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History of St Edrik

Edrik Beroldsson was born to Vicomte Berold de Gilbert and the Lady Shala Shalimpour in the Levantine coastal city of Acre in the year of Our Lord 1169. His was a difficult birth on his blessed mother and she swore to her heathen god that she would bear no more children for the Vicomte. Seeing his first born son for the first time, the Vicomte prayed to his God and swore that the Lady would never have to endure the torture of bringing so odd looking a child into the world again.

Young Edrik was named after a fine, tall, handsome and upstanding English man at arms to the Vicomte, Edrik Williamson. In the vernacular, Edrik means “rich and powerful” and his father wanted all the best for his first son. He was named by his parents before his birth but sadly DID NOT take after his namesake. The babe was small for his size, incredibly so in fact, that one of the Lady Shala’s maids wrapped him in his swaddling cloths and thought she had lost him in all the fabric! He did grow to be almost as tall as his father but was sickly and never filled out in form as his father had. He had an unnatural greyish pale to his skin which would haunt him all his life, though it was not life threatening. His hair was that of his father, brown with a slight waviness to it but luckily, he took after his mother in most of his continence…except for one very distinct facial feature which to this day was known the Kingdom over…his nose.

Baby Edrik was loved by his parents and grew to be a child who all were very fond of. He was happy and gay in his outlook on life and a positive boon to cheer the spirits of any and all he came in contact with. This was due more to his mother’s upbringing than that of his father. He rejected the lively clothing of his Arabic mother, choosing instead the sedate earth tones his father generally wore. He was not one to weigh himself down with baubles, bangles or beads and he wore no jewelry save the silver medallion of his father’s house. Even when he was recognized by Queens and Baronesses for his services to them, he rarely wore his medallions of merit.

As a young page he waited upon his father who taught him the ways of service. His father took him as a squire when he was 17 and he fulfilled his squires’ duties admirably and with great zeal. When he was properly seasoned, his father presented him his panoply and weapons. He took service with the Baronial Guard of the Citadel and learned the use of the spear which he was adequate in his use of. His first campaign was at one of the first Estrella Wars and he acquitted himself well in the service of the Baron of the Citadel.

When the Outlands became a Kingdom, young Edrik caught the eye of the first Queen of the Kingdom, AElfled. He was devoted to Her and she was so taken with his devotion she styled him as the Premier of the Queen’s Cypher. This award was produced for personal service to the Queen and has been bestowed on many an Outlander since young Edrik accepted the first one from Queen AElfled’s hands.

A year later, he was recognized with Arms from the second Crown of the Outlands, King Artan I and Queen Tara, known now by her true name, Berengaria de Chinon. That same year young Edrik also won renown for himself by placing in Caer Mithin Halle’s Moonlight Prize Tournament. His mother, who was out of Kingdom at the time, rejoiced greatly at the news. His father, who was with him at the time, was proud beyond bearing of his son. Eighteen months later, at the 12th Night festivities in his home barony, young Lord Edrik was proclaimed the second bearer of the Citadel of the Southern Pass’ Calyx Honoris, granted from the hands of Baron Rutor and Baroness Morgana. This accolade denotes great chivalry and honor of those who bear it.

The next year, young Lord Edrik entered the Captain of the Baronial Guard tournament and received the Baroness’ Favor. This award was bestowed upon the fighter on the field who exemplified the ideals of chivalry upon the field of combat.

After his unsuccessful bid to attain the Captaincy of the Baronial Guard but still wishing to serve his Barony, Lord Edric was granted the post of the Baronial Sheriff and did well by his office running gate at many an event, working security and keeping the peace in the Barony, in the name of the Coronet.

Time marched on for the young Lord and he fought beside his father as his squire and later as Sir Conrade’s squire in many campaigns. He was a staunch supporter of the Arts and was happily found at many an Arts & Sciences event assisting in any way he could. He was keen on the preparation and after work which events produced.

It was with great regret, when his mother, who had moved from the Kingdom, heard of his passing. He expired in the arms of his father due to the vicious and cowardly act of a poisoner… but wore only one boot at the time of his passing…

His father enlisted the aid of many a man and after a difficult manhunt, brought the poisoner of his son to Biblical justice.

After his death, Edrik was attributed with three miracles:
The first of which happened at the Estrella War immediately following his passing. As an enemy fighter was charging the current Baron of the Citadel, who was incapacitated with three foemen at the time, his weapon was struck by an unknown force and seemed to be turned into a giant pile of straw (looking not unlike a package of raw uncooked spaghetti) which he gawked at, thereby giving the Baron time to dispatch his three foemen and then capture the “broom” wielding fighter. The Baron, at the time, was thinking of how the incident reminded him of a story Edrik had told him once of a fine Italian meal of spaghetti…thus attributing the miracle to the memory of Lord Edrik…

The second of which happened one year to the day of the first miracle when two knights of the Citadel were working to free the wain of a pair of ladies from Caid who had gotten it hung up upon a most heinous and ugly…rock. One of the knights removed his chain and fastened it to the front of the wain and together, both knights were able to pull the wain from the offending rock. The ladies, who were standing away from this show of knightliness, swore to the knights that as they were just getting the wain free, an apparition of a young man with a giant nose and one boot appeared behind the wain and seemed to trip and fall upon it, thus giving it the impetus to be pulled over the rock by the knights. He then disappeared. Upon questioning the ladies, once the description of the apparition was made known, the knights knew it to be the spirit of Lord Edrik…thus saving the ladies, their wain and the backs of the Citadellian knights.

The third and final miracle which happened at the next Feast of 12th Night in the Citadel occurred when a squire fighting in a tournament lost his weapon and was knocked about so as to be unable to defend himself with his shield, and from out of nowhere, a ghostly grey nose took the blow that would have caused the squire great bodily harm had he received it. The nose then wrinkled once, sniffed mightily and disappeared. It was found later that the shield the squire was using had belonged to none other than the late Lord Edrik himself…thus proving to one and all that the spirit of the dead Lord was watching over this squire.

Thus, after the relating of three distinct miracles did the Holy Father in Rome, having read the reports of the clergy appointed to research these events, decide to bestow sainthood upon Edrik Beroldsson for his love of spaghetti, his clumsiness and his extremely large nose.

Badda-bing, badda-boom…big badda BOOM! Done!

Every saint is assigned a feast day by the “Ecclesiastical College of Guys who perform Clerical Stuff for Saints”, and St. Edrik is no exception. Oddly enough, once the Holy Father in Rome found out that Lord Edrik enjoyed his favorite dish, spaghetti, and that he enjoyed it seven days a week (and would have enjoyed it at every meal, 365 days a year), the Holy Father proclaimed EVERY DAY to be the Feast Day of St. Edrik! Oddly enough, St. Edrik has no fasting days…

St. Edrik is the first Saint of the Citadel and is the Patron Saint of Squires and Children born with Extremely Large Noses. In A.S. XXXIII, the Militant Order of the Knights of St. Edrik was formed and is still active, clandestinely keeping the peace on Earth just as Lord Edrik used to do, but with a tad more dash and elan….

The Saint’s device is thus described: Per pale embattled sable and argent, crusilly couped gules, in dexter chief a horse’s head couped argent.

At this time, the Militant Knights of St. Edrik possess three true and factual great relics of the Saint himself…his dagger, which he used countless times in war and peace; his one boot, which was absent at his death; and his signet ring.

This is the History of St. Edrik of the Citadel as I know it.

Penned by the hand of Vicomte Berold de Gilbert (KSCA, OP)

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