Grand Duchess Florianne
Betrayal! Betrayal! Betrayed me! This chick sucks!
AKA:
Flo
She Who Apparently Does Not Know Who I Am
Maybe Doesn't Have a Face
The host of the fanciest party I attended as Inquisitor, Grand Duchess Florianne de Chalons was the organizer of the peace talks during the Orlesian civil war. Florianne is the brother of Grand Duke Gaspard and cousin to Empress Celene, and, in truth, was always in the shadow of her relatives. Raised to assist her brother in attaining the throne, she apparently came to resent this role at some point and when an opportunity to seize power arose, she took it. Sometime before the ball at Halamshiral, contact was made between her and the Venatori, and a scheme took form. Flo would kill the Empress and throw the strongest nation on Thedas into chaos, and in return she would be granted rule over the continent after Corypheus had ascended to godhood and conquered the world. Unfortunately for all involved in said scheme, my trip to the future meant the Inquisition knew about it, though we didn’t have many of the details, like who the assassin was or how they would strike. This meant I would have to figure it out as the evening went along. At the ball, Flo and I met on the dance floor for some Game-playing, where she gave me a tip to check the Winter Palace gardens for the mercenaries her brother had snuck into the soiree. I did, and found the soldiers, and a Fade Rift, and Flo, who promptly monologued the entire plan to me and then left. Unfortunately for her, I’m me, and we quickly broke out of her trap and proceeded to reveal the entire plot and embarrass her in front of the assembled nobility of Orlais. Realizing that she had gambled on Corypheus and lost, she was captured without a fight and taken prisoner by the Inquisition, after which I was able to decide her fate. Ultimately, it would have been a waste to just kill a woman of her talents, so I gave her a job in the Inquisition. As my court jester. And even though she was never any good at actually telling jokes or being funny, for whatever reason, every time I saw her in her new outfit, I smiled.
