Though he looks elegant and poised, the moment he starts talking you get a completely different image. Alas is brattish and quick to anger, bent unrealistically toward getting revenge on everyone, and jumps to conclusions pretty easily. Though he grows to hide his real personality under a mask of diplomatic temperance once he has to act like a real prince, sometimes cynical or hateful remarks slip out when talking to those younger than him. For anyone he's honest with, it's easy to tell he has lots of trust issues and a strong vendetta toward all humans and elves. Though it's almost impossible to bring out, he does have a good side. Alas is deeply in love with all books, not only because of the culture he grew up in, but because they've been his only companions. Once you get him started on a book or topic, he'll easily talk for days and compile lists of relevant novels. This also means that showing dislike toward books, or god forbid damage one, you will be on his hit list. He also has a soft spot for home cooked meals as it reminds him of better times, so being a good cook does actually get you closer to his heart. And genuinely, deep down, he's extremely sensitive to any pressure or emotions. The issue is that he naturally represses it with feelings of anger and resentment, so even he doesn't know how broken he really is.

A beautiful golden boy with daddy issues. He wants to wiggle his way into being the king or another kind of important political figure to say F-you to his dad and humans and elves and basically everyone 'cause he has grudge issues. Alas went to bard college, but hated it because they didn't like his "tiny lute" idea. It's a perfectly amazing possible instrument that would be both adorable and completely acceptable gosh. Goes by a fake name to match the royal family he currently resides with, and because he hates any association with his dad. He has never disclosed his real name to anyone, thinking real names have some mystical power over you if known by others. This is because the elves he descended from were a little mystic in belief, despite being very scholarly. Although he's a cynical realist, Alas did pick up on a few superstitions while growing up, and may hold them above common knowledge.

Alas’ early childhood was spent in a cute little village with his mother and father. Days were happy, and he enjoyed days running in the sun. He was, however, treated different by others, since he looked more elf than human. These humans didn't know much about elves and had some old stories that had them wary, and the kids just thought he looked weird, having grown up only around other humans. So little Alas tended to stick with his parents, which was perfectly fine with him.

That's why it was so hard to lose his mother to sickness when he was still young. His father, only having come to live a village life to be with the one he loved, decided to return to his isolated mountain tower. Alas was dragged along but ultimately abandoned by a father addicted to his study. This was when the little half-elf took an interest in books, and spent every waking moment in his father's enormous library, reading or acting out what was written. His father did give him food and a functional room, but contact was limited since pursuit of knowledge was more important than his son. His race of elf, after all, were ones of knowledge and study. Living in isolation to fill oneself with wisdom was normal, and any fellow elven guests would reiterate that. His dad was seen as an abnormal, having abandoned his books to start a family with a human. These guests would give Alas nasty looks and talk about him behind his back, and ask his father why he would possibly waste precious years of study to go cavorting with a hick human? His father would, of course, defend his love for his late wife. But he never stopped his guests from gossiping, and it made Alas feel like he was an unwanted mistake. The elves only saw the human in him, and he was never treated well by them. This began his human and elf hating complex, and the rebel within him felt it unfair. Alas would rather fight against them than give in to self-loathing. Eventually he began to plan out what to do with his life, and how to escape the tower and return to humanity.

While searching for ways to escape his isolation, Alas came across books about music and bards. He enjoyed the idea of telling stories through song, and remembered times when he'd heard music, and garnered a very deep interest in the subject. He began practicing instruments and lyricism, and planned to leave home to become a travelling bard. In asking for instruments and more books, Alas' father learned of his hobby and decided to send him to a bard college. At first Alas was extremely excited about finally escaping the tower and seeing the world, but it didn't quite go as he'd hoped.

At first he tried to be a good student, working fast and dutifully as he had always been raised to do. He did really well on reading and writing assignments, but found it increasingly difficult to be creative while also meeting the demands and expectations of the teachers. He kept digging himself in a rut, trying to please everyone even when all they did was contradict each other and give vague advice, like being less rigid in his methods. So eventually, he said "to hell with it" and did every assignment as he wanted to do it, even if it was controversial. He became a lot better at playing instruments and coming up with music, but he wasn't following the guidelines at all. He even created arguments for the sake of breaking the status quo, which generally was looked down upon for being too extreme and uneeded. He began to build a reputation as someone who just wanted to be controversial and start fights for no reason, and people kind of pulled away from him and looked down on him. They saw him as someone who wasn't actually serious about music or the pursuit of knowledge, and obviously that comes with some people who wanted to get him to leave. Being isolated and ridiculed like this was one of Alas' worst anxieties, and he began to close up. Now he actually did oppose people for the sake of it, taking out his anger and fear on his teachers and peers when anyone tried to brush him off. So when he tried to seriously propose ideas, like making a smaller version of a lute that would make a cute high string sound, he was treated with disdain and his ideas were shot down without consideration. That was the last straw, and after being at the bard college for only a few months, he got up and left.

But he didn't leave and return home. On the contrary, he used this as a chance to run away. First he stayed in the dorms before his official leave, plotting out where he'd go and where inns were. He got together all of the money that was supposed to last him through college and reasoned out how to save and where to get discounts and places to pawn off possessions if he had to. Then he left for the next town, then the next, then the next, getting increasingly farther from his home in the mountains. While gathering intel about the best places to go and where there would be libraries and what jobs he could get, he learned of a rumor about a king and queen without any children. Or rather, they had one, but it had disappeared as a baby. Alas didn't really care about the story at the time, only going to that city because it was known for having a large collection of books and a few professionals that taught magical arts. Later he learned the majority of citizens were a metallic elf race, and he felt blending in with part of the populace could only help him. It wasn't until he stayed in the city that he learned the full story about the king and queen. They had a son, golden in appearance, that had been abducted around 20 years beforehand and was last seen being taken up the river. They had searched all of the villages and woods along the river, but never found him.

Alas thought this was a little too perfect of an opportunity to pass up. So he did heavy research and interrogation, learning all of the fine details associated with the child and the case, and built the perfect lie. It was even more incredible that he was born in a village along the river, and grew slowly, which would trick people into thinking that maybe he was younger than he really was, or maybe that he had died as a baby and his parents replaced him with an identical baby possibly stolen from said kingdom. It was long enough ago that no one would remember clearly, and they had been a reclusive family that stayed there for only a handful of years. So not only did he have a solid place of origin he had actually lived in, but an eyewitness-backed alibi and an acceptably similar appearance to these elves. If he played his cards right, he could not only get a place to stay for a while, but get absolutely anything he wanted. Heck, he'd be inheriting a kingdom. Alas did reflect on the work that was required of both being an heir and actually managing a kingdom, but the idea that he could get real revenge began to form in his mind.

All of the anxiety and anger and hatred he had forcibly tried to contain throughout the years had bubbled over, and the anticipation of actually being in a position of power took its hold on him. He could finally return all of his feelings tenfold to those who wronged him or looked down on him, and he could do it in the most life-destroying way possible- taking away or destroying everything they held dear through politics and diplomacy. Getting them to feel absolute powerlessness as everything crumbled around them, and death would not be there to grant them mercy.

Finally feeling like he could lead a life not dictated by others, he began his first steps on his path to becoming a king.

• Believes all conversations with nobles are strategic and everyone in the higher caste has ulterior motives, when in reality at least half of them just want to chill and talk for fun
• Actually really loves his late mother, but refuses to talk or think about that time at all
• Loves fluffy animals like cats, and is a total softie for them
• Actual conspiracy theorist
• Sketches of his parents vvv