| Name | Species | Position |
| Queen Arianna (Arianna Elizabeth Margareta
Dunbarton) | Darkphase Fox | Two years into her majority,
after an unfortunate (from her viewpoint) three years of regency that
let the major noble families erode the royal power even further than it
had been. She suspects Duke Redtail of engineering the assassination
but has no proof. She is maneuvering with some of the lesser nobility
to restore the throne's power in Maidstone. |
| Ludmilla Kerensky, Baroness, Queen's Champion, and Captain of the
Queen's Guards | Siberian tigress | Arianna's protectress
and in an odd way her closest friend. |
| Commander Frederick van der Berg, Starfall
Navy | Bobcat | Military attaché attached to the Maidstone
embassy. |
| Baroness Captain Winthrop | Coatimundi | Maidstone Navy. |
| Matthew DuPrei | Mouse | Aide-de-camp to his mother,
Baroness Morgana DuPrei, Arianna's seneschal. |
| Mistress Thorn | Doe | Maidstone alchemist and poisons
expert. |
| Erenos, Duke Redtail | A huge and imposing elk --
250 cm., counting the antlers | Suspicious of the other three
Great Houses of Maidstone. He's less suspicious of the lesser Houses,
and does have a few allies/clients among them. His economic strength is
in forest products, including naval stores. Blue and white colors. |
| Tak Wingswift, Duke Vortalon | Hawk | The oldest of
the Great Nobles. He is still clear-eyed and alert though, even if
his feathers are graying and frizzing with age. Vortalon's holdings,
either direct or through vassals, include most of the mountain regions
controlled by Maidstone and as a result, he controls the city-state's
mineral resources. He is the single fur who stands to gain -- or lose --
the most if Starfall's monopoly can be broken. Black and red. |
| Minerva Lascarri, Duchess White Haven | Mink | Cultivates
the image of the stereotypical mink... but though she does enjoy her
appetites, she is no slave to them. Her holdings have no particular
wealth of resources, but her family has shrewdly organized and encouraged
artisans and small craftsmen. She has expanded on that with her own
organizational skills and probably has the world's leading production
base outside Starfall. Her people have been investigating water-powered
mills, and she is the most likely to simply want to pick the brains of
the PCs. Red and white. |
| Reginald Lascarri | Mink | The Duchess' eldest son
and heir. Less flamboyant than his mother, and her second in command
already. |
| Teresa Lascarri | Platinum blond mink | Reginald's
wife. Quiet but intelligent, she offers her advice to her husband behind
the scenes for the most part. |
| Demeter Lascarri | Dark blond mink | The Duchess' eldest
granddaughter, a conniving but cute rascal. |
| Cornelius Octavian, Viscount Westmark | Cougar | A bit
of an eccentric, dressing himself and his household in archaic costumes
and even using archaic dialect on formal occasions. His family holds vast
agricultural tracts, food, and flax and cotton; and Maidstone's textiles
industry, which he dominates, is one of the few areas in which it is
ahead of Starfall. Of the four Great Houses, he is the most interested
in maintaining the status quo with respect to Starfall -- and the least
interested in ANY change, even though technically he is junior to his
fellow Great Nobles. He is not truly a conservative, though... he doesn't
want to go back to earlier politico-economic arrangements. Violet and
gold colors |
| Lucrezia Octavian | Cougar | Daughter of the former Viscount, has inherited since he was executed for treason. |
