Faudpierre LaChante
From BluWiki
(103 FS - ) Faudpierre LaChante was born the only son of Frederic and Elise LaChante, powerful shipping tycoons in Darvin. Though the noble families of Altair scoff at the elite of Darvin, LaChante was raised with all the trappings of nobility. He was taught rhetoric, fencing, sailing, and various other disciplines and when his father died of plague in 125 FS, he took over his shipping empire. But as Faudpierre took the helm, his rival, Charles Beauregard, was just beginning to make a name for himself in Darvin.
Dismissive of this young upstart at first, LaChante soon learned to respect Beauregard's mercantile cunning and beguiling charm. Once Beauregard came into his prime, the city lay divided between the two juggernauts. This competition brought prosperity to Darvin as each leader sought to bring in more goods and revenue than his counterpart. The feud was not without blood, but there existed a fierce respect between Beauregard and LaChante.
This was all to change with the Figaro secession. At first hailed as a boon to the city, both LaChante and Beauregard began courting Figaro officials for their trade support, but the latter soon prevailed with the help of Ghaleon Ebonheart. The blessing was short-lived, though, as the Fire Legion laid siege to Altair within mere weeks of the breaking of the treaty. With the fall of the city came a flood of refugees to Darvin. Unable to regulate the influx, food and resources soon became scarce and riots and disease riddled the city. Both LaChante and Beauregard struggled to maintain control, but the citizenry had begun its spiraling descent into anarchy.
That is, until Beauregard brought the Dogs of War into his employ. With their brutal efficiency against him, in 135 FS LaChante quickly found himself driven from the city with his few remaining supporters in tow. Sensing no welcome in the Figaro capital of Port Rameau, he hid his boats and retreated west toward Fenwood, where he set up a bandit operation in some ancient ruins. Preying on the refugees of Haven, the bandits eked out a living, but they were harrowed by constant attacks from the living dead that dwelled in the lower reaches of the ruins.
In 136 FS, LaChante struck a bargain with Aldaren Sterenfeuer and his companions for revenge on Beauregard in exchange for aid against the ever-encroaching Fire Legion and a cessation of attacks on Haven. True to his word, LaChante used one of his remaining boats to help villagers escape when the Fire Legion fell upon the refugee town. He and his followers dwelt with the Resistance at their headquarters in Riverbend for approximately two months before disappearing mysteriously.
He was discovered in 137 FS by Cyrus and Aldaren Sterenfeuer in his ship, L'Esprit de Mer, off the coast of Port Rameau. He had enlisted Elena to gather information for him in Darvin in exchange for a journal he claimed to have, written by Elmaier. When his ruse was uncovered and his crew assaulted by Cyrus, he lifted anchor and sailed away. One of his captains, "Fightin'" Phil McFee leads a trade group in Nomad's Rest, claiming to act on the authority of the pirate lord.
LaChante's new home was discovered by Aldaren and Ceralin, spying his ship moored in Empyria harbor on the Isles of the Sky. His men were seen bearing strange weapons, short staves of wood and iron that spit fire. His location and newfound equipment aroused suspicions that he had allied himself with the Faulken Empire.
These suspicious were confirmed when, after hearing that the Dogs of War had left Darvin, LaChante led his small fleet into the harbor, easily destroying or demoralizing his opposition with Faulken technology, and took control of the city. He banished Beauregard from the city and rules as Faulken governor in all aspects except name.
