Recently one of the PCs, Father Signoret the swashbuckling Jesuit priest, physically attacked a noble client of the Prince de Conde at the theatre. As it turns out, this has created a political complication for the patron of a second PC, Guy de Bourges. Guy is a courtier and spy who works for the mysterious, wealthy, and enigmatic masked nobleman, the Duke DeMainz. This resulted in the following meeting between Guy and his patron.
The Duke seems more impassive than usual, but I can
sense he is upset about something,
Guy observed as he waited while Pendu, the Duke’s silent servant, poured a dram
of brandy into a fine Venetian crystal glass. Guy warmed the glass in his hand
before sipping.
The
Duke’s resonant voice said from behind his gold mask,
“How
is the brandy? Excellent I trust? De Bourge, I must confess I am a bit put out
by your cousin, the Jesuit. He has acted most precipitously and not in my
interest. You know that the Prince de Condé has been a threat to the rule of
the Bourbons since the time of Henry IV. And this attack by Father Signoret on
one of the Prince’s clients may just give Condé the cause celebré his needs to
increase his power amongst both the Grands and the Barons.
Guy
explained that his cousin “had been trying to prevent Villemorin, who had been
heckling the stage and threatening the actors, from ruining everyone’s fun at
the theater by stopping the play.” Guy continued, “and what’s more, Villemorin
went off and left without a word or glance to Madame Rolampont who he had
escorted to the play. What a boor!”
DeMainz
continued, “Boor or not, it is probably fortunate that the King is so mad for
the hunt or I dare say someone might even have managed by now to persuaded
Louis to re-ban the Jesuit Order. Which, all things being said, might not be
the worst result if they can’t keep their priests under control. I thought they
were supposed to be a damned military order! Gods Marines and all that. Hmmph!”
“This
religious disputation is dangerous. France has had more than enough strife in
the cause of various zealots. The balance needs to be restored. I want you to
find a way to weaken Condé’s influence so as to rebalance it with the influence
of the various other factions at court and I don’t much care how you do it.
Hopefully you have someone[i] close to the Prince to assist
you. And remember, the Baron St. Giron is also a client of the Prince and Villemorin’s
captain. If you are caught acting against St. Giron I won’t protect you.”
- Guy is a master of disguise and an expert spy and graceful courtier.
- Socially he is a chevalier (SR 9) so he is not on the same level as a Prince (SR 17).
- Guy controls two experienced NPC spies one of whom is a lady in waiting to the Prince's wife.
- He also controls a network of average spies.
- He can access some funds, though not enough to come close to matching the Prince's wealth. Guy may also call in favors from other PCs.
EDIT: A follow up post has some additional information on the Prince or check Wikipedia.
[i] Collette
is a lady-in-waiting to Condé’s wife and Guy’s agent.
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