His Most Christian Majesty Louis the Fourteenth by the Grace of God, of the
Kingdom of France and of His other Realms and Territories, King
to General le Duc Alain de Mylcandonai
Having been intimately acquainted with all three gentlemen involved in
the recent fracas about the powers of the Minister of State, we recognize
that all have the goodness of our state at heart. You must understand that
above all else, we value the loyalty demonstrated by length of service.
Though the Princess is indeed quick to point out all your manly and
virtuous qualities, you have served the least length of time when the
company against which you are compared is Duc Senior and Duc von Fersen.
And though many argued in your favor, believing that the quality of your
service exceeds all, we look to see how our ship fairs in both fair weather
and foul. Easy enough it is to be a friend when everything is handed to
you on a gold platter; it is quite another to maintain steadfast loyalty in
the face of adversity.
Duc Axel von Fersen is the most powerful noble in the realm, second
only to ourself. He is a natural for Minister of State, and with the
support of his friends, we decided on him. In such a battle, the loser is
bound to feel his accomplishments slighted and forget to consider the
accomplishments of the victor.
As for the powers of the Minister of State, we believe they vary with
the quality of the noble who holds the position. Should we find ourselves
constantly correcting and guiding such a man, the post quickly loses its
value. Should the man overstep his bounds, he would do best to hie to
Switzerland in a fast coach. In short, the extent of the powers of the
office are a reflection of the quality of the current Minister.
We would of course expect all our nobles to work together, and as a
courtesy inform one another of important developments - nonetheless,
applications appointed by ourself should be tendered directly as such.
Louis
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[Out of NPC character: For those of you who pay close attention to the all
character listing, you've noticed that the major NPCs (the King, the
Cardinal, & the Crown Prince) are listed twice. This is because one
'version' is used by me as a PC to attend parties, etc. while the NPC
version is the one to which applications to the King are made [in case it
is unclear, the GM doesn't appoint these - it's a random roll]. This
allows influence (and a lot of it was used last month!) to be correctly
applied.]
