| “ | That boy is soft as syrup. | ” |
Count Foscar is the younger son of Grand Duke Orso of Talins, and the only decent person in Orso's inner circle.
Appearance and Personality[]
Count Foscar is a young man, with a freckled face, sandy hair, and an ill-advised attempt at a beard that only makes him look more boyish.
Foscar is a thoughtful, sober and polite young man, contrasting with his vain and cruel brother Ario. He has inherited all the honesty in his family, but none of his father’s cold-bloodedness. He's appalled by violence, and most people including his father consider him weak, bloodless and limp.
History[]
Best Served Cold[]
When Duke Orso orders Monza and Benna Murcatto killed, Count Foscar refuses to play any part in it, fleeing the room. Nonetheless, Monza manages to survive, thanks to landing on Benna's corpse and the help of a mysterious healer. Bent on revenge, Foscar is the sixth name on her list of targets.
Foscar attends the peace conference in Sipani organised by King Jezal of The Union with his brother Prince Ario. However, he refuses to go to the masked ball in a whorehouse, Cardotti’s House of Leisure. He excuses himself, saying he has a headache and avoids the massacre while Ario is killed by Monza in the top floors of Cardotti's.
After the death of General Ganmark in Visserine, Count Foscar takes command of the Talinese army and pursues Duke Rogont as far of Ospria. The decisive battleplan is for the Talinese forces to lead the attack across the lower river ford, while Nicomo Cosca's Thousand Swords flank the enemy. However, the mercenaries betray him because the Gurkish agent Ishri had bribed Cosca to stay out of the battle for a sizable amount of gold. Foscar’s forces are caught between a cavalry charge led by Monza in the front and a surprise appearance by the Sipanese army at his rear. Rogont had secretly taken advantage of Ario's murder in Sipani by Monza, to persuade Chancellor Sotorius and the Sipanese to join The League of Eight rather than incur the wrath of Duke Orso.
The Talinese army is utterly routed, and Count Foscar himself captured. Cosca gives him over to Monza to smooth things over between the pair. However, Monza can’t bring herself to kill the boy, so Caul Shivers kills him with his bare hands; they went through all this for vengeance after all.