Shartorial Infelance, a native of Farrog, was the Seneschal of the Royal Palace of Farrog.[1] As Seneschal, Shartorial was responsible for the Royal Palace's domestic arrangements and for the administration of its servants.[2]
The Seneschal was a tall, attractive woman of regal bearing who wore opulent robes of silk and spiked heels on her small feet.[3][4][5] She possessed delicate brows.[3] When she moved around the Royal Palace at night, Shartorial carried an ornately jeweled oil-lamp to light her way.[3][4]
In The Fiends of Nightmaria[]
After Bauchelain and Korbal Broach usurped the throne of N'Gorm the Lesser and installed themselves as king and Grand Bishop of Farrog, relations with neighbouring Nightmaria became belligerent as Farrog raided their Imperial caravans and encroached on their borders. While Grand General Pin Dollop was exuberant over the changes, Shartorial Infelance questioned their wisdom.[6]
The new king also ordered the arrest of any who might possibly be a threat to their domination of the city. One of those arrested was Steck Marynd, one of the Nehemothanai who sought to end the necromancers' reign of terror.[7] The Seneschal became smitten with the woodsman and Binfun, the Royal Torturer of Farrog, allowed her to regularly gaze upon him through a spy-hole looking into the palace's torture chamber. She used her influence with Binfun to spare Steck's face, but inevitably the time came for Steck's execution.[8]
Shartorial first tried to secretly poison Binfun's food, but he refused to eat because of a feud with the Cook at the Royal Palace. She finally resorted to stabbing him in the chest with his dinner knife. When she went to free Steck, he refused to go unless his fellow survivors of the pilgrimage described in Crack'd Pot Trail (Tulgord Vise, Apto Canavalian, Brash Phluster, Tiny Chanter, Flea Chanter, and Midge Chanter) were released as well. The Seneschal was impressed by Steck's innate nobility and honoured the request.[9] She brought them to the armoury for weapons and they were soon wandering the dungeon tunnels.[10]
At one point, the Seneschal and the others had a mayhem-filled encounter with a group of thieves--the 'Party of Five'--who were searching the tunnels for their imprisoned Guild Mistress, Dam Loudly Heer.[11] Shartorial's nose was broken in the brawl and she brought them to the Royal Apothecary for some badly-needed healing. But they were ambushed there by thirty-two of Bauchelain's demons.[12] Apto fled and did not return.[13] Shartorial's clothes were torn to bits in the melee so she found a new shimmery dress of creamy silk with rose petal patterns and freshly coiffed her hair.[14][15] Recovering from the fight, Steck opined on his past desires to be an epic poet. An impressed Shartorial smothered him in kisses and proclaimed she was sure he could be the Century's Greatest Artist.[16]
The group moved on to confront Bauchelain and Korbal Broach in their throne room while Brash Phluster lingered behind to leave the palace on his own.[17] Bursting into the throne room, the Nehemothanai found only Demon Prince Flail Their Limbs. He informed them that they were too late--Bauchelain and Korbal Broach had already fled before the oncoming Nightmarian army, which planned to sack the city. Before leaving the room, the prince warned the group that Bauchelain had left behind a dangerous demonic mouse on the throne as his heir. Determined to destroy any minion of the necromancer, the skeptical Nehemothanai ignored the advice and prepared to rush the mouse. When the doors to the throne room slammed all around them, a startled Steck accidentally loosed his quarrel at the mouse and unleashed mayhem.[18] From the street outside, Brash saw the Royal Palace collapse.[19] The ultimate fate of Shartorial and the others was not given.
Notes and references[]
- ↑ The Fiends of Nightmaria, Section 3
- ↑ Adapted from the American Heritage Dictionary entry for "seneschal".
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 The Fiends of Nightmaria, Section 10
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 The Fiends of Nightmaria, Section 11
- ↑ The Fiends of Nightmaria, Section 24
- ↑ The Fiends of Nightmaria, Section 4
- ↑ The Fiends of Nightmaria, Section 4
- ↑ The Fiends of Nightmaria, Section 10
- ↑ The Fiends of Nightmaria, Section 10
- ↑ The Fiends of Nightmaria, Section 14
- ↑ The Fiends of Nightmaria, Section 17
- ↑ The Fiends of Nightmaria, Section 20
- ↑ The Fiends of Nightmaria, Section 23
- ↑ The Fiends of Nightmaria, Section 23
- ↑ The Fiends of Nightmaria, Section 24
- ↑ The Fiends of Nightmaria, Section 24
- ↑ The Fiends of Nightmaria, Section 24
- ↑ The Fiends of Nightmaria, Section 27
- ↑ The Fiends of Nightmaria, Section 28