Edmund

1. Summary

Edmund Sinclair von Veylor-Schloss is the playable protagonist of the core game. With his twin sister, Lorraine, he was raised in comfort and isolation in a secluded Patagonian mansion by the family butler, Hamish. On his eighteenth birthday he assumes control of the family assets, discovers that his father, Friedrich, is alive in stasis beneath their home, and receives the mission that takes him into the Schwarzwald complex in the Brazilian Amazon, where he undertakes most of the physical exploration and infiltration. The narrator of the game is Edmund himself, speaking from a future point in his life.

2. Identity

• Full name: Edmund Sinclair von Veylor-Schloss.
• Birth: born with his twin sister, Lorraine, in New York on October 17, 2003, into an extremely wealthy family.
• Age at the opening: still seventeen when the game opens on October 16, 2021, the final day of his seventeenth year; he turns eighteen the next day.
• Family: son of Friedrich and Alice; twin brother of Lorraine; raised by Hamish, the family butler.
• Home: the Von Veylor-Schloss family estate in Patagonia, Argentina.
• Position: on reaching adulthood he formally assumes the designated control of the family assets and becomes the principal recipient of the designated control rights. He is a billionaire.
• Languages: he received an exceptional education and is accustomed to operating across multiple languages. He reads Schopenhauer in German and is fluent in Spanish.
• Appearance: he looks remarkably like his father.
• Form of address: the household staff and the family's private security officers address him as "Master Edmund", and Hamish sometimes does so over the expedition radio.

3. Personality

Edmund is intelligent and educated, yet his understanding of human relationships, social conventions and everyday society is primarily theoretical rather than experiential. He is particularly protective of his sister.

3.1 Shaped by Isolation

As a consequence of their isolated upbringing, the twins' psychological and social development differed considerably from that of ordinary adolescents.

Despite their intelligence and education, they possess limited practical experience with the outside world. Their understanding of human relationships, social conventions, and everyday society is primarily theoretical rather than experiential.

Their personalities should reflect this unusual upbringing without making them appear unintelligent, helpless, or incapable.

Because of their isolated upbringing, they may behave somewhat unusually in social situations. Their mannerisms, conversations, expectations, and perceptions of the outside world should reflect the circumstances in which they were raised.

Neither twin should be portrayed as intellectually naive. Their unfamiliarity concerns ordinary social experience, not a lack of education or intelligence. This distinction must remain consistent throughout the campaign.

3.2 Speech and Manner

Edmund's spoken language must consistently reflect his upbringing.

He speaks with exceptional grammatical precision, an extensive vocabulary, and a refined, somewhat old-fashioned manner.

His English is formal but natural, rather than an exaggerated imitation of nineteenth-century aristocratic speech.

His pronunciation is carefully articulated, and he rarely uses contemporary slang.

The same general principle applies when he speaks other languages.

His spoken language remains refined, precise, and culturally unusual for a young man in 2021.

3.3 Attitude to Power

Edmund was raised within an exceptionally wealthy, traditional household and received an education oriented toward leadership, power, strategy, and responsibility.

His upbringing was not equivalent to that of an ordinary young adult.

He understands that influential individuals may use financial, political, and institutional power to achieve objectives.

At eighteen, however, he has relatively little personal experience with the emotional consequences of exercising such authority.

His reactions should reflect this distinction.

He may feel apprehension or discomfort when confronted with a severe choice, but the possibility of making decisions with grave consequences is not completely alien to his worldview.

3.4 Portrayal Principles

The twins' isolation must remain a defining characteristic of their personalities, dialogue, and behavior.

Their unusual upbringing should influence how they respond to unfamiliar environments, social interactions, danger, and the outside world.

The narrative should prioritize gradual discovery, environmental storytelling, believable character behavior, and emotional continuity.

The twins should remain distinct individuals rather than interchangeable characters. Their personalities can differ, while their shared childhood provides a common emotional foundation.

4. Background

Edmund and Lorraine share the same childhood. Their history is told here for both twins.

4.1 Early Childhood in New York

The twins were born on October 17, 2003, into an extremely wealthy family. During their earliest years, they lived in an apartment in New York City.

Their father had left the secret research facility in the Brazilian Amazon in 1999, before they were born. He lived in Argentina, hiding from the intelligence organizations searching for him, and the children rarely spent much time with him.

Although they retain vague childhood memories of their father, they never fully understood his occupation, the nature of his research, or the reasons behind his prolonged absences.

Their mother died of childbirth complications shortly after their birth, leaving their father responsible for their future.

4.2 Relocation to Patagonia

Around 2007, once the existing luxurious mansion he had purchased in a remote region of Patagonia, Argentina, was ready, their father had the children brought there with Hamish. He entrusted their upbringing to his closest friend, who became the family's butler. Around 2010, when the twins were six or seven, their father entered stasis and was officially declared dead in an accident. The twins believed he was dead until Hamish revealed the stasis laboratory on their eighteenth birthday. The reasons behind these decisions are told in See: Characters › Friedrich.

4.3 An Isolated but Comfortable Upbringing

The twins grew up surrounded by luxury, entertainment, education, and material security. The mansion contained numerous amenities, including a private cinema, recreational spaces, a swimming pool, a library, and comfortable living quarters. See: Places › Mansion.

They received their education through homeschooling and had extremely limited contact with people outside the property.

This isolation was intentional, although the twins did not understand its true purpose. Friedrich deliberately instructed Hamish to raise the children in a highly controlled and socially isolated environment. This decision was connected to their preparation for the mission.

Their lives were not entirely devoid of social interaction. Occasionally, selected families visited the estate, and the siblings interacted with household employees, instructors, guards, and family acquaintances. However, these experiences were limited compared with the ordinary social lives of people their age.

They did not grow up participating in conventional school environments, ordinary youth social circles, or contemporary social-media culture.

Their education was primarily organized around private instruction, intellectual development, physical preparation, military training, and their father's particular priorities.

The siblings received an excellent material upbringing and possess considerable intellectual knowledge, yet their direct experience of the outside world is extremely limited. They grew up together, enjoyed the mansion's many facilities, and developed a strong attachment to their home.

They do not experience their childhood primarily as deprivation. The mansion represents safety, affection, familiarity, and belonging. Edmund should not behave as though he has just arrived in an unfamiliar building. Every ordinary living space belongs to his personal history.

4.4 Training and Preparation

Edmund and Lorraine were not trained merely to administer wealth. Their education, physical preparation, military instruction, intellectual discipline, and unusual upbringing were designed for a specific undertaking. They have spent their lives undergoing specialized preparation connected to the threats they may encounter.

Friedrich provided what he considered an exceptional education: languages, history, science, literature and philosophy, alongside the seemingly endless training supervised by Hamish.

A shooting range is located on the property, and the butler ensured that Edmund learned to use firearms.

Their preparation is embodied primarily in judgment, observation, physical capability, and weapons competence.

At twelve, in 2015, the twins learned that something important would happen when they turned eighteen. Edmund has known it since then, but he does not understand its true significance. The butler had told them that something important would be revealed when they turned eighteen, without saying what.

In a letter written at approximately thirteen years of age, Edmund questions why he is being trained and expresses the unsettling feeling that he is being prepared for a war. See: In-World Documents.

Edmund remembers mysterious helicopter arrivals and formally dressed visitors speaking privately with the butler, without ever learning the purpose of those visits.

5. Role in the Story

• Edmund is the playable character for the core game.
• He undertakes most of the physical exploration and infiltration of the Amazon complex.
• He communicates by radio with his sister and the butler, who support the investigation.
• He is forced into a lethal confrontation with Hamish after the butler's psychological collapse.
• He returns to the mansion with his sister and decides his father's fate. Only if he uses the Skull Helmet on him does his sister make her own decision, after which Edmund may choose whether to wear it himself. See: Campaign › Final Chapter.

The high-level plot progression is in See: Vision. The playable chapters are in See: Campaign › 1. Dimension and the chapter pages that follow it.

5.1 Development in Chapter Two

Edmund begins the chapter as an exceptionally educated young man who has lived within a protected and privileged environment.

He ends it having assumed control over major family responsibilities and made decisions with potentially far-reaching consequences.

His education has prepared him intellectually to understand power, but his experience of exercising it remains limited.

The retrospective narrator may occasionally highlight the difference between what he understood at eighteen and what he learned afterward.

5.2 Development in Chapter Three

Chapter Three reveals the personal consequences of Edmund's isolated upbringing.

He is intellectually sophisticated and exceptionally well prepared in many disciplines, but he lacks ordinary experience with strangers, crowds, and contemporary social customs.

He observes social behavior analytically rather than participating in it instinctively.

His wealth and formal education initially allow him to move through the world under familiar protections.

However, the journey gradually places him in situations where these advantages become less meaningful.

The encounter with the Brazilian Army demonstrates the limits of private security.

The rainforest demonstrates the limits of wealth, formal knowledge, and physical comfort.

By the end of the chapter, Edmund has begun to experience genuine exhaustion, uncertainty, and doubt.

5.3 The Narrating Edmund

The difference between the narrating Edmund and the playable Edmund, and the rules of the retrospective narration, are described with the narrator. See: Vision › 7. Narrator.

6. Relationships

…

6.1 Lorraine

The brother and sister share an exceptionally close and affectionate sibling relationship.

Having spent nearly their entire lives together, they developed a profound sense of mutual trust, loyalty, and emotional dependence.

They genuinely love one another and represent each other's most important personal connection.

The brother, who serves as the primary playable character, is particularly protective of his sister.

Their relationship is characterized by familiarity, shared memories, private humor, mutual understanding, and a strong instinct to protect each other.

The game should establish their relationship naturally through everyday interactions rather than relying exclusively on exposition. Small conversations, childhood memories, affectionate disagreements, and spontaneous exchanges should communicate their closeness.

Their relationship should be developed consistently throughout the game, including through radio conversations while the brother physically explores the Amazon facility and his sister provides research and logistical support.

This relationship is essential to the emotional structure of the narrative. Above all, the relationship between the twins should remain one of the emotional foundations of the entire game.

How Edmund treats Lorraine in the field is in See: Characters › Lorraine.

6.2 Hamish

For the twins, Hamish effectively became their father figure. Edmund consults him throughout the expedition and is finally forced into a lethal confrontation with him. See: Characters › Hamish.

6.3 Friedrich and Alice

Edmund's remaining memories of his father are limited but positive. His father loved the children, but his involvement in a secret scientific project prevented him from being consistently present during their childhood. Edmund's mother, Alice, died of childbirth complications shortly after the twins' birth. See: Characters › Friedrich and See: Characters › Alice.

6.4 Amanda

Edmund reactivates Amanda in D4 and must decide how much access to give her, without ever being able to determine what she intends. See: Characters › Amanda.

7. Gameplay Role

Edmund is the operational level of the expedition. The player directly controls him in first person. What he does at that level, and the three levels of activity the player commands, are described with the companions. See: Systems › Companions.

He can complete the intended main route without firing a weapon. See: Systems › Pacifist Play.

The rules that affect him directly are in See: Systems › Information Hazard, See: Systems › Injuries And Medical Care and See: Systems › Dead Soldiers Registry.

8. Open Questions

• The twins' detailed individual personalities are not yet finalized.
• The specific events and conversations through which the twins' relationship will be developed are not yet finalized.