Alea Iacta Est

Here is part of a sample party for the next Fading Suns game. Players are welcome to grab one of these to play; we'll change what we need to fit them in with the rest of the group. They're all intended as breaks from their respective stereotypes, although that's easier (and more fun) with nobles: when you're not born into a role there are far fewer excuses to be stuck there when it doesn't suit you.

Some of them have their secrets, of course: I know what they are but I can only tell a player who is pretty well committed to playing them (obviously).

The Lord Ormond Decados, Baron of Wraxall

Mockingly called the White Knight by others of his house, Ormond was the younger son of an ultra-traditional Decados baron. On being knighted he was sent away to join the Company of the Phoenix, but the conservative establishment liked the youth's ideas of 'justice' and 'honour' and he was well liked. This only make him less popular with his father, and he might have been cast out altogether had the Baron and his eldest son not died hunting while he was away on a quest. As it is, the Count of Nailsea would gladly destroy the entire Barony to be able to get rid of the troublesome paladin, but their lord the Duke of Cadavus insists that he no nothing that might weaken the House.

The rest of the House still considers Ormond to have an 'attitude problem': his dedication has impressed the Questing Knights, even the Emperor, but it makes the rest of the Decados nervous. None of them can tell which of their depraved secrets he might have, and which he might be about to uncover for the sake of some 'greater good'.

Lady Antonia Maria Alvarez de Vera Cruz y Vasquez, of the Hazat

Lady Antonia is a niece of the Duke of Vera Cruz, youngest daughter of his brother the Count of [later]. Not even a knight, strictly, a stint as assistant to the Hazat Ambassador to the Emperor has shown how capable a negotiator she is. For the next quest, she has been attached to the Company of the Phoenix to offer her help to Ormond.

As would befit a young lady of any other house, she is skilled in various delicate pursuits that contrast her quite starkly with the militancy of the rest of her family. Quite how she will get on among reckless adventurers is the question on everyone's lips.

Antonia is not a knight or a dame by name, but certainly warrants the same level of respect and will be generated with the same rank benefice. She should be considered a dame in everything but address.

Sir Nathan Levin-Hawkwood

The Hawkwood of Delphi are glad to see the back of Nathan, although that he leaves to go into the limelight of Imperial service is a concern. He is a master of duelling, seduction and merrymaking, but even the most respectable of these is not enough to support a son of House Hawkwood so prone to subtle but drastic infractions against his own honour and that of others (and their wives).

Brother Theodore of the Sanctuary Aeon

In general, the Church puts the health of the spirit before all else, and warns that over-reliance on technology causes unavoidable harm to that. The Sanctuary Aeon care a little more for the health of the body, but still tend to err on the side of protecting the spirit. Theodore agrees, mostly, but has the controversial view that a little harm to the spirit is worth it for the benefits that the latest technology can bring to physical well-being, especially if the bodies of his patients benefit with only his spirit harmed. To that end, he is a specialist in medical technology; probably one of the finest outside the Merchant League.