Border Courtier

*"Life in the borderlands is indeed rough. Good thing I’m here to look out for your interests."*

## Advanced

(RC) Life in the courts of the Border Princes tends to be a bit more literal than in more civilised lands. Smearing an opponent involves physical mud, backstabbing involves a knife, and the losers in political contests really are gutted. Courtiers in the area thus tend to be a bit more physical than those in other regions.

The Border Courtier haunts the home of a Border Prince, hoping to survive long enough to take that position himself. Scheming, murder, and betrayal are his normal modes of operation. Paranoia is an occupational hazard, and hypocrisy is a qualification for the job.

### Secondary Profile

**Skills:** Blather, Charm, Command, Common Knowledge (Border Princes), Concealment, Dodge Blow, Gossip, Intimidate, Perception, Prepare Poison, Search, Speak Language (Any)

**Talents:** Resistance to Poison, Schemer, Street Fighting, Strike to Injure, Suave, Very Resilient

**Trappings:** Medium Armour (Chain Shirt and Leather Jack), two Sets of Noble’s Garb, one Dose of Poison (any type)

### **Career Entries**

Captain, Courtier, Noble, Outlaw Chief, Politician, Sergeant

### **Career Exits**

Assassin, Captain, Courtier, Noble Lord, Spy

## Imaschiavelli Venedetto

Over the course of his thirty year imprisonment in the Border Principality of Matorea, the Tilean philosopher, Imaschiavelli Venedetto penned his infamous treatise “The Border Prince.” Venedetto’s manuscript functions as a kind of guidebook for young border courtiers to the proper application of power (and guile) over a Border Principality. Venedetto concisely laid out the steps for seizing a Border Principality, and then how a prince should go about maintaining that power once it is seized.

Unlike the many existing treatises on statecraft, Venedetto rejected the Imperial inclination to decide patronage and succession through the bartering of influence and flattery. Smooth talk and deep pockets might well succeed in the perfumed courts of the Empire, but the acquisition of land and title in the volatile Border Kingdoms would require sterner methods.

Assassination, treachery and any kind of scheme to damage the reputation of one’s competitors were all permissible and indeed recommended if they advanced the border courtier’s agenda. Venedetto went on to write that the primary concern of every border courtier should be the preparation for war—war against his competitors, and war against those in his way. Even though an aggressive courtier is likely to gain many enemies on his ruthless ascent, Venedetto argued that it is better to be feared than loved…

The first printing of “The Border Prince” was an immediate sell-out in Remas, where the merchant and patrician classes have always shared an insatiable appetite for any salacious material concerning their spirited eastern neighbours. Before long, subsequent printings of “The Border Prince” were translated and distributed throughout the Old World. Predictably, the ideas contained within Vendetto’s manual were shocking to the cultivated Imperial reader, and “The Border Prince” was quickly banned across the Empire.

## The List

Whether it is kept as names on parchment, or notches on a dagger hilt, every border courtier has his own version of “the list”. The list is an inventory of the future victims who stand between the courtier and the position he covets. As new competitors emerge and old enemies are wiped away, the list expands and narrows until there is but one name standing between the courtier and his goal. Of course, the larger and more established Border Principalities tend to have longer lines of succession and more pretenders to the throne to deal with.

As a result of this deadly gamesmanship, one of the favoured pastimes throughout the Border Kingdoms is to make wagers on the survivability of an ascending prince’s projected targets. Bettors can increase their payout significantly by correctly predicting the method of assassination, as well as the order of victim removal. Death by poisoning generally pays even money since anyone can taint a bowl of soup. The highest payouts are reserved for the more baroque methods of execution, such as death by the hand of a family member. Nothing pleases the crowd more than to count the heads rolling as a newly emerging Border Prince carves a bloody path to the throne.