NPC Focus - Marquise Désirée Fournier

Marquise Désirée Fournier

    Mayor Marquise Désirée Fournier is the widow of the original leader of Ville des Marai, Mayor Marquise Gaston Fournier. While she wasn't originally elected to rule the city, her popularity (as well as the sympathy for her loss) slid her into the position easily. The Marquise has proven to be a boon to the city, especially among the lower class peasantry as she has granted them a paid day off from their toils every week (usually amounting to a single additional copper piece). While you would think this would irritate the upper class nobility that lord over the peasants, it has in fact been accepted with open arms in the spirit of celebration that is at the heart of Ville des Marai.

    Marquise Fournier can often be found wandering her city, talking with noble and peasant alike. She exudes a natural dignity and grace, even when covered in powdered sugar from munching on a beignet or singing a drinking song at one of the local taverns. Because of her popularity she has little fear of danger, but the sight of her half-ogre bodyguard Timothée is almost always enough to prevent her from coming to any harm. Dressed in a magical breastplate and wielding a large war pick, Timothée is exceptionally intimidating.

Timothée 

    Désirée's husband, Gaston, was a lackluster ruler at best. Little changed while he was in charge, and this led to him gaining the nickname "Gaston le Gris" ("Gaston the Gray" in common). His ineffectuality was his undoing, sadly, as he was poisoned by an unknown assailant. It is thought that a peasant murdered him, as when he was found in his bed he had a copper coin over each eye as a mockery of the tradition of placing a platinum piece over the eyes of a noble upon death (used to pay Le Passeur to take them to the afterlife). While the nobility (and even some members of the middle class) demanded that a peasant be executed for the crime, Désirée quickly proclaimed that as the assailant was unknown that no one should suffer for a crime they didn't commit. Seven peasants were eventually found murdered, but the crimes have gone unpunished.

Marquise Gaston Fournier

    Many men have vied to wed Désirée since her husband's passing, but she refuses to ever marry again. She has been heard to say, "what my husband gave me in our life together can never be replicated, and I will never soil what we had by choosing to remarry." The couple never had any children, and she can often be seen squatting down and talking to peasant children on the street. She always gives the child a silver piece for the honor of talking to them, and will give two gold pieces to the child's guardian as well. This act of selflessness has boosted her popularity among the lower class to heights previously unheard of among the city's leadership.