Sergi Noguera i Mata was born the second son of a minor count, ruler of Roda-Mar, a stretch of shore and a series of fishing villages on the east side of the small mountains that separated the Rikkans from the east edge of Longmarch. The county had no prestige, but was relatively prosperous; the hostility of the druids and the Erastilians hadn't affected the fishing, so after they started to recover from the losses during the storms of Aroden, they were doing fairly well, and were far enough from the duke's seat that he didn't bother them too much.

This suited Sergi fine; his two elder brothers (one legitimate, one an acknowledged bastard), less so. Sergi had been ambitious as a young man, but he realized between puberty and legal adulthood that while his senses for what people wanted were sharp, his ability to put that in practice and manipulate them with it were terribly poor. He could see Ximo and Julià's plans coming and avoid being buffeted in their storms, but not turn them back on his brothers or even enlist his sisters in anything complicated.

So by the time he was eighteen he contented himself with being useful and doing the unglamorous work of fighting off the occasional beasts that tried to hunt the fishermen, with a small <junk> and an enchanted trident. Let them go to court and seek approval and promotion to greater holdings; he was small and harmless and too much trouble to attack. He became more wary when his father died under messy circumstances, and stopped ever sleeping or traveling without at least two bodyguards he'd picked personally.

What ultimately became his undoing was the fishermen. He was well-liked, as he could sail as well as half of them and most knew he'd fought off something that was threatening their specific boat. What he hadn't accounted for was that meant he had loyalty, and therefore a power base, and therefore a danger to Ximo, when he'd eliminated Julià and needed to consolidate power.

He caught the plan, having been underestimated again, and realized his ship was rigged to break the next time he hit seas of any height. He considered his options, but without another player to distract Ximo, there was no way he was going to avoid assassination long-term. He took his guards (decent adventurers, all told) and a chest of valuables, and stole the largest fishing boat in the area to make his way east to Ostenso, a pot of copper coins left in the captain's outhouse as a silent apology.

Sergi Noguera i Mata was born the second son of a minor count, ruler of Roda-Mar, a stretch of shore and a series of fishing villages on the east side of the small mountains that separated the Rikkans from the east edge of Longmarch. The county had no prestige, but was relatively prosperous; the hostility of the druids and the Erastilians hadn't affected the fishing, so after they started to recover from the losses during the storms of Aroden, they were doing fairly well, and were far enough from the duke's seat that he didn't bother them too much.

This suited Sergi fine; his two elder brothers (one legitimate, one an acknowledged bastard), less so. Sergi had been ambitious as a young man, but he realized between puberty and legal adulthood that while his senses for what people wanted were sharp, his ability to put that in practice and manipulate them with it were terribly poor. He could see Ximo and Julià's plans coming and avoid being buffeted in their storms, but not turn them back on his brothers or even enlist his sisters in anything complicated.

So by the time he was eighteen he contented himself with being useful and doing the unglamorous work of fighting off the occasional beasts that tried to hunt the fishermen, with a small cog and an enchanted trident. Let them go to court and seek approval and promotion to greater holdings; he was small and harmless and too much trouble to attack. He became more wary when his father died under messy circumstances, and stopped ever sleeping or traveling without at least two bodyguards he'd picked personally.

What ultimately became his undoing was the fishermen. He was well-liked, as he could sail as well as half of them and most knew he'd fought off something that was threatening their specific boat. What he hadn't accounted for was that meant he had loyalty, and therefore a power base, and therefore a danger to Ximo, when he'd eliminated Julià and needed to consolidate power.

He caught the plan, having been underestimated again, and realized his ship was rigged to break the next time he hit seas of any height. He considered his options, but without another player to distract Ximo, there was no way he was going to avoid assassination long-term. He took his guards (decent adventurers, all told) and a chest of valuables, and stole the largest fishing boat in the area to make his way east to Ostenso, a pot of copper coins left in the captain's outhouse as a silent apology.