Orlando Compton-Jones is a British Royal, and is one of the Kings of the Four Legendary Kingdoms.
History[]
Early History[]
Orlando Compton-Jones was born as a royal. He and his younger sister Iolanthe became members of the Kingdom of Land that included their British homeland, as part of the ancient group known as the Four Legendary Kingdoms. Because of his membership in the Four Kingdoms, Orlando was taught about the true history of mankind, as well as learning of the five trials set by super-ancient beings to test humanity.
Presumably like his sister, Orlando was tutored by Brother Bertie de Montreuil, who found the young man distasteful and noted several unpleasant qualities about him, though Orlando did not pay much attention during these lessons.
Orlando, being a royal, was also allowed to access his family's talisman, one of the six Pillars, the Fourth, of the Machine. As he grew up, Orlando developed an enmity for his cousin Hardin "Sphinx" Lancaster, whom he considered him a snake who would use any leverage he had to his advantage. At some stage, he was also appointed the public role of the Duke of Albany, and had a daughter with an unknown woman.
Orlando, along with other members of the British royal family, encouraged Iolanthe to work with their cousin and King of Land, Vladimir "Carnivore" Romanov, on rebuilding the Machine, since he believed that their alliance would be beneficial to all the royal families.
Before The Four Legendary Kingdoms[]
After Carnivore was killed at the Sixth Vertex at Easter Island by Jack West Jr in 2008, the next in the Kingdom of Land's line of succession was Sphinx's father. However, due to his timid nature and not desiring such a demanding role, he abdicated the title of King to his younger brother, Orlando and Iolanthe's father. Only a month after taking on the title, Orlando's father died, and so Orlando was anointed the new King of Land. Out of apparent spite and to keep his cousin out of his sight, Orlando had Sphinx assigned the otherwise undesirable role of a Trismagi, being sent to be the watchman for the secret city of Atlas.
During the next eight years following the Return of the Dark Sun, Orlando hired the Knights of the Golden Eight on an unknown number of occasions, recruited Longworth to be his personal torturer, and made Cardinal Ricardo Mendoza of the Catholic Church his primary adviser.
In preparation for the third trial of the Ancients, Orlando came to approve of the four participants that he wished to have represent the Kingdom of Land for the Great Games of the Hydra. In addition to the former Brazilian soldiers Mendoza provided, Victor Vargas and Maurucio Corazon, as well as another unidentified man, Orlando gladly approved of the SAS Major Gregory Brigham, to whom he had already betrothed to his daughter. Orlando hoped that one of his Champions would secure for him the opportunity to become the King who received the Mysteries (information vital to the final two trials) and allow him to earn the title of King of Kings.
Some time after Iolanthe hired her as an assistant, Orlando began an affair with Chloe Carnarvon. When Chloe eventually asked Orlando to make her his wife, he simply laughed at the suggestion, and thought nothing more of it even as they continued the affair.
In 2016, when the Star Chamber within the Underworld opened, allowing the nine Golden Spheres to be retrieved, Anthony "Hades" DeSaxe informed the other Kingdoms of the development, and thus the next Great Games were arranged to begin in the next month. Unfortunately, the fourth participant that would have represented the Kingdom of Land perished before the Games were to begin. In urgent need of a new participant, Orlando agreed to Iolanthe's suggestion that they use Jack as a replacement, and so she arranged for him to be kidnapped and taken to Underworld.
The Four Legendary Kingdoms[]
Orlando was present with many other members of the Four Kingdoms to watch the fourth Great Games of the Hydra, and made a wager with Garrett Caldwell regarding Corazon and Vargas (since the Kingdom of Land had poached people from the Sea Kingdom's territory). Orlando proceeded to watch the various struggles of the Champions as they progressed through the first four Challenges.
Before the Fifth Challenge, Orlando attended the lunch hosted by Hades, intending to dine with his Champions who had survived thus far (Brigham, Vargas and Jack). Once Iolanthe formally introduced Jack to him, Orlando politely greeted the Fifth Warrior, however Jack, having been forced to participate in the Games against his will, refused his offered hand and casually remarked that he had killed him to the new King of Land as a show of defiance. Orlando proceeded to drink heavily during the meal, claiming Mendoza was being too dour as the Cardinal explained the Omega Event and the ancients' trial to Jack. Needing the bathroom, Orlando headed for the men's room, accompanied by Jack, who took advantage of the King of Land's drunkenness to surreptitiously ask him details regarding the Underworld and its exits.
After the Fifth Challenge was over, Orlando went with the rest of the procession to the Summit Temple to watch as the first five Golden Spheres were set into place within the mountain's obelisk. Before proceeding to the observatory to observe the remaining Challenges, Hades announced that he and Orlando had agreed to bring their Kingdoms closer together by organising a love match between Iolanthe and Hades's servant Vacheron, though Orlando failed to notice his sister's brief look of revulsion in response to his use of her as a pawn.
Orlando watched the final Challenges as they took place in the observatory, in which his remaining three Champions fought to the death in various matches, until Jack surprised everyone by becoming the last Champion left standing. Orlando soon nodded in approval to Jack's show of humility to secure victory in the final Challenge, allowing the Australian to win the Games, several of the Royals congratulated Orlando for his Champion's victory as though he himself had been the one who'd undergone the Challenges.
Orlando and the rest of the Royals soon went back to the Summit Temple to place the remaining Golden Spheres, and Orlando readied himself to enter the obelisk's recess so that he could receive the Mysteries as the Hydra galaxy was being diverted. However, as he was about to enter the recess, an explosion caused by the minotaurs and Jack and Schofield's returned allies distracted everyone as they turned against the Four Kingdoms. Despite this, Orlando attempted to enter the recess, but was stopped by Jack, who believed that the world would be better off dead than living under his rule, costing Orlando the Mysteries and the title of King of Kings.
Orlando quickly proceeded to join most of the other Royals in fleeing down to the helipad in order to try and escape. Though the minotaurs had only wanted Dion and Zaitan, when Orlando and the other Kings' guards opened fire on them, the minotaurs began attacking all the Royals indiscriminately. Orlando managed to avoid the ensuing carnage and left the Underworld with Mendoza and a few of his surviving people.
When Hades, who had decided to join forces with Jack, learned that Orlando and Mendoza had survived, he quickly deduced that they would be preparing to make for the Three Secret Cities in preparation for the next trial.
The Three Secret Cities[]
After fleeing the Underworld, Orlando decided to focus on claiming what should have been his as the King of Kings, and set out to complete the Trial of the Cities, while the rest of the Four Kingdoms were preoccupied ordering the Governor of the Royal Prison of Erebus, Yago DeSaxe, to capture Hades and Jack for the disarray he had caused to them.
Upon hiring the blood antiquities dealer Sunny Malik to aid him in recovering the three Immortal Weapons needed to see the Trial through, Orlando collected the Sword of the Rock from its resting place in the Tomb of Arthur near the castle of Avalon, before he, Mendoza and Malik set off to claim the contents of Hades's vault in New York.
Upon arriving at Saxony Tower, Orlando's guards cut down Hades's staff before entering the vault to claim the Helmet of Hades. Now only needing the Trident of the Sealord, Malik noted that several Cretan texts suggested the Trident resided in Poseidon's tomb somewhere near Atlas. As he was loath to ask for help from his cousin to see if he might know where the tomb was hidden, Orlando ordered Malik to make his own inquiries into the tomb's location before they departed with the Helmet and the tablet of the Altar of the Cosmos.
Before setting out for the Cities, Orlando, Mendoza, Malik and Chloe went to the Hall of Royal Records at St. Michael's Mount to gather any information that Iolanthe might have kept there. Learning that his sister was already there, Orlando and his guards confronted Iolanthe. Furious that she had chosen to side with Jack instead of him, Orlando slapped his sister and stated that she would not be pretty for much longer. After bringing in Longworth to begin torturing his sister, Orlando and the rest of his group set out, not realising their departure was observed by Zoe Kissane, Mae Merriweather and Julius Adamson.
As they were making their way to Iceland to reach Thule, Orlando afforded Yago access to use resources in London in order to capture Jack, and gave no indication that he cared about the destruction the Knights of the Golden Eight caused in London.
Orlando soon made his arrival at Thule, and after being greeted by Sir Bjorn, he and his entourage made their way the antechamber where the diamond altar the trial was initiated at awaited. Unaware of the mistake he was making and thinking only of how historic his actions would be, Orlando prematurely initiated the trial by implanting the Sword in the altar and opening Thule's Great Avenue. After Mendoza guided their way through the booby-trapped triple archways, the group arrived at the top of Thule's entrance, and Orlando left Mendoza and his Swiss Guards to empower the Sword while he and Chloe departed.
As they flew over the Atlantic, Orlando and Chloe had sex multiple times in a premature celebration of the trial's completion. During a brief respite, Orlando joined a conference call with the other active Kings (Xi and Caldwell), during which Yago confirmed Jack's capture and imprisonment at Erebus, and thanked Orlando and his Kingdom for allowing him access and resources in his realm. Pleased by the news and confident that he would soon have the Mace in hand after leaving Chloe to empower the Helmet at Ra, Orlando eagerly took Chloe's offered reward of her body as the flight continued.
Some time after leaving Chloe and Brazilian special forces at Ra, Orlando joined another conference call with the other Kings, this time to witness the coronation of Dion as he took the throne of the Kingdom of Underworld.
While Orlando stood back and let his underlings tackle the trial, he was apparently unaware of the difficulty Mendoza and Chloe encountered because of his premature activation of the Cities' defences and the other information that they had overlooked. It was only because of Jack and his team backing them up and empowering the Weapons themselves that they succeeded. After Mendoza and Chloe made contact to confirm they had the Weapons and were on their way to the Altar of the Cosmos, Sphinx also made contact announce that he had killed Jack, as well as the empowered Mace and Lily in hand. Orlando thanked his cousin for his work and promised he would remember it in the new world order he desired.
Orlando joined the other Kings at the Altar to witness the final ritual, again thanking Sphinx as he handed him the Mace. Once Mendoza and Chloe arrived with the Sword and Helmet, Orlando announced to those gathered his success in restoring order to the Four Kingdoms and the Weapons' empowerment, believing it was his duty as the one most wronged by Jack at the end of the Great Games. Orlando was caught off-guard, however, as Sphinx suddenly stabbed him in the chest with the Sword of the Rock, the same moment that Mendoza killed Caldwell and Xi and Jaeger Eins and some of his squires finished off the Kings' guards.
Mortally wounded, Orlando cried out for Chloe and Mendoza to help him, though neither made any move to do so. As he bled out, Sphinx told Orlando that he was the one who had seen the trial fulfilled while Orlando had nearly doomed them all with his many mistakes. Additionally revealing that Mendoza and Chloe had long been in his employ, Orlando questioned why, with Chloe stating it was his refusal to marry her and Mendoza's belief that he was unprepared for what was required to see the trials through. Even as he glared at them, Sphinx cruelly told Orlando that it was his mistakes, starting with choosing Jack for the Great Games, that had led to his downfall.
During the ritual to sacrifice Lily, Orlando's life finally ebbed out, and his body was later noted by Jack and Aloysius Knight when they eventually arrived at the Altar.
After Death[]
When Jack and Iolanthe met with Brother Bertie at the first iron mountain, the old Jesuit inquired about Iolanthe's shaven hair, to which she explained that Orlando had had her tortured. Bertie was unsurprised, recalling how he had found Orlando to be spoilt, resentful and not very bright as a child.
As Sphinx prepared to undertake the Fall in order to receive the burning key that would grant him entrance to the Supreme Labyrinth, the Trismagi thought to himself that Orlando could not have gone through the Fall himself, as he had been untested his whole life and would have been unprepared for the challenge. (The Two Lost Mountains)
Personality[]
Like the other members of the Four Legendary Kingdoms, Orlando displays signs of arrogance and disregard for those beneath his exalted status. Just like Iolanthe used to be, Orlando's status as a royal has caused him to expect loyalty and compliance with his wishes. Orlando is also completely self-serving, desiring to receive the Mysteries not so much as to be able to save the world from the Ancients' trials, but rather to obtain the power and worship that comes with it.
Ever since he was young, Orlando displayed traits of petulance, and the combination of being spoiled, resentful, and disinterest in learning made him, as described by Bertie, a nasty man whose core traits were unfit for a good king. He was not above using his sister as a pawn in his power plays with the other Kingdoms, and after she turned on him Orlando has no qualms with having her tortured. Orlando's arrogance also causes him to overlook or neglect to seek out information which could prove crucial to the success of his pursuits, a trait that eventually causes his closest followers to lose trust in him.
Skills[]
- Ancient Knowledge: As a high-ranking royal in the Four Legendary Kingdoms, Orlando has been taught many things regarding the true history of mankind, although he was noted to not be so bright as a child, and so even growing up he never cared to learn much beyond the basics of the Four Kingdoms' legacy.
Equipment[]
Weapons[]
- Sword of the Rock: One of the Three Immortal Weapons needed to empowered at Thule, Orlando reclaimed it from its resting place in Arthur's tomb for his own use in the Fourth Trial. After using it to open the Great Avenue of Thule (and unknowingly the other two Cities), Orlando left the Sword with Mendoza to empower.
Vehicles[]
- Gulfstream: Orlando's own private aircraft which he used to ferry himself and his team around the world in the quest to claim the Immortal Weapons and empower them at the Secret Cities.
Other Equipment[]
- Golden Belt of the Amazons: Known in legend as the Belt of Hippolyta, the Queen of the Amazons, Orlando was granted the Belt after Jack won the Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Challenges of the Great Games.
- Helmet of Hades: The helmet of the Three Immortal Weapons, which was held by the Kingdom of Underworld until it was taken by Orlando and his team for his own use in the Fourth Trial.
Assets[]
- Kingdom of Land Territory: One of the four long-lasting kingdoms of royalty that have existed in secret since the earliest ages of mankind, which Orlando inherited from his father upon succeeding him.
- Hall of Royal Records: The long-serving repository located within St. Michael's Mount, containing documents relating to the Four Kingdoms and which the Kingdom of Land has maintained through its long history. Orlando himself had a dungeon beneath the Hall used to imprison his sister and tortured.
- Catholic Church: The organisation supposedly dedicated to following the ideals of God, but are in fact followers of the teachings of the Super-Ancient Beings and devout servants of the Kingdom of Land, they serve as one of Orlando's agencies for ancient knowledge.
Trivia[]
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