From TES issue 31 (January 2005)

Series 6. Level 1/2.
RIDOLFO
This Venetian troubadour was played by Adrian Neil. He wandered the dungeons of series 6 with his long hair and Italian accent, strumming his lute and spreading news about what was going on in the realm of Knightmare: "Strolling players such as these both gather and distribute news." - Treguard. Ridolfo was friendly to dungeoneers, and, because of the information he gathered on his travels, he was useful for passwords, causeway codes and other helpful snippets of information. His friendliness did not mean that he was a pushover, however. During the series, both Sylvester Hands and a large pooka nearly found themselves on the business end of Ridolfo's sword.

Ridolfo saw dungeoneers as a useful source of news, and sometimes exchanged his help for information they had picked up from spyglasses. Other means of earning Ridolfo's friendship included providing him with a musical scroll, singing a song for him, or releasing him from the [pillory]. The minstrel was always grateful for help and news, and was only too pleased to help dungeoneers with a smile on his face and a song in his heart - and on his lute too, occasionally.

Ridolfo's freeness with information earned him Lord Fear's enmity and, towards the end of the series, Fear decided to deal with him: "This musician is a gossip, and a dangerous one!" - Lord Fear. Ridolfo made no secret of the fact that he liked "the ladies" - as dungeoneers January and Sofia discovered when he kissed them on the hand - and Fear was quick to take advantage of this. Lord Fear told Hordriss that Ridolfo had been getting too friendly with Sidriss, so Hordriss turned Ridolfo from a minstrel into a fisherman!
It was up to dungeoneer Sofia to persuade Hordriss to remove the enchantment so that Ridolfo could tell her the level two password, although why he was any less able to do this while he was a fisherman is still beyond me. Anyway, Sofia bribed Hordriss with a magic ring, and Hordriss agreed that he had made a mistake in believing Lord Fear about Ridolfo: "Not a very big mistake, mind you, for his reputation with young ladies is well deserved." - Hordriss. Ridolfo was in a sorry state when he gave Sofia a ride in his fishing boat, so it was nice to see him back to his normal jovial self later in the episode when he rushed in - returned to his musician status - and gave Sofia the password just in time to see off Dreadnort.

Fear Factor: 3 He was a dab hand with a sword.
Killer Instinct: 0 No malice or evil at all.
Humour Rating: 9 Usually had a smile on his face.
Oscar Standard: 7 Slightly caricatured, perhaps.

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