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| Genevive Benoit |
Introduction
This is a side adventure that I added to one of the campaignarcs in my Honor+Intrigue game. The melodramatic tone fits well with a lot of
cape & sword and swashbuckling adventure as well as standard romantic
tropes. Thus it can be played straight up, as farce, or with a twist.
The setting can be almost anywhere - town, city, castle,
tower, or manor all that is really necessary is some way of keeping the
Sorrowful Bride-to-Be trapped. I used a new location so that the PCs did know
anything about the principal NPCs. If the PCs/players are familiar with the
location they may not have any uncertainty about the NPCs' motivations.
The adventure starts when one of the PCs happens by the place
where the Sorrowful Bride-to-Be is being held and she tosses her note to the
PC.
NOTE: If this is run as a subplot it may be more interesting
if the PC doesn't have the opportunity to read the note until later in the day.
A Mysterious Note
Most kind Monsieur whose name I do not know,
I beseech you to take pity on a poor orphaned girl. I am
being held here against my will and shall not be released until this coming
Sunday when I shall be forced to marry an old, fat, and ugly man. Please, most
kind, but unknown Monsieur, I humbly beg that you immediately contact my
dearest friend, Etienne Deveraux. He is a student at the University in Paris. I
have never been to Paris so I cannot better tell you how to find him, but as I
am certain that he is as brilliant as he is kind I am sure everyone at the
University must know his name.
Etienne is my last hope, save the ultimate recourse, for I
fear my uncle and guardian has been won over by the guile of my cruel
step-mother and also being old himself and often being in his cups he may not
see how horrible a match with such an ugly old, fat man is to me. I have prayed
to God for deliverance, but the time is now quite short and in truth I do not
know where else to turn to reach my dear friend.
My earlier messages to him must have gone awry so now you
see that you are my last chance to contact my dear Etienne so that he can come
and save me. I pray God that you can reach him in time since otherwise I do not
know what I can in Christian conscience do, but I vow that if it comes to the
last that God will give me the strength to do what I must do.
I remain your most humble and pitiful supplicant,
Genevive Benoit
Background Information
If the adventure is being played straight up then all of the
following is true.
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| Maurice Benoit |
Genevive Benoit is being held a virtual prisoner at the Town
Hall (or whatever location the GM uses). Her uncle, Maurice Benoit is the Town
Governor. Although he is not enthusiastic about the wedding, he doesn’t want
his family’s reputation or his dead brother’s memory tarnished or Genevive
thrown into poverty with her dowry obliterated by his dead brother’s
overwhelming tax debt.
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| Grimoart Villelmeti |
Grimoart Villelmeti, a wealthy merchant, has agreed to pay
the debt and wipe out any record of the default once he and Genevive are
married and besides, Maurice knows of no other marriage prospects for his
niece. In addition, his sister-in-law and Genevive’s step-mother, Biatrisona
Villelmeti Benoit, is pushing for the wedding and claims that “such nerves” are
normal for a young girl before her wedding." Biastrisona is Grimoart's
sister and she wants to please her brother, Genevive's suitor.
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| Biatrisona Villelmeti Benoit |
NPCs
Genevive Benoit
The Sorrowful Bride-to-Be (SR 5)
Location:
Burgundy (Auxerre)
Genevive Benoit (b. 1605) is the niece and ward of
Maurice Benoit, the town governor of Auxerre. Genevive’s mother died at birth
and her father, Herbert Benoit, married a woman from the south, Biatrisona
Villelmeti. Biatrisona was a typical evil step-mother. Genevive’s father died
in 1616 and she became the ward of her uncle, Maurice. But since Maurice is
unmarried, she remained in the care of her step-mother –she and Genevive do not
get along.
When Genevive was a child, she was engaged at her
step-mother’s urging to an older man, Grimoart Villelmeti, a cousin of the
step-mother, to whom Genevive’s father was in debt – both financial and
political. This debt would have ruined Genevive’s father and it remained even
after her father’s death. Now that she has come of age, the marriage is to
occur and Genevive’s step-mother is pushing for the marriage to occur as soon
as possible
Genevive is in love with Etienne Deveraux, a
scholar.
Might
-1
Flair
2
Melee -1
Defense 1
Housekeeper
1 Merchant
1
Temptress
1
Retainer 1
Lifeblood
7
Composure 3
Advantage 1
Boon:
Attractive Flaw: Noncombatant
Maurice Benoit
Location:
Burgundy (Auxerre)
Maurice Benoit is a wealthy merchant from a family
of wealthy merchants (SR 5). Though intelligent and knowledgeable in
matters of trade, he seems common in his speech and plebian in his tastes. The
one exception to this is his love for the new game of tennis. He drinks a lot
and when he drinks too much he often blacks out.
Maurice thinks like a merchant so he prefers to
treat most interactions as an exchange of value. However, he does like to show
off how smart he is and will often answer questions just to demonstrate that he
knows more about a subject than does his questioner.
Maurice purchased and owns the position of Town
Governor as venality. He is
considering retiring and would be willing to sell the position to someone else
who is willing to pay a premium price.
He has a ward and niece, Genevive Benoit, the
sister of his brother Herbert. Genevive’s father and mother are dead, but she
has a step-mother (her father’s second wife).
Although Maruice is
generally well disposed to his niece he tends to be more benignly neglectful
than actively engaged. Maurice is a drunkard and a bachelor and doesn't know
much about young ladies, which increases his disengagement and his reliance on
the guidance of his sister-in-law and Genevieve's step-mother,
Biatrisona.
Might
1
Savvy 1
Brawl 1
Melee 1
Merchant
2
Official 0
Lifeblood
8
Advantage 1 Retainer
2
Boons: Carouser,
Jack of All Trades;
Flaws: All
Thumbs (Penalty Die picking locks, firing a gun or bow, or fine work;
frequently spills ink and any papers always have blots and smudges), Drunkard
(1 on d6 = drunk or past black out).
Bash
with Mug 1d6
Hanger
Sword 1d6+1 Dmg, +1 dmg to Quick Cut
Biatrisona Villelmeti Benoit
Cruel Step-Mother (SR 5)
Location:
Burgundy (Auxerre)
Personality: Biatrisona
is the classic cruel step-mother. She frequently eavesdrops on her
step-daughter Genevive and is cruel to her for the sake of being cruel. She
wants to marry Genevive to her brother Grimoart both to be rid of her and to
secure for her brother and the Villelmeti family the concealed fortune that
Genevive will inherit after her marriage.
Biatrisona has several weaknesses.
- Drinking especially if the vintage is expensive or from far away.
- Fancy clothing, though her taste is unrefined. She prefers flash or cost over good taste.
- Entertainment of any sort, especially anything that would be of interest to the nobility or the court in the capital.
- Seduction and flirtation. Though not an attractive woman, she has a exaggerated opinion of her own charms.
Savvy
1
Melee
1
Merchant 1
Retainer 1
Lifeblood
8
Composure 3
Advantage 1
Boon: Keen
Hearing
Flaw: Vice (Cruelty)
Strike w/ belt or spoon+1: Damage 1d2
Grimoart Villelmeti - Villain
Tax Collector and Merchant (SR
7)
Location:
Burgundy (Auxerre)
Background:
Grimoart Villelmeti is a wealthy merchant and entrepreneur and a villain. Not
from the province of Burgundy, he is originally from Languedoc but now lives in a mansion
outside of Auxerre. He owns and operates a shipping company that moves goods
both by river barge and wagon. He also has a position as a tax collector in the
Auxerre and Autun regions.
His business interests include the following.
- Tax collection for the regions around Auxerre and Autun.
- Barges for shipping wine down the Yonne, the Loire, and the Saone.
- Wagons for moving wine from outlying vineyards into Auxerre.
- Wagons for hauling wine from Auxerre to towns on the Loire (which leads west to Nantes in Brittany and the Atlantic) or the Saone (which leads south to Marseille and the Mediterranean).
SECRET: Grimoart Villelmeti falsified the tax rolls to put
Herbert Benoit into his debt. He has documents in his office that will prove
this and will absolve Herbert's heir, Genevieve of all debts.
Might
4
Daring
0
Savvy 2
Flair 0
Brawl
2
Melee
2
Ranged
0
Defense 1
Merchant
3
Pugilist
2
Official 2
Lifeblood
16 Composure
3 Advantage
3 Fortune 3
Boons: Great Wealth, Hard-to-Kill, Herculean Strength,
Strength Feat (BD), Thick Skinned
Flaws: Lumbering (penalty die for balance), Unsettling
(Brutish Appearance)
Languages: French (N), +3 slots
Protection: 1 (Thick Skinned)
Walking Stick: 1d6+3 Dmg;
Dagger: 1d3+5 Dmg; 5’ range when
thrown, +1 with Called Shots;
Snaphaunce Mazagatto Pistol:
1d6+1 Dmg; Range 5’; reload 2; misfire 2-3
Broadsword: 1d6+5 Dmg; +1 Beat
(on horse for travel, not usually carried)
Maneuvers: Bladework+2, Brawling+2, Choke/Crush+6, Dirty
Fighting+2, Disarm+6, Hilt Punch+6; Beat+6, Bind+6, Grapple+6, Shove/Trip+6,
Dodge, Parry+4, Riposte+4; Ranged Attack+2.
Etienne Deveraux
A Gentleman and a Scholar (SR 7)
Location: Between Paris and Auxerre
Etienne Deveraux
(born 1597, age 25) is member of the gentleman/bourgeoisie class and a scholar
at the University of Paris.
After receving a
letter from his true love, Genevive, informing him of the impending nuptials, Etienne is
hastening to Auxerre to stop the wedding.
OPTION: In a
swashbuckling style game where dramatic coincidence is to be expected, the
party may meet Etienne on the road on the way to Auxerre. If so, he will tell
the party that he must urgently reach Auxerre and begs the loan of a horse. I
they loan him a horse to the next inn Etienne will insist on proceeding, though
he will be reluctant to explain why he is in such a hurry.
SECRETS: (1) Etienne
is riding to Auxerre to stop his true love from marrying another (an old man
whom she does not love). (2) Etienne is a member of the Academia dei Lincei, a
secret organization of scholars based in Italy.
Daring 1 Savvy 2
Melee 2 Defense 1
Gentleman 1 Scholar 2
Lifeblood 8 Composure 3 Advantage 1 Retainer 3
Languages: French
(Native), Latin (F), Greek, Italian
Boons: Learned
(Bonus die to recall academic knowledge), Membership: Academia dei Lincei
Flaws: Helpless
Loved One (Genevive Benoit), Obsession (Academic)
Rapier: 1d6 Dmg;
+1 Parry
Maneuvers:
Bladework+3; Footwork+4, Dodge, Parry+4, Riposte+4
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| The possibly happy couple |
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