Derek Karlavaegen



Derek Karlavaegen is a court scribe, historian, writer, a journalist, adventurer, traveler, magician, part-time sorcerer, and wanderer from the land of Daventry. He resides in the former house of the wizard Manannan in the land of Llewdor. He found a device there that he calls "The Eye Between the Worlds," and it is by way of this that he is able to communicate with the Other World..

He was a reporter and contributor to both the Times of Daventry, and Daventry People. He sent histories, press clippings, maps, magazine articles, and the like from the world of Daventry to earth. He is now well known for writing the Guidebook to the Land of the Green Isles.

Background
Shortly after Alexander's return from Llewdor, and Rosella rescuing her father, Derek caught up with Prince Alexander as he relaxed in Castle Daventry the home he had never known to conduct an interview. Their interview was conducted over several days and was interupted frequently by the queen's reports on the king's improving physical condition, and by their spontaneous hugs and tears. At these times of family emotion, Derek would withdraw discreetly; as some emotions demanded their privacy.

Not long after interviewing Alexander, a few months after Alexander's escape, Derek Karlavaegen travelled to Llewdor in order to get a better understanding of what the brave youth had been through. It was for that reason that he arrived at Manannan's abandoned house. The place was totally deserted, He found no evidence of the cat wizard. The house remained in good condition, but no person or animal was anyplace near, and he found no remains of dead animals (apparently even the chickens had escaped). Derek resolved to use it as a base for his explorations around Llewdor. During the night he took advantage of Manannan's large library, looking closely through his books on magic and magical lore. The days stretched into weeks, and still no one came to claim the large house with its well-stocked underground laboratory.

It was during this time that Derek discovered the Eye Between the Worlds. Derek Karlavaegen began to send messages and documents from the universe of Daventry to the Other World to the author Peter Spear. The court documents included many of his written works as well as a few articles written by Gerwain, Valanice, and Alexander. It has been said that Roberta's ideas for her games were messages sent by him and others to her by dreams or visions from the other world. It has also been noted that he sent documents to eluki bes shahar who was confused to say the least...

A little over a year later, Derek Karlavaegen was invited by King Graham and his family to spend some time at the refurbished Castle Daventry with them, not long their ordeals with the evil Wizard Mordack. They asked him to write and record, for all who might read, the quest of the King of Daventry.

He admits he has lied a few times in order to protect the truth of things. For example he claims that he originally never believed in the Land of the Green Isles, he had thought it was a myth. But after he ended up there during one of his travels, and after he returned to Daventry he chose to hide the fact he had been there. He claimed, he didn't believe such a place existed. He kept up this charade even after learning about Cassima. He also said that when he drew up maps of the world and sent them to people in "Daventry" and in the Other World, he would either leave it off the map entirely or put in it the wrong location so as to protect it from people who might try to visit it.

It wasn't until Alexander came to him in earnest about going after Cassima that he finally admitted it was real and gave Alexander its location. Alexander came to Derek Karlavaegens home (the house of the magician Manannan) to seek his help. While his ship was being prepared he had come to see if Derek had known anything about the land which was going. He gave Alexander his personal copy of the Guidebook to the Land of the Green Isles, of which only a small edition had been printed, but out of respect to the wishes of the Crown, the book had never been offered for sale or perusal.. He felt a small glow of pride that at last his words would at last be read (and would ultimately save Alexander's life).

Several months passed, Derek and others heard no word of Alexander. On one day, Derek had gathered with the Royal Family in Daventry for an unknown cause, when news came that Alexander was alive and well. With the genie Shamir's help Alexander's faily was brought to Daventry, and at his prince's request, Derek too had been asked to become part of the celebration. He was given a room in the Castle of the Crown to stay, and given access to the castles libraries and archives. Alexander came before him on the eve of the wedding, tasking him write the chronicle of the events of his adventure before the celbration commenced. The next morning finishing the chronicle, Derek Karlavaegen was summoned to Alexander and Cassima's wedding.

Later on he wrote a letter in which he discussed how he believed that the events of KQ7, never really happened. Though he admitted he could have been wrong.

For some unknown reason he never sent an account of the events of Connor's adventure, and it is unknown what he was up to at that time, if he was affected by the curse, or even if he was still alive by that time.

Personality and traits
Derek is known for being a curious soul. He treasures truth and holds it precious. He believes to to deliberately twist and deform it, to mislead all who trust his thoughts and observations are without deliberate distortion is against his nature and ethic. He believes if what people say cannot be trusted, and history is recorded not as it were, but rather what it was not, that society would not be able to function. He believes there only be equality and justice if there is openness and truth. Without them, he feels that humanity would be just like those left behind in the Other World. He was very much aligned with truth, even when it was bitter. While Derek has tried to remain truthful all of his life, there is only one situation that he has been known to lie about. That is his knowledge of the existence of the Green Isles, and his knowledge of the kingdom. He chose to lie about it to protect the kingdom and its inhabitants. This was to keep a promise he had made with Caliphim years before. He only broke his pledge to the king and queen of the Green Isles, when Alexander came to him for his help. He chose to break the pledge to help their daughter. In an attempt to be honorable in his acts and words, he gave his personal copy of his Guidebook to Alexander, not as a promise broken, but as a trust upheld.

He also moved into Manannan's house in Llewdor, not long after Alexander left, and it is from there he is able to send messages to the other world through the Eye Between the Worlds. He is content to stick with this endeavor until he had exhausted Manannan's extensive magical library, or his wine cellar.

Behind the scenes
The character Derek Karlavaegen was created by Peter Spear for his King's Quest Companion. Later on Jane Jensen wrote the Guidebook to the Land of the Green Isles and she used the character as the writer of the book.

A Writer appears in KQ8, although it is unclear if this is Derek or someone else.

Derek Karlavaegen (unofficial)
Derek Karlavaegen appears in the fan fiction, see Derek Karlavaegen (unofficial).