Changes: Pastoria

Revision as of 04:59, 20 December 2014

"...His name was Pastoria, the old King of the Land of Oz, who ruled here long before the Wizard came. Many have forgotten about him, but he was real and he was a far more honest ruler compared to that Wizard everyone worshipped so..."

―The Marvelous Land of Oz (1904)

Pastoria was once the old King of the Land of Oz. He comes from a long, unknown line of Ozian Royalty. He lived in a tiny Kingdom of peace and prosperity for a very long time under the watch of Fairy Queen Lurline. He was eventually removed from his Throne by the black magic of a nasty old Witch named Mombi. Then he was superseded by the Wizard of Oz who overthrew him to become the new ruler of Oz, thus having the Emerald City built over the spot that his little Kingdom once stood. Eventually Pastoria's child daughter, the long lost Princess Ozma of Oz was found by none other than Glinda the Good Witch of the South. And with the help of the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, Jack Pumpkinhead and the Sawhorse, Ozma was finally put in her rightful place as she was the last surviving heir to Oz's Throne. Thus fulfilling Oz's prophecy. Ozma now lives in the Emerald City's Royal Palace of Oz. There she rules over her people kindly, fairly and wisely; just as her father and ancestors before her did.

(The Marvelous Land of Oz)

Oz History: Fairy Queens & Mortal Kings!

Many versions of Pastoria's history have been altered or changed like much of the characters history in Oz has over time. Mostly due to the movie adaptations of Oz that glanced over Oz's past Royal-Reign completely. But the most popular history that has been believed and put together in the fourteen original Oz stories by L. Frank Baum himself, and the fourty offical Oz books, written by authors who continued his legacy, that carried on long after his death, is that Pastoria became step-father of Ozma due to the Fairy Queen Lurline, who left the baby with him. Lurline was responsible for making the Land of Oz the enchanted realm that it is.

Long, long ago, before the Wizard, Oscar Diggs crossed over the Deadly Desert and straight into the realm of Oz, coming from our world and arrived in the land via hot-air balloon, Oz was once ruled by a very old yet kind and gentle King of human blood named Pastoria, who had disappeared before his arrival.

The King Pastoria had lived a long and wise life and he became very, very old with wrinkled skin and a long white beard. Pastoria was not a very powerful King and lived in the relatively small Kingdom of Morrow towards the middle of the land. His people were happy and content as his subjects, but the land of Oz was still inhabited by four Witches, one for each of the quadrants and who also had many people from Oz enslaved. The Wicked Witch of the West had a Golden Cap and the charm of this cap allowed her to command her Winged Monkeys, who were Slaves to the cap. And the Wicked Witch of the East used the magic of her Silver Shoes to keep the Munchkin people tightly in her bondage.

The only thing that stopped them from truly doing so, was the other two Good Witches Locasta Tattypoo aka the Good Witch of the North who lived with the Gillikins, and Glinda who lived in a ruby-red castle with the Quadlings of Oz.

It would be Mombi, the former Wicked Witch of the North who removed Pastoria from the throne, along with his Prime Minister Pajuka, who she transformed into a goose (The Lost King of Oz). Pastoria would be later discovered and disenchanted, but he no longer had a desire to rule.

Further information

Pastoria was introduced as the last king who ruled Oz, before the Wizard arrived. The evidence suggested that he was dead. (The Marvelous Land of Oz)

It is unclear if he ever actually ruled Oz like his father before him even though he lived in the kingdom of Oz and had many loyal subjects. Princess Ozma would later say that all Ozian rulers were called "Oz" if male and "Ozma" if female; the fact that her father had a personal name makes it questionable as to whether he had the chance to actually rule as King, before being captured by Mombi. (Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz)

It was later revealed that King Pastoria had adopted Ozma as a baby fairy, which explains why there is no mention of her mother. (The Magical Mimics in Oz)

Eventually Pastoria was found alive. He had spent many years in an enchanted form, as "Tora the Tired Tailor"; he eventually returned to the Emerald City, but was happy to let Ozma keep ruling, preferring to open and run a tailor shop under his own name. (The Lost King of Oz)

Background

L. Frank Baum actually created the character of King Pastoria for a 1903 stage musical freely and loosely adapted from his book. At the start of that play, King Pastoria II has been banished from Oz and is working as a street car conductor in America, with a waitress girlfriend lover named Trixie Tryfle. By the second act, Pastoria is restored to his original place on the Emerald City throne. Nothing of the stage character but his name made it into Baum's books, and he is not mentioned by Baum again after Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz.

Later works

In Disney's 2013 film Oz the Great and Powerful, the Wizard arrives in Oz via hot air balloon before he meets the three beautiful Witches of Oz, two of which are sisters, Evanora and Theodora, who were part of the King of Oz's court, and the third is his daughter, Glinda. Their father was King of Oz but has been mysteriously killed in a murder. The King in this story has no name, it could possibly be or not be Pastoria himself.

Gregory Maguire's revisionist Oz novels Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West and Son of a Witch, "Pastorius" was the widower of Ozma the Bilious, who died from an apparently accidental poisoning, and father to Ozma Tippetarius, who was approximately the same age as Elphaba. As Ozma Tippetarius was too young to take the throne when her mother died, Pastorius ruled as Ozma Regent until the monarchy was overthrown by the Wizard. Sadly, Pastorius died during his subsequent imprisonment.

Tarl Teleford's reimagined Hidden History of Oz features King Pastoria, though he is heavily revamped. Here, he is the the younger and lazier brother to King Oz XVII who assumes the throne after his brother's death. He refuses to offer aid to Glinda when the Witches of Oz revolt and later allows Mombi to join his court as Lady Chamberlin. Unlike most depictions, he remains in power well after the Wizard arrives, the still under construction Emerald City being separate from his own palace in the capital of Oz.

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 ==Oz History: Fairy Queens & Mortal Kings!==
-Many versions of Pastoria's history have been altered or changed like much of the characters history in Oz has over time. Mostly due to the movie adaptations of Oz that glanced over Oz's past Royal-Reign completely. But the most popular history that has been believed and put together in the fourteen original Oz stories by [[L. Frank Baum]] himself, and the fourty offical Oz books, written by authors who continued his legacy, that carried on long after his death. Is that Pastoria was once the mortal lover of a Fairy Queen and ethereal Goddess who was responsible for making the [[Land of Oz]] the enchanted realm that it is.
+Many versions of Pastoria's history have been altered or changed like much of the characters history in Oz has over time. Mostly due to the movie adaptations of Oz that glanced over Oz's past Royal-Reign completely. But the most popular history that has been believed and put together in the fourteen original Oz stories by [[L. Frank Baum]] himself, and the fourty offical Oz books, written by authors who continued his legacy, that carried on long after his death, is that Pastoria became step-father of Ozma due to the Fairy Queen Lurline, who left the baby with him.  Lurline was responsible for making the [[Land of Oz]] the enchanted realm that it is.
 [[File:IMG_20140626_222031.jpg|thumb|Pastoria, King of Oz.]]
-Long, long ago, before the [[Wizard]], Oscar Diggs crossed over the [[Deadly Desert]] and straight into the realm of Oz, coming from our world and arrived in the land via hot-air balloon, Oz was once ruled by a very old yet kind and gentle King of human blood named Pastoria. Now it is rumored that Pastoria was also once in love with a beautiful enchantress named [[Lurline]], the Fairy Queen who processed great magical powers only for good and is credited for making Oz a fairy country by enchanting it and cutting it off from the rest of the world centuries ago. When she first descended down from the heavens above, she carefully chose the land where she wanted to make Oz, Lurline used her magic to create it's breathtaking landscapes, making sparkling rivers and rocky mountains with high waterfalls, pine filled forests and thick jungles, rainforests, vast hills and colorful flowery meadows. And after it was finished, Lurline, Pastoria and the people of the fairy Kingdom lived amoungst all of these lovely sights for a long time in harmony and bliss. Lurline would later close off the land of Oz from the entire world, making it invisible.
+Long, long ago, before the [[Wizard]], Oscar Diggs crossed over the [[Deadly Desert]] and straight into the realm of Oz, coming from our world and arrived in the land via hot-air balloon, Oz was once ruled by a very old yet kind and gentle King of human blood named Pastoria, who had disappeared before his arrival.
+The King Pastoria had lived a long and wise life and he became very, very old with wrinkled skin and a long white beard. Pastoria was not a very powerful King and lived in the relatively small Kingdom of Morrow towards the middle of the land. His people were happy and content as his subjects, but the land of Oz was still inhabited by four [[Wicked Witches of the East|Witches]], one for each of the quadrants and who also had many people from Oz enslaved. The Wicked Witch of the West had a [[Golden Cap]] and the charm of this cap allowed her to command her [[Winged Monkeys]], who were Slaves to the cap. And the Wicked Witch of the East used the magic of her [[Silver Shoes]] to keep the [[Munchkin]] people tightly in her bondage.
-Lurline and Pastoria eventually came together as one and had a beautiful baby girl whom Lurline named "[[Ozma]]", the first fairy child of Oz. The daughter of the two was half human and half fairy, making her immortal like Lurline even though Pastoria was not. After that Lurline left the land of Oz to continue enchanting other lands and created other realms similar to Oz. She put Pastoria on the Throne and left Ozma in his care before parting ways and disappearing forever with her band of fairy-children to began new duties. Lurline can be viewed as a mother-nature like figure as she has many invisible fairy children, who are the guardian angels to the lands Lurline has enchanted. They watch over all the living things, such as the trees, rivers, and soil. They keep the lands, such as Oz beautiful and fresh, bringing in the light cool breezes of spring and shade to hot sunny places, and carry the rich pollen which can be found within the spring flowers and little buttercups. They tend to the dying plants in the lands and nurse them back to health and create the moist morning due to feed the green grass that grows.
+The only thing that stopped them from truly doing so, was the other two Good Witches Locasta Tattypoo aka the [[Good Witch of the North]] who lived with the [[Gillikins]], and [[Glinda]] who lived in a ruby-red castle with the [[Quadlings]] of Oz.
-The King Pastoria lived a long and wise life and he became very, very old with wrinkled skin and a long white beard. Now, widowed and left on his own with a baby infant and without the guidance of Lurline, Pastoria was not a very powerful King and was only getting older. He lived in a rather small Kingdom, in the middle of the land. His people were happy and content as his subjects, but the land of Oz was still inhabited by two [[Wicked Witches of the East]] and West quadrants and who also had many people from Oz enslaved. The Wicked Witch of the West had a [[Golden Cap]] and the charm of this cap allowed her to command her [[Winged Monkeys]], who were Slaves to the cap, make the Winkies her Slaves also. And the Wicked Witch of the East used the magic of her [[Silver Shoes]] to keep the [[Munchkin]] people tightly in her bondage.
+It would be Mombi, the former Wicked Witch of the North who removed Pastoria from the throne, along with his Prime Minister Pajuka, who she transformed into a goose (''[[The Lost King of Oz]]'').  Pastoria would be later discovered and disenchanted, but he no longer had a desire to rule.
-The Witches were very powerful indeed, and could do as ever they pleased to anyone or thing that was unlucky to cross the Witches paths. These Witches cast many a spells upon innocent people, turning them into random house or kitchen objects such as flower pots or candle sticks. The Wicked Witches tried many, many times to overthrow Pastoria and take over all of Oz as a whole. Unfortunately Pastoria himself did not know anything about practicing the magic arts, for he depended on Queen Lurline's magic. So he could not defend himself or his people. The Witches in Oz could have easily taken over and stole the King's Throne and enslaved his subjects to their own pleasing. The only thing that stopped them from truly doing so, was the other two Good Witches Locasta Tattypoo aka the [[Good Witch of the North]] who lived with the [[Gillikins]], and Lady [[Glinda]] who lived in a ruby-red castle with the [[Quadlings]] of Oz.
-The two Good Witches used all the power and sorcery they knew to protect poor Pastoria and his people from harms way. But they were not strong enough to banish the Wicked Witches out of Oz or put an end to them and the Wickedness that dwelled within Oz all together.
-One random day, out of the clear blue sky, suddenly a large air-craft of sorts came descending down from the clouds up above, it slowly came to the ground and landed in the exact center of Oz. The people of Oz, Pastoria's subjects and even the Witches of Oz themselves had never seen such a peculiar envention. Inside the basket that was attached to the giant ballon was a man, he called himself Oscar Diggs, and enthusiastically introduced himself as a great Wizard and Magician. And the people of oz believed him as they saw him preform magic tricks right before they're very eyes. The people of Oz asked if the Wizard would be the ruler of the land and he agreed that he would look after Oz and someday rid the land of it's Wicked Witches if they promised to obey his every wish and demand. The people of Oz were gullible people and believed him and his promises. Thus, building the famous [[Emerald City]] in his honor and constructing the [[Yellow Brick Road]] that lead to the main entrance.
-Shortly after the Wizard overthrew King Pastoria, he simply disappeared from Oz for a long, long time. The only thing he left behind was his baby daughter, the fairy child, Princess Ozma who one day would get old enough to use the magic she had, that ran in her blood, to claim her place as the rightful Heir to her father's Throne. This worried the greedy Wizard as he wanted the Throne all to himself. So one late night, the Wizard snuck into the Palace of Pastoria, and snatched the baby Princess up and disappeared into the dark night. He gave the baby Ozma to a Witch near by named [[Mombi]] who lived in the Northern quadrant [[Lands of Oz]]. Mombi was not as gifted or as powerful as the Wicked Witches in Oz, but she was still very ugly inside and very Wicked nonetheless. Mombi agreed to the Wizard's offer and favor to keep the baby hidden away from the Palace and to never let anyone know where Ozma was.
-Mombi, transformed Ozma to disguise her as a boy named [[Tip]] to work as her personal servant and kitchen slave for many years. Much like the story of Cinderella.
-However, years later, luckily Ozma was found and fulfilled Oz's nearly lost prophecy.
 ==Further information==
@@ Line 48: / Line 38: @@
 [[Gregory Maguire]]'s revisionist Oz novels ''[[Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West]]'' and ''[[Son of a Witch]]'', "Pastorius" was the widower of Ozma the Bilious, who died from an apparently accidental poisoning, and father to Ozma Tippetarius, who was approximately the same age as [[Wicked Witch of the West|Elphaba]]. As Ozma Tippetarius was too young to take the throne when her mother died, Pastorius ruled as Ozma Regent until the monarchy was overthrown by the Wizard. Sadly, Pastorius died during his subsequent imprisonment.
-Tarl Teleford's Hidden History of Oz features King Pastoria, though he is heavily revamped. Here, he is the the younger and lazier brother to King Oz XVII who assumes the throne after his brother's death. He refuses to offer aid to Glinda when the Witches of Oz revolt and later allows Mombi to join his court as Lady Chamberlin. Unlike most depictions, he remains in power well after the Wizard arrives, the still under construction Emerald City being separate from his own palace in the capital of Oz.
+Tarl Teleford's reimagined ''Hidden History of Oz'' features King Pastoria, though he is heavily revamped. Here, he is the the younger and lazier brother to King Oz XVII who assumes the throne after his brother's death. He refuses to offer aid to Glinda when the Witches of Oz revolt and later allows Mombi to join his court as Lady Chamberlin. Unlike most depictions, he remains in power well after the Wizard arrives, the still under construction Emerald City being separate from his own palace in the capital of Oz.
 [[Category:Oz Book Characters]]
 [[Category:Rulers in Oz]]