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[Tonguez]

Thecia "the scheming enchantress” is the daughter of a lesser noble family. Her father was an officer but was killed early and her mother Ciceria survived as a courtesan soon introducing her daughter to the scheming and intricacies of the Imperial Court.
Eventually Ciceria was able to position her daughter as the lead contender for bride to the future Basilieus much to the consternation of higher ranking families.
Initially Thecia was able to use her feminine wiles to influence The Basilieus and she used that to gain position for her family and to punish her 'enemies' in court. One of her major coups was to have members of her own family appointed to all three tribune position of the city essentially allowing her to control the flow of people across the city.
Of late however The Basilieus has come to depend more and more upon his vizier and wizard Arridaeus. Corandias listens to no other voice and this means that Thecia is unable to influence things to her own advantage. She has grown jealous of the vizier and is schming to have him removed, permanently

Thecia has thus shifted her attention to the Prefect and is plotting with the Tribune of the Imperial Quarter (a distant relative named Aurius) to have Bardas removed and himself appointed as Prefect. With Bardas being so uncharismatic it should not be difficult to 'prove' his disloyalty. Once Aurius is appointed as Prefect Thecia intends moving against Arridaeus so that she alone will have the ear of The Basilieus.