Julian's Prologue: The Last Man

Rogue Britannian agent maintains deep cover to save Capetia from destruction

During his intelligence gathering mission in the lead-up to the Fools' War between Britannia and Capetia, Julian had been the first to suspect that there were elements within the French government secretly collaborating with the Golden Empire. This suspicion was proven correct during the events unfolded during The Calais Connection. The value of the Calais intelligence operation had given Britannia the edge in the actual conduct of the ensuing pseudo-war, but the modest military success gained by the Britannian Wargang would prove Pyrrhic after the disastrous outcome of The Battle of Calais. The aftermath of that brief but bloody conflict had so weakened Britannia that internal forces loyal to the Phoenix Order had easily subverted the Mortmare crown and reduced Britannia to a vassal satellite of the Golden Empire.

After witnessing the treacherous defeat of Britannia, Julian realized that Capetia, having long since outlived her usefulness, would be next to fall. He knew that the Golden Empire would not be long content to have the French stand as allies of Latium, and would instead force them to kneel as slaves. Julian resolved to prevent it.

After the Fall of the Mortmare Banners and the forced deposition of Queen Isabella Mortmare, agent Beech maintained his cover in Capetia and sustained communication with Tepin Rathmore's Special Service Commandery in Free Scotland. Resisting orders to return to Edinburgh through a series of delays and "misunderstandings," Julian instead moved his operations from Calais to Paris under the pretext of monitoring Phoenix communiques.

Moreover, while Beech continued to issue reports to Prince Tepin, he surreptitiously issued truncated copies of those same reports directly to the personal correspondence of Queen Anna Capeta. Aware that many of Queen Anna's own counselors, including her Regent and Minister of War, had been subverted by Phoenix machinations, Beech conspired to pose as an errant courtier named Joyen Plage, a smitten paramour of the youthful queen. In this unlikely guise, he achieved access to the closely guarded monarch and began disclosing his intelligence through encoded missives concealed within tributes and love tokens. Julian would later answer queries about his success at wooing the queen. His only response: "I have never failed to attain that which my mission requires."