Okay, a few character ideas (I may play one or a few, depending on approval/interest);

-A swashbuckling Valanian aristocrat/statesman. Very much in the vein of a 'Musketeers' type, with a taste for the good life but also some real-world military experience (as a leading officer, of course). He'll play some part in setting state policy and be working to redirect the more egregious excesses of Valanian aristocracy to the good, in a somewhat 'Scarlet Pimpernel' fashion. I want him to have a more Francophone-sounding name, indicative (at least in my mind) of being from very old Carcassonian stock. He'll probably operate primarily in Voltas and anywhere else high society flocks.

-A stoic Sarifen spy. He's one of the informants keeping the Sarifen govt. up-to-date on the movements of the southern nations and the general disarray of the region (refugees, famine, civil unrest, what-have-you). He may or may not be playing double agent, or end up switching allegiances. His POV would focus on the cloak-and-dagger espionage going on behind the scenes as war builds up.

-A merchant's daughter who joins the Holy Sisterhood (if class doesn't bar her inclusion, anyway). 'Cause, hey, you gave me the opening. Her arc would follow the breakout of warfare between Valania and Sarife firsthand, as well as the ground-level effects of the decisions made by the nobility and govts.

I hope I haven't gone too far off the mark with any of these.