coalesced into a hideous demonic creature, and attacked them - seperating Edward and James from Koudelka, blocking off their access to the nave.

Concerned for her wellbeing, the duo sought a way to find her, eventually managing to contact her through a damaged impassable door under the arbour, relieved, telling her to regroup with them in the library.

Meeting in the library, Koudelka told them that the caretakers were finally dead, but before doing so had told her of the death of Patrick's wife, Elaine, many years before, to James' shocked horror and disbelief. He explained to them his past, and his deep love for her, his numb shock over her murder.

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"I have seen plenty of ABNORMAL people just like myself!"

Inside Patrick's Quarters, they found Roger in Patrick's personal library, Edward and James scarce believing that he was, indeed, the 13th century philosopher until he began to discuss his involvement in the copying of the Emigré Document. Amused by the strange man, they left him to his devices, and ventured deeper into Patrick's Quarters.

Before a full-size portrait of Elaine, Koudelka channeled her spirit, causing her ghost to materialise before them. Edward listened as she told them of her murder, and Patrick's attempt to resurrect her body, and how it had become an unthinking monster, while her spirit was stuck stranded on Earth, unable to move on. As she faded away, she begged the party to burn her body to ash, to free her spirit.

Having located Patrick's Research Notes, and wishing to free Elaine's spirit, they spoke again to Roger, to see if was possible (and in what manner) to return Elaine's body to death. Roger speculated that calling upon sacred powers to destroy the roots of the Tree of Life in which her body was housed, and then calling up the energies of either fire or water could potentially destroy it. Luckily such a relic was on the monastery grounds; the mummified arm of St Daniel, founder of the monastery.

Trying to make their way to the church, where Elaine's body lay, they were stopped by a seemingly-impassable door. James tried to convince Koudelka and Edward to leave him; it was his friend, and his fight, not theirs - though they quickly rebuffed him, as it was now far more than a personal matter. Still unable to open the door, James had an idea from seeing the chemicals in Patrick's lab; nitroglycerin.

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Relaxing over drinks

While he set about the task, Edward and Koudelka with nothing to do for a while, started a fire, and relaxed, drinking heavily. They told each other stories of their past, enjoying each other's company. She told him of her Rom heritage, and her personal secret name, Zlato, but playfully refused to tell him its meaning. Edward, meanwhile told Koudelka of his upbringing, and his longing for adventure, and of his envy for the seemingly free life she seemed to lead.

Koudelka reacted angrily, and told him of all the misery she had suffered, and what she had done to survive alone in the world, before breaking down into heavy sobs.

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Steady aim

Later, James had finished creating the nitroglycerin, and placing it at the base of the door. They stood far back while Edward took aim with a pistol, and fired, exploding the unstable mixture, and the door with it.

With access, at last, to the Church, they discovered it had become overgrown with vines, and that the cauldron lay hidden in a secret crypt. There they found Patrick's mummified corpse, covered in the vines.

Angry, and now resolved to the Tree of Life's destruction, James suddenly grabbed some nearby gasoline canisters, to Edward's surprise, and started to douse the vines and area with it. Prepared, they cast St Daniel's arm into the cauldron invoking his saintly power. The vines reacted violently; thrashing and writhing tearing apart the masonry, causing the trio to flee outside, but not before James threw down his lantern, igniting the gasoline, and turning the place into a blazing inferno.

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"We'll be fine. Trust me."

They fought their way to the base of the bell tower, where the main stem of the Tree of Life - and Elaine housed within, waited.

A giant bud lay at the plant's apex, and as they drew closer, unfurled revealing the monstrous resurrected body of Elaine - mindless and animalistic. She attacked, forcing them to retreat further up the bell tower, to the very spire. Her body mutated, and left with nowhere to run - they battled her.

Bloodied and beaten by Elaine, the trio lay sprawled across the rooftop. Rising to his feet, and holding his cross out before him, James questioned his faith, before resigning himself to his fate, admitting his love to Elaine. Calling upon some divine force, a beam of light shot from the heavens, enveloping them, causing them to ascend upwards, as the ugliness of Elaine's form was stripped away revealing her true body - reunited again with her soul. Elaine spoke kindly to him of their shared memories, and told him they were returning home.

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Oh, that's rich. I'll remember that. "Treasure".

The pair faded in a flash of light, with the implication that they had passed on to the hereafter.

As Edward and Koudelka stood, trying to process what had just happened, fire burst from the ruins below. The pair ran to the edge as the flames licked higher. Edward reassured Koudelka they'd be fine, before scooping her up and jumping from the tower. Surviving the fall unharmed, they set up camp and spent the night together.

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"Somewhere we'll meet again..."

During the hazy dawn, Roger came down to greet them, as they prepared to part company. Edward mounted Koudelka's horse, as she wished him goodbye, saying that they'd probably never see one another again. Before he left, he asked her the meaning of her name, Zlato. Koudelka told him it meant "treasure" much to his amusement.

He rode off into the dawn, with Koudelka quietly confident that the pair would some day meet again...

Non-Canon Endings[]

Three endings are possible in Koudelka, the canonical (as detailed above) is the ending in which the party lose to Elaine in the boss fight, and James "dies". Because of this, it's sometimes known as the "Bad Ending" . The events of this form the backstory of Shadow Hearts.

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"I wonder what she was about to say?"

The other ending, achieved by winning in the fight against Elaine changes alters these events; her spirit reunites with her body, and she appeared to be begining to speak, before she plunged into the inferno of the church below, dying, finally.

Sitting in the dawning sun, the trio quietly contemplated what they had seen, Edward believing that Elaine was about to say something. They reflected that the last true bond with the departed, was memories. In this ending, James lives, leading to it often being called the "Good Ending".

The last is a non-standard game over if the player doesn't find, or discards Koudelka's Pendant. When she awakens from her bud, Elaine blasts the party with a necrotising breath - melting the very flesh from their bones.

Shadow Hearts[]

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Halley - son of Edward and Koudelka

While never appearing in game, Edward is indirectly referenced by Koudelka as the father of Halley Brankett - their son, conceived at some point after the events of Koudelka.

Although this fact is never outright stated during the game, only hinted at by the shared surnames (in Japanese at least -"プランケット"- as owing to the ambiguity of the writing system, it was mistakenly localised as Brankett - an equally valid pronunciation), and their similar physical appearance.

Other references in the dialogue also imply that he and Koudelka kept in some form of contact, or had met in the intervening years, but the specifics are vague and not discussed in any detail.

One small mention is that during the events of the game, he currently resides in America, and following the events of Shadow Hearts, Koudelka and Halley set sail to meet with him there.

Aptitudes[]

"Physical labour/ Reciting poetry" ~ Koudelka manual

Fairly well versed in the use of weapons, he was adept with firearms, his weapon of choice being his Single Action revolver - apparently, self-taught in its use.

A lover of the Romantics, he was familiar with the works of Byron, and read the works of his contemporaries, like Mary Shelley. Like James, he shared an appreciation for Shakespeare, and the two often quoted passages at length.

Personality[]

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Highly egotistical and proud, he was born with a deep sense of wanderlust, and so loved the thought of an adventure. While at times self-absorbed, he occasionally acted selflessly, and over the course of the game began to show concern for Koudelka's well-being.

Usually quite talkative and cheerful, he possessed a roughish charm, but at times could be extremely cold-hearted and practical, such as when he murdered Alias. He viewed himself much like his favoured poet, Byron; a Romantic wandering soul looking for a sense of belonging, though with less world-weariness, and more a sense of Sehnsucht.

He felt at odds with the peaceful society he found himself in, and as if he was born in the wrong time period, having missed out on the "age of exploration", prompting his sometimes reckless behaviour to feel some kind of excitement that he believed his life was lacking.

Real Life[]

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Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett was born in 1878 in London, heir to the Barony of Dunsany, later becoming the 18th Baron of Dunsany.

Writing under the pen name of "Lord Dunsany", his works as writer and poet were very popular during his lifetime, and were a heavy influence on many recognisable names in the Fantasy genre; H.P Lovecraft, J.R.R Tolkien, Arthur C. Clarke, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Michael Moorcock, among others.

The most well-known of his works is the The Sword of Welleran, a collection of fantasy stories, among which is "The Fortress Unvanquishable, Save for Sacnoth", which served as both the inspiration for the name of the company and sword in Koudelka.

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Circa 1930

While he is known primarily for his writing, his life was an eventful one - he was a skilled pistol marksman, and travelled the world, often on the hunt for big game.

During the First World War he was a Captain for the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, and wounded in the Dublin Easter Uprising, requiring surgery to remove a piece of his skull. In the later years of the war he spent time in the trenches, and wrote propaganda for the War Office.

During the events of the Second World War, he was a member of both the Irish Army Reserve, and the Home Guard, moving between both Ireland and Great Britain.

He died at the age of 79 in Dublin, following an attack of appendicitis.

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