Edward Van Helmont

Edward Van Helmont is one of the main characters of The Arcana Quest Series and is The Young Lord of prophecy.

Introduction

Edward Huang Van Helmont is a twenty-year-old biracial (half-Dorimusian and half-Wuchan) Arcane Studies student at Dorimus University who works at Jiyanu's family's restaurant when he is not in class. Edward is also Dorimus's Dark Lord, who is currently keeping his identity hidden for his and his family's safety. He is also the possessor of the Arcane Artifact The Van Helmont Ring. He and Antigone perform a secret marriage ritual so that she have access to his family's ring without being cursed so he is also Antigone Fairview's husband.

Biography

Edward van Helmont has all the makings of success—intelligence, good looks, charisma, and a lot of magical power to back up everything else. However, he was born into a family that sits on the laurels of having been descended from ancient heroes and rulers while ruining their own lives and of their family members. Edward is profoundly embarrassed, and while he is proud of his distant heritage, his current family embarrasses him. He is named after his father but goes by Edward as Cadmus is a name that fell out of fashion centuries ago.
His life didn’t start out great, despite having all of these desirable personal qualities (minus a good moral compass). He was born into the Van Helmont family, descended from the Helmont Senator family that were Dorimus’s first three emperors—and the family responsible for originally burning the Arcana priests in First Night Burning Square to protect the city and ultimately the Hundred Burnings Massacre. Despite being from such an infamous family, it has not retained its grandeur. They live in an ancient, falling apart villa above the city’s mausoleums that no one would want even if they did try to sell it. His father, Cadmus, is a cruel man who fritters away what little money is left on his vices and feels too self-important to work. Meanwhile, his mother, who had been a mediocre mother but by far the most respectable member of the family, abandoned her husband and son when Edward was four. Edward has not forgiven her the betrayal, despite doing everything he can to escape from his father as well. It doesn’t help that he takes mostly after her in appearance as she had been a very beautiful woman from what he saw in her photo he managed to save from his father’s wrath.
Edward was a successful student in primary school and was fortunate enough to receive a scholarship to a private secondary school in Dorimus, where he became keenly aware of his family’s poverty and lack of status in comparison to that to most of his classmates. However, he made several friends with his charm and after learning to imitate the social airs of those around him. One of those friends was Lucas, who would eventually introduce him to Antigone.
It was reading the many tomes that Edward soaked up like a sponge that he out together what he was. He was too powerful even for the most gifted of children, often scaring his teachers and family members alike with his intense abilities. He was doing dark magic that even adults would find difficult as a young child and it was survival instinct that stopped him from revealing more to those around him. By the time he was aware he realized that being a Dark Lord would garner the attention of Lord Grunel, who was beginning his path of terror, and kept that information to himself.
He was at the top of his class when he graduated from his secondary school and, much to his relief, received a full ride to Dorimus, which made sure that he was not drafted into the war. However, he works part time along with continuing his studies at Dorimus which was boring—except for one particular encounter in which he was recognized for what he was by someone else he recognized as a fellow Lord--but a Light Lord. If it had been a thousand years prior, they would have socially been at odds. However, it is the modern era and Edward just wants to survive and not be impoverished for the rest of his days so the two of them ignore the obvious problems of them being Lords, magically gifted people blessed by the Arcana but of different magical polarities.
He didn’t expect that a refugee girl that he vaguely pitied would not only call him out for being a Dark Lord but would involve him in the war he’d never wanted to enter into, revealing that his connections to his ancient family roots would be more valuable than he ever thought possible.

Personality

Edward comes off as friendly and charming, the sort of boy that a girl wouldn’t mind bringing home to introduce to her parents or that wouldn’t even alarm a protective older brother. However, this is just the mask that Edward wears. At birth he was blessed by The Arcana, worshiped as gods, to have extraordinary powers and magical abilities associated with the Dark Arts. Like many other Dark Lords or Ladies, he could have joined with Lord Grunnel and brought Dorimus under his dominion as its leader. He possess the personality suited for a DArk Lord: he can be cold, unempathetic, and believes the ends justify the means. The only code of honor he follows is his own. However, he is in position of an Arcana Artifact that Grunnel would kill him for. Knowing that, and after listening to Antigone, rather than give up his territory to an incoming Dark Lord he has decided to defend against it. He goes to reluctantly treaty with a Light Lady of Dorimus, Ursula Oliphant. As time goes on he reveals a lot of facets to his personality—he is not a typical young Dark Lord hungry for power. He wants success, certainly, but Dorimus was defended by his family for generations and believes it is his duty to continue his family honor of making sure Dorimus remains an independent state.

Dark Lord

A Lord or a Lady is a person chosen by The Arcana (nine gods and goddesses) to be blessed with extrodinary magic, godly blessings such as good luck, and are influential in the territory they are born into. Edward is one of the three Lords and Ladies of Dorimus, representing the darker gods and goddesses of The Arcana and specializing in Unknowable Magic.

• Name: Edward Huang Van Helmont
• Age: 20
• Birthplace: Dorimus
• House: House Helmont, Heir
• Family:
• Wife: Antigone Fairview
• Father: Cadmus Van Helmont, alcoholic
• Mother: Li Jing Helster, abandoned family
• Sister: Bernadette Van Helmont
• Sister: Bernice "Bernie" Van Helmont
• Religious Affiliation: Arcanism
• Career: Student and Waiter
• Sexual Orientation: Pansexual
• Gender: Cisgender man, he/him pronouns
• MBTI:ENFP
• Enneagram:8w4
• Astrological Signs:
• Sun: Capricorn
• Moon: Gemini
• Rising: Aries