Oswald was known for his ice-clear eyes.[1]
Oswald von Königswald was the crown prince of the province of Ostland and its Elector Count between 2502 and 2505 IC.
His father was Maximillian von Königswald and he was considered one of the Empire's greatest heroes. He was 43 years old (although he looked younger), with blond hair and piercing brown eyes, and was always elegantly dressed in beautiful silks and precious jewelry. He was a very handsome man and the favorite of many young (and not so young) ladies of Ostland and the imperial courts. This, however, is not the real reason for his fame. For he put an end to the life of Constant Drachenfels, the terrible necromancer who had terrorized the lands of the Empire and Bretonia for centuries.
Some unpleasant people have described him as a "professional hero" with no other talents, however, he has many good qualities. Nevertheless, ballads were written about his heroic exploits; minstrels delved into his life for a few coins; cheap newspapers described his adventures for those who had an extra penny to spend, and under the patronage of the duke himself, the great playwright Detlef Sierck prepared "Drachenfels," a play recounting Oswald's heroism.
Rumours tell that the prince was a serious youth, a young man capable of outstripping all his tutors in everything from gastronomy to philosophy, and who was as skilled with the Estalian guitar as with the longbow of Albion. The tavern jesters told jokes about the grave-faced boy who had, it was rumoured, that once he shamed Luitpold into withdrawing a proposed edict against harlotry by asking if the Emperor intended to set an example by burning at the stake a certain substantial Tilean fortune teller much in evidence at court functions since the demise of the lady empress.[1]
History[]
In the year 2480, Oswald von Königswald led a group of warriors to storm Drachenfels Castle, located in the Grey Mountains, and ended forever the life of the dreaded Constant Drachenfels, who had wreaked terror on the surrounding lands of the Empire and Bretonia for millennia. Among Oswald's companions was the vampire Geneviève Dieudonné, whose family had been slain by the dark sorcerer centuries earlier.
This mission proved to be extremely dangerous, and many of Oswald's companions died during the mission due to the machinations and traps set by the Grand Sorcerer along the way. No one witnessed Oswald defeat Drachenfels, but with his victory he ended one of the greatest evils in history, and his deed was praised by all. After the defeat and death of the Great Warlock, an army sent by Emperor Luitpold stormed the castle and slaughtered the entire garrison and servants of Drachenfels. The fortress was to be demolished, but Oswald himself intervened, wanting to preserve the castle as a reminder of his great victory.
Twenty-five years later, Oswald, now Elector Count of Ostland, decided to stage a great play in Drachenfels Castle recounting his exploits. For this purpose he hired Detlef Sierck, one of the greatest actors and theater directors in the empire, who at that time was imprisoned in Mundsen Castle because of a disastrous failed play and who was held responsible for the failure. Sierck was to write a play about his victory and should be cast in it. To help write his story, Oswald contacted the last members of his gang, including Geneviève.
In addition to the death of his father, a number of unpleasant events (murders, incidents, ghostly apparitions, etc.) occurred during the course of the play and rehearsals were on the verge of nullifying the project, but Oswald managed to convince everyone present to continue, until finally the play was ready for a lavish first performance. The premiere was the social event of the year and was attended by the highest echelons of imperial society: the Emperor Karl Franz and his son, various Elector Counts and numerous high imperial officials.
And it was at this point that Oswald's true intentions and the truth about his famous victory were revealed.
Oswald von Königswald never defeated Drachenfels, but was defeated by him. Instead of killing him, the necromancer saw Prince Oswald's grand ambitions and his contempt for the House of Wilhelm, especially Karl Franz, and made him an offer he could not refuse. Drachenfels would survive the passage of time in exchange for shedding his old, scarred body and being reborn in a newly constructed one, and in exchange for his life and loyalty Oswald would help him do so and provide the Empire on a platter for him. After the deal was made, Drachenfels staged his own defeat and annihilation.
In the first part, Oswald gathered his former comrades to be murdered and quartered by the necromancer for the raw material to build a new body. In the second part, Oswald had spent years cultivating his image as a hero of the Empire and a loyal servant of the Emperor, and with this work, the necromancer intended to kill the leaders of the Empire so that he could subjugate the nation in their absence.
The necromancer appeared in the middle of the show's climactic scene, its famous "defeat," to kill Geneviève, the last surviving member of Oswald's original band, and then murder everyone present. For his part, Prince Oswald held Karl Franz at gunpoint to observe everything. Drachenfels' plot would have succeeded had it not been for Detlef Sierck, who in an unprecedented act of bravery, and with the help of Geneviève, confronted the necromancer and destroyed him, this time for real and for good.
Oswald von Königswald, seeing his plans destroyed and knowing that he was utterly lost, after confessing to Karl Franz all the hatred and contempt he felt for him, made one last attempt to assassinate him and tried to escape, but was stopped and died in battle with Detlef Sierck. His body was buried in an unmarked grave in the mountains.
Although the von Königswalds had been a family loyal to the Empire for generations, Oswald's betrayal and before that his father's death in 2502 stripped them of all power, and the title of Elector Count of Ostland passed into the hands of another family, the Von Tassenincks.
Sources[]
- 1: Drachenfels (Novel) by Kim Newman