Sunday, January 7, 2024

Names in the Court of Lescatie

As a preface, it appears that when I came up with the Year of the Gazetteer, I was - as one of my players put it - "ahead of the curve by exactly the right amount to accidentally align with the curve perfectly." I had no idea that Lore24 was a thing until just now, and certainly not while I was planning this out. If I knew, I would've just done that. Regardless, I'm already past the point of doing one entry per day. Oh well - I'll keep with what I was doing.

This list is numbered as a d20 roll so that it can be used as a random encounter table, if one wishes. If any of these sound like player characters from a previous campaign, there's a nonzero chance it's because they are.

1. Castor VI, the King. Rules de jure, though the authority of his position has been curtailed by the manueverings of the nobles and clergymen in his circles, and he largely languishes in the palace, making the right decrees and proclamations when people tell him to. Despite the new Matriarch's goals of cleaning up corruption, he still trusts her enough to sit back and let her do the heavy lifting. As a side effect, though, if he has to make any important decisions on his own, he has little experence to do so.

2. Francia de Vyonnes, the Queen. Born to a noble family in one of the neighboring City-States and married to the King to secure an alliance. She has genuine feelings for him, but he sees their marriage as merely a political one and regards her with casual disinterest most of the time, seeing their marriage as a formality. This does not stop them from having a love life that has become the subject of many obscene rumors among the lower classes. Constantly lethargic, and mostly nods and agrees with what her husband says publically.

3. Camille Renee-Dubois, the Princess. A bright-spirited and kindly young woman, born shortly before the revolution, and raised without constant meddling of conspirators around her as a result, she holds onto her ideals and has a sense of adventure that has taken her to seek errands in foreign courts as a way to see the world. Polite and well-spoken, and believes in the ideals of noble decorum and responsibility, but with little mind to shake up her social standing. Secretly, on one such adventure, she was killed by a particularly intelligent mimic, which has taken the form of the princess and integrated itself into the royal family out of genuine remorse.

4. Jean-Luc, the Prince. Elder brother to Camille, and the heir-apparent to the throne, but felt jealous of the attention heaped over his sister in spite of her station behind him when they were growing up, which made him withdrawn and vindictive. He feels that his father wastes opportunities to claim a foothold in the court, believing that if he had a proper head on his shoulders the family could shake free of the Cult of Voltan and elevate itself out of its irrelevance - and he's willing to play by his own agenda to further that cause, if need be. Has figured out that the Princess isn't human and hopes to find a way to expose her in order to create a crisis he can take power through, but he doesn't have the evidence to prove that yet.

5. Wilmarina I, the Matriarch. Head of the Cult of Voltan, chaplain to the court, and de facto ruler of Lescatie. Previously a paladin of the Order of the Lily, and though she hasn't taken up a sword in years, she's still well enough renowned for her exploits in battle for people to think twice about angering her. Unlike previous high priests, she has spurned excesses and devoted her attention toward advancing the cult and building bridges with the populace and with other lands, and she handles the task with a sense of duty and seriousness. This is a lot of weight on her shoulders, though she surrounds herself with trusted officials to help shoulder the burden. It also means she constantly has several irons in the fire and tries to keep up with too many plots at once.

6. Elton of Chaufours, the Patriarch-Consort. Wilmarina's husband, originally a serf of her family's estate. Their marriage was a controversial one - not only for there being a married high priest for the first time in years, but also because of the differences in their social standing - but their love is genuine. He embodies the image of a man of lower class suddenly elevated into wealth and eager to flaunt this fact, and although he has no real power (no one trusts him with it anyway), he is eager to display his status through his exquisite tastes and foppish apparel, often quoting philosophy he doesn't actually understand.

7. Lanselm Broduer, Grandmaster of the Order of Lescatie. The leader of the knightly order of paladins devoted to the protection of Lescatie and the cause of Voltan's will. Young for his status, as he was appointed by the Matriarch to replace the corrupt leadership of the Order before him. He has yet to oversee a major military engagement, but prefers to hire his knights out to foreign powers to strengthen diplomatic ties and to let them pursue their own goals - and he himself has volunteered on many a quest in order to prove his worthiness to any nay-sayers, always being quick to pick up a lance. His bold nature hasn't landed him in any major trouble, but then again, he hasn't been needed for any major emergencies yet.

8. Yves de Mastoc, the Spymaster. Appearing as a jovial rotund man with a thick beard and a goblet of wine never far from his side, he plays the part of a boistrous fool who overindulges himself in merriment - though this is all an act to throw off attention to his true cunning nature and strategic mind, and he has agents throughout the City-States and beyond. Sometimes gets so into his act that his body can't take it; his consititution is actually quite weak, despite the excesses he enjoys.

9. Iosephus of Golnir, a paladin of a Marsean order who came to Lescatie on pilgrimage and ended up being embroiled in a brewing revolution. Helped to lead the charge during the overthrow of the previous Patriarch, and earned the honor of the court for his valor. A long-suffering and patient man who wants only peace and understanding, he acts as a mediator in conflicts and tries to keep things from getting too out of hand among the court, as well as helping to train knights. Has many stories of his past exploits to tell for the curious.

10. Felix, an albino runaway, former bandit, and occasional prophet. Iosephus took her under his wing to try and set her on the right path, and they eventually married - and she eventually began seeing visions of the gods, which became an important turning point in the revolution when she argued that it was within Voltan's will. Despite her husband's best efforts, she's still greedy and has poor command of ettiquette, let alone any reasonable knowledge of politics, but he keeps her on a short leash to try and prevent any disruptions, and the court keeps her around as part of the council as an outside voice to represent the interests of the common people, as well as in case she has any visions to guide them with.

11. Lucienne du Champs-du-Sud, Knight-Commander of the Order of the Lily. The most senior official in Lescatie's most elite order of knights, that which serves as the personal bodyguard of the Royal Family and the Matriarch. Though not of noble birth, she was appointed to the Order by Wilmarina when she was Knight-Commander, and was hand-picked to take her place when she became Matriarch. Officially, this was because she was impressed with her fervent and unquestioning loyalty and her fighting skills; more practically, the two look remarkably similar, and sometimes switch places with one another in public appearances to fool would-be assassins.

12. Maurice de Laurent, the King of Arms. The official who maintains records of all heraldic honors in the kingdom, and advises the court on matters of ceremony. Although the King and the Matriarch have the authority to knight others, formally such matters must go through the King of Arms first, though he has never disagreed with their word. His position is largely a ceremonial one, but he considers it important nonetheless, conducting himself with pomp and circumstance and delivering fiery speeches about the importance of tradition.

13. Roselle Comtes, the Mistress of the Hawks and Hounds. A position responsible for the management and oversight of the animals used in royal hunts. She is an overly friendly and gregarious woman, always quick to greet others and showering them with compliments, perhaps because she spends more of her time in the company of animals than people and feels starved for human contact. Nevertheless, she considers her job to be a great honor and is fiercely protective of her charges.

14. Acelin Meunier, the Court Musician. A famed minstrel entrusted by the court to perform at feasts and other occasions, as well as to oversee jugglers, actors, poets, and other such entertainers. He lets the fact that he performs for the King and the Matriarch get to his head; in his mind, this is an indication that he has achieved mastery of his craft beyond all others (why else would they pick him over someone else?), and he is keen to hold that over the heads of others he feels treat him with disrespect.

15. Donatien Gosse, the Court Magician. A dour, withdrawn old man who lives a reclusive life in his tower in the palace, rarely coming to court unless his aid is needed to presage coming events, to place protective wards over armies, or to interpret the tidings of the stars. He is spiteful of the Court Musician and hates it when people get the two of them confused; he views Acelin as a fool who cares only for spectacle, and that his magic is not a mere show, but a powerful force worthy of awe and respect. He is aware that other court magicians perform as entertainers, and he sees this as disrespectful and a waste of talent. Spends most of his time studying the stars or working on his experiments, not all of which he has shared with the rest of the court.

16. Deocar Leblanc, the Archimandrite. The abbot of the Brothers of Saint Matto, a Voltanite monastic order headquartered in the Silent Quarter of Lescatie, and appointed to the court as the official responsible for the oversight of all monasteries and convents within the kingdom. Spends most of his time at the palace rather than at the monastery, and has taken a liking to its comforts - by some accounts, too much so for a monk, but he maintains that there's nothing wrong with it and that he is only respecting the honor bestowed to him. To add further controversy to the matter, there are rumblings of dissent from some monasteries arguing that a Voltanite is in no position to make decisions about how the brothers and sisters of other cults conduct themselves.

17. Klaus Holt, the Jester. A foreigner from Vardessy appointed to the role, with the hopes that someone from outside of Lescatie would feel more at liberty to mock its court and hopefully prevent its members from getting so absorbed in their egos so as to neglect their duties to the people. For whatever lofty goals the court has for his position, if Klaus is even aware of them, he doesn't care, and lives his life laidback and carefree, with a flippant disregard for punctuality or decorum and a sharp tongue that sometimes offends unprepared dignitaries. No one can tell how much of this is a personality issue, and how much is him being committed to his job perhaps too well.

18. Apolline Lechance, the Seneschal. A stern, grim-faced older woman in charge of the servants of the court. She has taken the importance of her position in the court of the highest kingdom in all the land to heart, and is very strict about maintaining the palace at its most orderly to reflect the grandeur such a kingdom deserves (and to impress foreign interests on diplomatic missions). To this end, she is humorless and exacting about her demands, and hard to please, to the point where many servants resent her and mock her behind her back - though never where they think she can hear.

19. Marcilius du Sault, the Grand Louvetier. Renowned as the best hunter in the court, and in charge of leading royal hunts - particularly, those of wolves, most notably the annual Great Hunt of the Wolfwood held to the southeast of the capital. Ironically, he is greatly terrified of wolves, and will do anything possible to weasel his way out of a confrontation with one, meaning that his "hunts" tend to involve more parading and drinking than anything else. On the hunt, he surrounds himself with subordinates should he need to encounter a wolf face to face and commands them to go after it before he gets involved, insisting that "it's better if he stays back to give orders." Secretly, though, he once had a squire who was killed by a wolf when he froze in fear rather than confront it, and this is his greatest shame to this day, believing it makes him unworthy of the honors.

20. Guy Baudin, the Grand Boutellier. Officially the chamberlain to the king and in charge of carrying the keys to his bedchambers. He is also charged with the maintainence of the wine cellar and in procuring wine, as well as planning and conducting feasts and banquets. This is particularly important when it comes to the kingdom's Wine Festival, in which he is always in attendance to deliver wine to the royal household. Somewhat absent-minded and prone to malapropisms in his old age, and easily intimidated by shows of force. It is not particularly surprising that he is an alcoholic and enjoys his access to the finest drink in the kingdom a little too much - in fact, he has begun smuggling wine out of the cellars for his personal use, which has made him an easy target for unscrupulous merchants to manipulate into passing on some for them to surreptitiously sell as well.

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