Otto von Waldstein
Information
Name	Otto von Waldstein
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Born	21 BGE Waldstein Palace
World	Asleep Universe
Occupation	Prince of Waldia (21 BGE - 8 AGE) Archduke of Waldia (8 AGE - )
Native language	Waldian

Otto von Waldstein (21 BGE - ) is the Archduke of Waldia.

Appearance

In his younger years, Otto was a handsome, blonde-haired prince, with brown eyes and a short, neatly-trimmed beard. He didn't pay too much attention to grooming himself, as he simply never had the time; however, in his view, this made him appear more relatable to his subjects.

Today, Archduke Otto's hair has gone grey, and he's become less athletic and put on a bit of weight. However, he's still considered good-looking for his age - and he still dresses to impress. Usually, he'll wear cloaks of green, accentuated with yellow and gold and emblazoned with a black bear, to match his realm's royal standard. He matches these clothes with a golden crown, decorated with four emeralds, representing the four provinces of Waldia.

Personality

Archduke Otto has always displayed a confident and outgoing personality, which has manifested itself in various different ways over the course of his life. As a child, he worked hard and played hard - excelling in education, as well as in archery and other sports. As a young adult, his good looks, wisdom and self-assuredness were enough to charm almost any woman he laid his eyes on. And later on in life, when he had a family of his own, he stopped at nothing to do what he thought best for his wife and children. He wasn't as blunt or harsh as Nestor, but he did a great deal for his children, and expected a great deal in return.

Nevertheless, Otto has always had a softer side to him. He was always an animal-lover, who hated hunting, and enjoyed taking care of pets. At the age of 13, he even became a vegetarian - and, as Archduke, he imposed substantial taxes on the consumption of meat. This policy was quite unpopular with his subjects; however, he stuck with it regardless, as he thought it was morally the right thing to do.

Relationships

Annika - Archduke Otto's loyal wife. At first, few people in the realm took her seriously, as she wasn't of royal blood herself: she was just a dancer in Otto's court. However, she quickly proved herself to be intelligent - and she soon picked up many of her husband's leadership skills. Now, she serves as Otto's Head of Household, and she spends most of her time and energy keeping the castle's servants in line, and providing hospitality for guests. Still, she never forgot her glamorous roots - and, when she gets the time, she enjoys designing and modelling stylish new dresses for the kingdom's boutiques.

Henrik - Otto's closest ally. The Archduke is well-respected by most rulers; however, he enjoys a special relationship with King Henrik, due to Waldia's close cultural and linguistic ties with Kemmelreich. They frequently write to one another and exchange gifts, and they meet up once a month to discuss each other's realms. During this meetings, Henrik will often express annoyance at his own subjects (and threaten to hit him with his hammer when he gets home) - but Otto is usually able to calm him down. (Indeed, Annika has likewise served as a calming influence on Otto during their thirty years of marriage - and so, Annika has earned the nickname "Henrik's Secret Tamer"!)

Cassandra - One of the few women whom the young Prince Otto couldn't charm. Before she got together with Nestor, Otto visited New Atlantis, and was very impressed with her youthful appearance and hard work ethic. He was so impressed, in fact, that he immediately offered her a job in Waldstein, as one of his servants. However, Cassandra could see where this was going, and refused the offer. Ever since then, relations between Otto and Cassandra have been awkward: whenever Nestor has to travel to Waldstein, Cassandra typically invents a convenient excuse to stay behind in New Atlantis.

Story

Early life as a Prince

Prince Otto was born in the year 21 BGE, to Archduke Hans IX of Waldia and his wife Gisela. He was the second of three children: he had an older brother named Hans (who died in his infancy before Otto was born), and a younger brother named Tomas.

From an early age, Archduke Hans held Otto to an exceptionally high standard, and expected him to do seven hours of work per day. This was very demanding for the young prince, but he proved himself capable - and, when he was old enough, Hans rewarded him by allowing him to accompany him on his bear hunts. However, Otto immediately took an intense dislike to his father's favourite pastime - and decided he was more interested in caring for animals than killing them. Of course, he couldn't manage a bear; however, his father did allow him to have a pet cat, whom he named Greta.

When Otto reached the age of 16, Archduke Hans set about trying to find a wife for him, and started introducing him to princesses. His first few relationships didn't get very far; however, he eventually fell in love with Princess Helgirt Leocadio (later Queen Helgirt II). This relationship blossomed for over a year; but sadly, they eventually started arguing over increasingly trivial matters. The end came when one such argument escalated - and ended up with Helgirt kicking Greta to death in a fit of rage. Helgirt was deeply ashamed of her actions, and she apologised unreservedly and offered to replace the deceased cat - but it was too late: the relationship was over.

After this incident, Otto lost all interest in marrying a princess. Instead, he found himself much more interested in the young women working as servants in the castle, and in the singers and dancers who were brought in to provide entertainment at feasts. Archduke Hans was rather dismayed, but the women didn't mind at all: in fact, many of them began putting extra effort into their work, in the hopes of impressing Otto and earning a romantic fling with him. Consequently, during this period, Waldstein had one of the most efficient workforces of any castle. Therefore, as much as Archduke Hans disapproved of his son's blatant womanising, he could never quite bring himself to put a stop to it.

Rulership and Family

About a month after Otto's 29th birthday, Archduke Hans passed away. Otto became the new archduke - and, at his coronation feast, he was so impressed with one of the dancers that he invited her to stay around in the castle, and ultimately ended up marrying her. After settling down with his new wife Annika, Otto made the transition from philandering playboy to devoted family man. He and Annika got two new black cats (named Twinkle and Sparkle), and later had three children together: sons named Rommel and Jürgen, and a daughter named Sabine. During this period, Otto began to wonder whether he had any more children - and, while he wasn't able to track down all of his former servants and entertainers, his efforts did uncover two sons. He didn't get directly involved with raising those children (since both mothers had found new husbands of their own by this time); however, he did pay in full for their upbringing, including free places at the prestigious Waldstein University.

The darkest period of Archduke Otto's reign came in the winter of 26-27 AGE. A plague of woodpox swept across the kingdom, claiming the lives of one-fifth of the population. Among those who lost their lives were Otto's mother Gisela, his younger brother Tomas, and most tragically of all, his ten-year-old son Jürgen. These three losses, within a month of each other, nearly broke Otto; however, with the support of Annika and her two remaining children, he was able to pull through. He consoled himself by constructing a scale model of Waldstein castle, for his five-year-old daughter Sabine to use as a doll's house. Then, once this was completed, he acquired a new pet - which was by far his largest and most ferocious yet. After nearly forty years of caring for cats, he finally felt ready to graduate to keeping bears. He acquired three of them: an adult male called Björn, an adult female named Bella, and a male cub called Jürgen.

When Otto entered his fifties, it was expected that he would abdicate in favour of his surviving son, Prince Rommel. However, Otto was disappointed with some of his son's life choices - in particular, his relationship with a non-royal elf named Cheryl. Of course, Otto had also married a lowborn woman - but this simply bolstered his argument: he did not wish for the royal bloodline to be diluted any further. As a result, Rommel reluctantly agreed to leave Cheryl, in favour of a mermaid princess named Aliana. Then, once that relationship fell apart, Rommel spent most of his 20s getting drunk and womanising with the castle's servants and entertainers. Otto came to view Rommel as a complete embarrassment - and warned him that if he didn't stop, he would be disinherited. Fortunately, he heeded this warning, cleaned up his act, and became a devoted husband and father. On his wedding day, he changed his name to "Prince Ronald", to signify that he was now a new man.

Later life

Today, Archduke Otto is 77 years old - but still as mentally sharp as ever. He considered taking a step back from ruling after his vassals voted down his proposal to allow women to inherit the crown - but, he ultimately decided to try and make it to 50 years on the throne. His Golden Jubilee is now only two years away - and, once the festivities are over, he's expected to abdicate in favour of Prince Ronald. Until then, he's staying on and keeping a watchful eye over the realm - as his bears do over the woodlands, protecting him from any bandits foolish enough to sneak through the trees.

Trivia

Archduke Otto knows five languages: Waldian, Kemmelisch, Modern Archonian, Leocadian, and Athkeni.

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