| “ | I'm willing to spend troops. I'll gladly waste a thousand of them just to get one of you. My master summoned these gutter races up from the infernal pits for just such a purpose. The common joke is: Their own name for their race translates into our tongue as... heh... "archery targets." | „ |
| ~ Count Aucassin de Beaucaire to Colonel Bearskin, Fables: The Last Castle |
Count Aucassin de Beaucaire is a human Fable who was a military general for the Empire. He appears in flashbacks from the Homelands in Fables: The Last Castle.
History
| “ | If you surrender now, I'll spare the women and children. They'll live in dire captivity... but at least they'll live. | „ |
| ~ Count de Beaucaire to Colonel Bearskin in Fables: The Last Castle |
During the final stand at the Last Castle, Vulco Crow informed Colonel Bearskin that the the Adversary's army was a day away at most, and they were being led by General de Beaucaire, an old rival of Bearskin's. The count and Colonel Bearskin had a history, as he previously lost to the colonel in a past skirmish at Boxen.[1]
The next day, the goblin army finally arrived. Colonel Bearskin's troops succeeded, barely, in fighting them off, suffering only a single casualty while the goblins lost three hundred of their own. However, Bearskin knows that the goblins didn't even use a fraction of their forces, saying that when the real battle starts, the only survivors will be the lucky few on Bluebeard's ship. The enemy has brought out a white flag, allowing a chance to parley. Colonel Bearskin, being the highest rank, decides to head over and meet with the enemy General. Being his orderly, Boy Blue was obliged to come along, though he was afraid that it may be a trick. Bearskin came face to face with the enemy general, who turned out to be Count de Beaucaire, whom he's faced in battle several times in the past. The Count was a man of some honor and offered Colonel Bearskin a chance to surrender before his massive army took them all out, with promises that the women and children in the keep would get to live, albeit as slaves. At first he wanted an answer immediately, but Bearskin replied that he'd need to go over it with his men first. Count de Beaucaire replied that he would give him as much time as it took before he started getting bored of waiting.[1]
The count never received a reply. The next morning he launched a full-scale assault on the castle, his army eventually overcoming any who remained behind to defend it. Unfortunately for him, de Beaucaire never saw his victory fulfilled, as Lady Britomart picked up her spear and hurled it into the sky. It was an enchanted weapon, one that would seek out any target she chose. Beyond the walls, out in the field, General de Beaucaire was shocked only for a moment when the weapon impaled him, then he died, never knowing of the goblin's victory.[1]
Original source
He is based on the Count of Beaucaire from the French chantefable Aucassin and Nicolette.