Louis VI, Archduke of Glorinel

Louis VI is the Archduke of Glorinel.

Summary
Increasingly withdrawn, made less present by age and paranoia, Louis VI rules now as Archduke of Glorinel for forty-nine years.

Wearied by war and rebellion throughout his reign, the Duchy of Azurefell (to which he pretends) forever insurmountable, the Archduke lingers in the halls of his palace attended by a dozen counsellors. His absence from the city and the country both has rendered him almost incapable and his dependence on the very courtiers he distrusts has grown. He has not yet relapsed into the tyranny he displayed earlier in his rule, but a purge of some description seems increasingly likely to take place.

When he first came to the archducal throne, Louis was already less than popular. His harsh control of the County of Westmore, when he was prince and heir to the Archduchy, was already recounted across much of the realm. His failed march into the Duchy of Azurefell to seize his own brother brought him yet greater infamy and shame. Humiliation was thereafter synonymous with the prince’s name, but to recall this was to risk great and terrible retribution.

Though stern, cruel at times even, Louis remained effective and continues to be at least partially so. His approach to rule was altogether different from his mother’s. When she died in 3E 251, Louis (then 33 and already a father twice) came to the throne as a great changer of ways. A radical restructuring and reformation of government and power took place almost as soon as he reached the capital. In just five years, the bulk of the old Callian rump was replaced. In ten years, it was altogether extinguished. Against the backdrop of short-lived rebellions, Louis reforged the Archduchy in a new Contoire image.

Azurefell Inheritance
When his father dictated on his deathbed that Azurefell should pass to Philippe, Louis left enraged. He was now made inferior in rank to his younger brother, despite his succession to the Archduchy of Glorinel remaining secure. The viscount of Maes, his principal advisor at the time, later recalled that the Count had spent no longer than a single hour morning his father’s passing in 3E 238.

Louis travelled with haste to Gwenith castle with a band of knights, intending to force his brother’s abdication of his inheritance. The late Duke of Azurefell had some years earlier sent Philippe to the border castle, charging the local baron with raising him. Westmore’s coming was neither unexpected nor hidden. Messengers rode into the duchy, calling on able men-at-arms to save their new duke.

When he arrived, Louis found no welcome. Demanding his brother be turned over, he was met with Baron Piers’ declaration from the ramparts: ‘In piety to my masters old and new, I cannot in good conscience send my charge into captivity.’

Unwilling and certainly unable to seize the castle by force of arms, Louis established a small camp on its outskirts. Sending Sir Regis Achery back to Westmore with his silver brooch, tasking him with mustering a larger force, the Count waited rather impatiently. Each day, a knight approached the castle to challenge a duel for custody of the young duke. Each day, the knights were refused.

This went on for a fortnight before the arrival of knights from Azurefell. Led by Sir Henri Noyant, they surrounded Louis’ camp as if now laying siege to the besiegers. Outnumbered and encircled, with no report of the nearness of his force from Westmore, Louis was forced into negotiation for his own exit. A hostage and accused invader, he was deliberately stalled by Noyant in lengthy talks. Philippe escaped during this time, fleeing deep into Azurefell.

Embittered and embarrassed, Louis returned to Westmore emptyhanded. His release was secured by a hefty ransom, for which he was publicly admonished in the capital. This humiliation marked the beginning of the Count’s sour view of his brother and the Duchy of Azurefell.