Aradie's People
Ald Baillon
First appearance: Chapter 1, Page 24A gendarme, Ald is the sergeant of the Riverside District. He is responsible for keeping the peace in one of the poorer districts of the city, which is filled with transient hunters, trappers, and sailors. While he is massively corrupt, he manages to keep the violence and mayhem that once plagued the Riverside under control. He achieves this by dispensing brutal justice and savage beatdowns. Ald is not from Sherbourg. As his surname indicates, he comes from the town of Baillon in Saronne. Or at least that is what he claims. He is tight-lipped about his history, but rumors mark him as a dragoon formerly in the service of the crown. He's an excellent shot with his carbine musket, which is the dragoon's trademark weapon. This past year, he married Jeanne, a Daughter of the King who was about to be sent back to Saronne for lack of finding a husband.
Antoine Dupuis
First appearance: Chapter 2, Page 9Antoine Dupuis is the curator of the Museum in Sherbourg and a renowned botanist. He earned his doctorate at the Royal University in Arcaneaux in 1653, then joined the faculty at the recently established University of Sherbourg in the colony of Aradie. Antoine greatly desired to study the new plants of Everique, and he has spent the past three decades identifying and categorizing its flora. He is considered the foremost authority on New World botany, and it was his testimony to King Raimond IV that convinced the the Royal Court of Saronne to allow cultivation of the potato -- a New World plant that was considered poisonous because of its close relationship to nightshade (it is still banned to this day in Morante).
Antoine was appointed curator in 1672 after Governor General Jean-Henri de Carailles gifted the university a sizable grant for the construction of a museum. The philosopher has spent the past six years building the collections of the museum and is fiercely protective of them. Thoroughly committed to his work, Antoine never marrie
Bertrande Grusseau
First appearance: Chapter 2, Page 13Bertrande Grusseau is perhaps the most renowned alchemist in Sherbourg and a guild officer in the Order of the Erudite. She is a stern, non-nonsense woman who is proud of her accomplishments and certain of her rights and privileges. Unlike some alchemists who view themselves as philosophers, she crafts alchemical goods for sale. She is also willing to create saltpeter (a smelly and filthy process) and is one of the leading suppliers of gunpowder to the city.
Bertrande lives in the Overlook, but her laboratory is on the outskirts of town because of the smell and the significant risk of fire and explosions. She has been a widow since her husband was killed while adventuring in the Lakelands more than twenty years ago. Of her five children, one died in childbirth, a second was lost at sea, and the other three still live in Aradie. Her eldest daughter is married to a prominent guilder, her eldest surviving son is a habitant, and her youngest son embraced the life of a voyageur. She is a bit disappointed that none of her children were capable of following in her footsteps as an alchemist.
Cienan yr Tuathal
First appearance: Chapter 2, Page 5Cienan yr Tuathal is a conundrum to most people in Sherbourg. He is not Saronnan, but hails from Garthmoor - a large island off the northwest coast of Japethe. His wealth has given him significant status in the town, but no one is sure of the source of that wealth. He calls himself a gentleman collector. He buys rare treasures and artwork from the natives and explorers, which he then sells to rich patrons in Saronne and elsewhere in Japethe. He is well mannered and well dressed at all times and can move among the upper levels of society. Yet he also has myriad ties to the rooks of Riverside and sometimes deals in dangerous or stolen goods.
Cienan lives alone in a townhouse in the Heavens. He has had relationships with a number of fine ladies since arriving in Sherbourg more than a decade ago. None of these courtships developed into anything serious, and he remains a bachelor. Cienan keeps a single maid to care for his household. He changes maids every couple of years, and those that leave his employ invariably do very well for themselves, making the position much sought after. Rumors persist that he has had liaisons with many of his maids, but all the maids deny this and there is no evidence to support the gossip.
Claude Amaury
First appearance: Chapter 6, Page 8Claude Amaury is a journeyman alchemist who works for the master alchemist Bertrande Grusseau. He is an even-tempered, patient man, who weathers the exacting demands of his master without complaint. He has a passion for his work and willingly puts in the long hours required by Bertrande. His social life is nearly nonexistent, but he finds satisfaction in his craft and does not feel that he is missing anything.
Claude is a younger son of Louis-Odet Amaury, a seigneur in Aradie and a veteran of the Nine Years' War. Without any opportunities for inheritance, Claude had to look elsewhere for his fortune. He had little fondness for the rigors of the military campaign or adventuring into the interior of Everique. Instead, he attended the University of Sherbourg, where he flourished in the practical application of experimental philosophy (another term for alchemy). He was fortunate to find a position with Bertrande and has served her for the past seven years.
Claudine Nareau
First appearance: Chapter 1, Page 12A young silversmith who recently obtained the rank of Master in the Blazoners' Guild, Claudine just opened her own shop in the Overlook District and is quickly making a name for herself due to her work ethic and attention to detail. She pays off the local thieves to ensure her goods don't wander. She is unmarried. Her success has attracted several suitors, but her quick fuse and high standards tend to quickly drive them off.
Jacqueline de Tilly
First appearance: Chapter 2, Page 2Named for the legendary Jaqueligne de Chantillac, Jacqueline is the second daughter of a seigneur in Aradie. Her older sister has already been married off to an heir to a seigneur. Her younger brother entered the university and became a philosopher. Long thought of as nothing but the demure and quiet younger sister, Jacqueline entered the army to prove herself, which caused some tension with her family as they expected her to take religious orders. As with most noble women, she joined the cavalry, where she met Vivienne de Carailles. Vivienne was impressed by Jacqueline's conviction, and when Vivienne became the commander of the 1st Aradie Cavalry Company, she named Jacqueline her aide de camp. They became good friends and Jacqueline continues to serve as Vivienne's lady-in-waiting and secretary.
Jacqueline is proper and quiet, but possesses a wry sense of humor that takes many people by surprise. She feels a great sense of indebtedness to Vivienne and serves her loyally. While she doesn't have initiative to begin them herself, she enjoys the adventures she gets into with Vivienne.
Jean-Henri de Carailles
First appearance: Losing by Winning, Page 1Jean-Henri de Carailles is the Governor General of Aradie and acts as the voice of royal authority in the colony. He rules from the governor's palace in Sherbourg, but spends a great deal of time in Arcaneaux, representing the interests of the colony as well as his own. Jean-Henri is most noted for the Grande Entente, a treaty which ended more than a hundred years of conflict known as the Pelt Wars between the Elakanois, the Liranequois, and dozens of lesser tribes. He also oversaw the near-collapse of the fur trade in Aradie, when furs flooded the market after the Grande Entente. His efforts to diversify the products of the colony have met with some success and rebuilt the fortunes of Aradie.
Jean-Henri is the youngest son of Jacques de Carailles, a marquis on the eastern border of Saronne. Jean-Henri's elder brother, André-Nicolas, succeeded his father to the title and has risen high in the service of the king. He was part of the diplomatic corps that ended the most recent war between Morante and Saronne. His influence secured Jean-Henri's appointment as governor general of Aradie in 1665.
Unlike many of the previous governors general, Jean-Henri's wife Antoinette accompanied him to his post in the Aradie. She birthed a daughter and two sons before she died in childbirth with the youngest. Jean-Henri dotes on his daughter, Vivienne, giving her leniency that is almost scandalous in the courts of Arcaneaux. His eldest son is in training to become an officer in the king's army, while the younger is receiving the education of a philosopher at the University of Arcaneaux.
Laurent Rivière
First appearance: Chapter 1, Page 20A known thief, Laurent Rivière (the name is almost certainly an alias) is a sharp, who plans and organizes heists. He does not have a regular crew that he works with; instead he hires canailles as he needs them. Laurent came to Sherbourg from Arcaneaux five years ago. His fellow rooks believe that he fled the old country to escape gambling debts. He is a passionate gambler. While he is a good player, he loves the exhilaration of taking risks and regularly overplays his hand. This applies to his night work as well. The gendarmes have arrested him several times, and he has spent days in the pillory.
Liaze Toupin
First appearance: Chapter 1, Page 15A millner (a hat maker) who operates Jehan's Fine Hats in the Riverside District. In addition to her legitimate enterprise, Liaze is also a miller (a fence) of stolen goods for the various thieves on Iniquity Row. While her hat shop is successful enough that she doesn't need the money, she enjoys the excitement and danger of dealing with the underworld of Sherbourg. Liaze is married to Jehan Toupin, who is the namesake of the hat shop. Their marriage is a cool and distant one. Jehan allows Liaze free rein with the business as long as she turns a tidy profit and allows him to spend the money as he pleases. Meanwhile, Liaze uses Jehan as a cover of respectability for her illegal activities.
Pénélope Gâteau
First appearance: Chapter 2, Page 4Pénélope Gâteau is the latest in the long line of maids in the employ of Cienan yr Tuathal. She is a quick-witted teenager with a mischievous streak. Pénélope is the granddaughter of a voyageur and an Elakanois woman. Her father inherited the grandfather's fortune and the Elakanois' weakness for firewater. The money is all gone now, lost at the gambling tables on Iniquity Row, but the weakness to alcohol remains. Her father appears in her life from time to time to demand money. Having been raised in extreme poverty, Pénélope considers it a stroke of fantastic good fortune to have the opportunity to work for Cienan, and she is intensely loyal to the gentleman collector. Pénélope avoids drinking anything alcoholic, fearing that she might develop her father's cravings.
Thérèse de Varennes
First appearance: Chapter 6, Page 22Thérèse de Varennes is the Oracle of Giavere in Sherbourg and the Starkindler's voice in city affairs. She is one of the most powerful individuals in the colony, with only the Governor General nominally outranking her. As with all Oracles, she answers to the High Oracle in Arcaneaux. Thérèse is a middle-aged woman who has gone blind, as is commonplace with seers who have served Giavere for decades. She has taken vows of chastity and celibacy to ensure her visions from the Unicorn Maiden are unclouded. She dwells in the Oracle's Manse in Templetown near the crest of Cape Adamant.
Thérèse was born to a noble family in Saronne and entered the seminary at a young age. She embraced the ecclesiastic life and rapidly rose through the ranks of the seers. She requested the position of Oracle of Sherbourg after receiving visions from the great spirit during one of the vigil services of the full moon. The High Oracle confirmed the visions, and Thérèse arrived in Sherbourg in 1681. Thérèse has been silent on why Giavere wished her to come to Aradie, but she has pushed for construction of a citadel to protect Sherbourg and to continue the Daughters of the King program. Her relationship with widowed Jean-Henri de Carailles is uncommonly good for an Oracle and Governor General, whose offices are historic rivals.
Vivienne de Carailles
First appearance: Chapter 2, Page 2Vivienne is the eldest child of Jean-Henri de Carailles, the Governor General of Aradie. Unlike many other governors, Vivienne's father brought his wife with him to the colony when he received his appointment. Both Vivienne and her two younger brothers were born in Sherbourg. Her mother died giving birth to her youngest brother when Vivienne was 8. Vivienne played a large role in raising both of her younger brothers, stepping into the role left by their mother.
Vivienne has since grown into a beautiful, if a trifle spoiled, woman. Her father has showered her with gifts, clothing, servants, tutors, and his indulgence. She attended universities in Sherbourg and Arcaneaux, where she studied many of the Twelve Revelations of Giavere, excelling at rhetoric and logic but showing no skill at all in music. In addition, she has a passion for military affairs and is renowned as an excellent sharpshooter. She is equally renowned for spurning suitors, which has caused her father considerable political difficulties and may be the reason that he has not been promoted to a more prestigious office.
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