¤ The Royal Faction

    The royal faction at court is a large one; the crown estates are extensive, and the royal family holds most of Breton either directly or via dependants. Most are very well off and comfortable by Bretonnian standards, and see having the King (or at least his steward) for their patron as an especial honour; they are normally reluctant to shift their loyalty to anyone else, not least because the King does not look favourably on those who abandon his kind and beneficent rule. However, because the governance of the kingdom and his other apparently vital duties as monarch prevent Charles III from taking a particularly active role in his estates, most of the responsibility is shifted onto the shoulders of others. In order to stop the huge royal 'demesne' going the same way as the other provinces (which were once, centuries ago, under far more effective royal rule), the task between several different families and individuals, and Charles only appoints those of whose loyalty he is sure, though their competence may well leave something to be desired.

    At present, there are three figures dominating the crown estates: Guillaume Blois, the King's younger brother; Antoine le Saucier, Eveque (Bishop) of Domfront; and the Duc de Saint Fraimbaud, Jacques Pleurier. Antoine le Saucier is the scion of a very old family, but only took over leadership of the royal clientage in his area (in the northern portion of Breton) six years ago when his elder brother was killed in an ill-fated military expedition in the Grey Mountains. Despite his ecclesiastical position, he has proved an effective client of Charles III and is currently attempting to amass a collection of relics from the lives of noted Bretonnian saints, heroes and clerics, in particular of the cult of Morr, to which he is affiliated. Precisely what the motive for this morbid collection is cannot be known, for le Saucier is paranoid about his privacy and calls down dire curses on anyone who attempts to enter his private chapel, located in the small town of Garroche. He hopes to become Cardinal of the cult of Morr in the near future, and is attempting to curry favour with King Charles, Cardinal Dumourieux and other leading courtiers and clerics.
   
    The Duc de Saint Fraimbaud is, if truth be told, a simpleton. He is not disabled or in any way physically deformed - indeed, in earlier years he turned the eyes of several noted ladies at court - but possesses only the most rudimentary mental faculties. Conversation is difficult, he is illiterate and any task requiring more than a second's concentration leaves him perplexed. In addition to these obvious difficulties, the Duc is extremely touchy and sensitive, flying into a rage if he is ever shown up in front of anyone save his personal butler, an elderly Reiklander called Otto Kleist. Inside sources assert that the lisping Kleist exerts a worrying level of influence over the Duc, from dictating how his lands should be governed to pulling on his pantaloons in the morning. Very few ideas and beliefs stick in Jacques's head, but loyalty to the King is one of them. The Duc would follow the word of Charles to the death, rather like a very faithful and enthusiastic but stupid dog. For this reason Charles has seen fit to put him in nominal charge of his southern estates, preventing any possibility of takeover by another noble.

  Another notable appointee of the Blois family is the elderly Victoire Breville, Viscomte de Brossard and Governor of Guisoreux, appointed not for any real abilities but, again, to try and limit the faction-fighting of the great families in the largest city of Bretonnia.