<div class="floatleft">(http://rpgs.chrisbradleywriter.com/images/d/d4/Octavian.jpg)</div><br/><strong>Name:</strong>Octavian Lucius John Augustus, Duke of Ynysia<br/><strong>Location:</strong>Castle hall<br/><strong>Tagged:</strong>Open, Evelyn.<br/><br/><hr/><br/>Due to his high station, he and his men were given very good quarters, in a tower overlooking the city and port.  It was still dreary, as castles were, and even though there was a good window, it was high up, barred in a grid, and not very large, in his bedroom.  There was also a small fireplace, a four post bed with heavy curtains, a writing desk under the window and several comfortable chairs around a lacquered table.  There was room enough, and to enter you had to pass through a room large enough for his entire entourage, though each man - a thane in Ynysia, which was roughly a baron elsewhere, and thus of considerable rank - had their own room close at hand.<br/><br/>Octavian would have preferred to stay in his ship at harbor but it would have been an insult to do so and he wasn't ready to start insulting people, yet.  At least, not counting those who didn't insult him with suggestions that he was ignorant of the costs of battle, let's say.  He settled in.<br/><br/>He sent a couple of ships to the south to reconnoiter the situation but they hadn't returned in a week though at least one of the ships would be, soon, to give a preliminary report.  Another messenger had been sent to Maegonstat to order war preparedness and send more armed men, posing as merchants, to Freeport.  He suddenly has a sense that his current bodyguard might be too small and he didn't want to be high and dry if Freeport were taken by storm - he wanted to be able to fight his way out and prepared a couple of routes to do just that.<br/><br/>He spent a fair bit of time in council with the regent.  She wanted his ships and men and he didn't particularly wish to give them.  There was considerable give and take which centered around<i>what does Ynysia get from fighting this war?</i>The Queen Regent balked at the costs because who wants to make a potential enemy even more powerful?  There were ongoing negotiations.<br/><br/>His thanes had been given bags of money and told to spend it among the staff of the royal residence - he would pay good money for good information.  Octavian knew that the bolder of the household staff would freely gull him, but a few bits of silver to subvert royal servants was a bargain in his book.  Even if they lied, they took his money, they stopped being the King and Queen Regent's people and were, at least in part, now<i>his</i>paid retainers.  If it came out that he had bribed some staff, well, that was to be expected.  If it came out that they took bribes, it would be the ax for treachery.  But at the moment he wanted information, and even just plain things, or things that seemed plain but could offer separate intepretations when viewed in the light of an impending war.<br/><br/>He kept waiting for news from the south saying that a war had started but it didn't come.  That was a strategic mistake, he thought, allowing the other side to summon their strength.  The first time an enemy would hear of his troop movements would be in burned cities and captured strongholds.<br/><br/>He had taken to wearing a suit of hidden brigandine mail.  He still dressed with great outward wealth, but he suddenly felt a bit of need for some steel between his skin and all the knives out there.  There were only a few Ynysian blades in a sea of hostile foreigners.<br/><br/>When Evelyn left with her servant and a bag, clearly on a mission, there were servants everywhere and the news was brought to Octavian.  He grabbed the half dozen of his men who were there and double-timed it to cut off the Trissean princess.  The seven of them, armed to the teeth, caught up to the princess in one of the many halls of the rambling castle.<br/><br/>Octavian said, "Going somewhere in a hurry, princess?  I do not believe that her royal majesty has given you leave, but there you are, bag in hand, very much looking like you're going somewhere."