Frankish Heroes
Heroes and Agents of the Fourth Paradisium Republic
Emperor Napoleon XXXIX (45): Adventurer (Heroics, Champion); Combat 2, Conviction 2, Social 1
Tags: Bonaparte, Magic Sword, The Abyss Gazes Also Into You
The current scion of the millennial Bonaparte family, since Napoleon ascended the throne of his forebears what once appeared to be only the most recent of a hundred sleepy reigns of a dynasty thrown down and in exile on an isolated backwater has become an attempt to destroy the ancient Mind Flayer Imperium and rebuild one of the great, fallen Empires of Man. He is a proud (but not ungracious or arrogant) man, forced to go hat-in-hand around known space by the appearance of the Flayer armada at Montpelier in 1003 NE. But Napoleon is determined to continue the Flayer War. For him, the Second Crusade was only one campaign in the larger conflict, one he always speaks of in the present tense.
Though a competent general and admiral (now with experience of a war conducted on a scale not seen perhaps in a thousand years) and an able administrator, Napoleon does not display the epochal brilliance in command of his namesake. Nor can he match the talent, experience, and specialist training that made his wife such a valuable leader of the Frankish home front during the Crusade. Ultimately the events of recent years have shown that Napoleon possesses a far more archaic, for a ruler at least, skillset: as testified by his ancient mithril sword and suit of primium full plate, Napoleon XXXIX is a warrior.
Empress Danielle Bonaparte (39): Offical (Politics, Industrialist); Conviction 1, Mental 3, Social 1
Tags: Mother of the Heirs, Service Nobility, Co-Ruler
Danielle Bonaparte, née Aulac comes from a middling family from the Frankish capital of Montauban on Franco Domini. Like many of her predecessors, she attended a series of elite preparatory schools before beginning to climb the ranks of the imperial service nobility, initially developing specialties in monetary and housing policy. She became the mistress of Napoleon XXXIX shortly after his ascension to the throne in 989 NE. During the Second Crusade, Danielle played an even-increasing role in the administration of the Republic. This trend culminated in an official regency that lasted for most of 1005 NE, while Napoleon was conducting the crusade’s final campaign and, afterwards, attempting to stabilize the thrice-shattered world of Montpelier. This tenure saw Danielle mature fully into a shrewd planetary administrator, overseeing every aspect of the home front during the massive Frankish war effort. Besides developing diplomatic skills and connections (primarily with Frankish allies and investors in civilian infrastructure), Danielle devoted the lion’s share of her attention to industrial development and military procurement.
In 1006, upon the emperor’s return, the two were married, shortly after the birth of twins to Danielle. Though the regency has ended, Danielle has substantially maintained her role; as the emperor prepares to carry the war to the enemy, there is little doubt that Danielle will continue to administer—many would admit that “rule” is not an inappropriate term—the empire in much of its day-to-day functioning.
Admiral of Paradise Edmond Dantes (40): Office (Leadership, Naval Command); Conviction 3, Mental 2
Tags: Veteran of the Psychic Wars, Damn the Torpedoes, Wine and Women
Born to a working-class family on Orleans, in 985 NE Edmond Dantes followed his brother into the Imperial Frankish Navy at the age of eighteen. Losing none of his vulgarity or love of fast living, by the time of the clearing of the ether storms and the discovery of Montpelier, he had, again like his brother, achieved a captain’s rank and command of a Frankish cruiser. He was present at the first Battle of Montpelier, when the Mind Flayer armada obliterated the core of the Frankish navy. Unlike his brother, he survived. Dantes became the leader of the famed Fleet in Exile, preserving the survivors of the battle largely through the discovery of a secret abandoned fleet base and super carrier in the out-system. Since the liberation of Montpelier and the cataclysmic battle at Jospin, he has been promoted to admiral and is now the foremost officer in the Fourth Republic’s fleet. Dantes is well-known as a hawk and an imperialist.
Heloise Allard (42): Official (Politics, Merchant); Mental 3, Social 2
Tags: Boarding School, Something to Prove, Russophile
Born of a wealthy and prestigious line, Allard has followed a path similar to the empress and many other high-ranking servitors in the Dominion-cum-Republic: preparatory school, staff work for the Senate, and then a slowly-climbing career in the field. As one of the Republic's foremost trade legates, she combines the skillsets of a diplomat and businesswoman. Her easy demeanor belies her acumen and fanatical pursuit of the Republic's interests. Formerly posted to Barrayim, the negotiation of a massively-lucrative trade deal there was her crowning achievement. However, with the lightning conquest of Barrayim by the Tyrant of Kaztroma and the looming confrontation between Imperial Kozun and the Royal Republic of Archangel, Allard has been forced to watch helpless the utter destruction of all she had built on Novo Skava. Accordingly, she is hungry for new opportunities elsewhere.
Montpelier
Raphael Baudelaire, Marshal of the Republic, Lord of the Black Frank Clans (33): Officer (Leadership, Land Command); Combat 1, Conviction 1, Mental 2, Mysticism 1
Tags: Black Frank, Marked
Raphael Baudelaire comes from an old money family based in the great northern island chain of Orleans. Ether barons, his lineage is as close to aristocracy as can be found in Frankish society. An officer in the Young Guard stationed on Montpelier when the Flayer armada struck, Baudelaire was one of the very few survivors from the Frankish army destroyed on that world. Nevertheless, his homecoming is deferred indefinitely, and his family is faced with the strange and painful task of mourning one yet living.
For reasons known only to the vanished Flayer High Priest Namu-Aklith, if even to it, Baudelaire was the nucleus around which the Black Franks formed. He was the first of this new kind of slave super soldier, and their leader from their first days through all the time of their treachery and still today, when they have been brought back into Paradise – or at least set to ward its outer reaches. Baudelaire has been made Steward of Montpelier, and is supreme commander of all Black Franks as well as of the freed thralls and Kasarki from Illithid slave worlds who now fight for the Republic.
Jean Lannes, Loremaster of the Clans (35): Savant (Etherics, Magic); Combat 1, Conviction 1, Mental 1, Mysticism 2
Tags: Black Frank, Know Thy Enemy, Passion for Killing
Since the liberation of Montpelier, Jean Lannes, second among the Black Franks, has dedicated himself to the study of magic, particularly as used by the mind flayers. Though an extreme novice and not an intellectual man by nature, Lannes displays a certain mysterious aptitude. He attributes this to the warping of his mind by Namu-Aklith's sorcery, to his extreme zeal, and his willingness to study under the reanimated illithid Xa-Reth-Qe. Lannes has also shown an interest in the forging of a distinct Black Frank culture and society.
The Wretched Coven The Wretched Coven, as it has dubbed itself, is a trio of mind flayer mages raised from the dead and bound to the will of the emperor through magical ritual and the power of the foul weed, marshroot. Following the catastrophic illithid defeat in the way between Montpelier and Franco Domini, a succession conflict broke out in the Imperium. Suru-Amarth, the highest-ranking surviving illithid, returned to Macon to join the struggle, leaving occupied Montpelier to Xa-Reth-Qe, slain personally by the emperor during the final victory of the Crusade. After his raising, he identified for Napoleon two other dead flayers with specialties in illithid history and astral travel. With these raised, the coven was born. Napoleon hopes to use his undead slaves for intelligence vital to the coming invasion of the nebula.
Xa-Reth-Qe the Slave (???): Savant (Etherics, Magic); Mental 2, Mysticism 3
Tags: Illithid, Undead, Prisoner of Man
Thrayunsroch the Slave (???), Leader, Savant, Archmage, Astral Wanderer, Loremaster, Undead, Illithid
Nos-Asuran the Slave (???): Leader, Savant, Archmage, Archaeologist, Indiana Jones, Undead, Illithid