A skilled swordsman, Simas Dagaroth retired from the army to become a fencing instructor in a great noble estate in Remesiana. Simas moved into his employer’s property along with his wife and baby boy Davy, where they enjoyed the patronage of Viscount Vitiaros. As long as Simas did a good job passing down the arts of swordsmanship to the Viscount’s children, the Dagaroth were a welcomed part of the estate’s staff.
Indeed, Simas was a very good teacher. He made sure the Viscount’s two teenage boys become quite decent fencers, despite the late start in their training. When the boys were old enough that they finished their lessons and moved on to helping the Viscount run the estate, Simas’ undivided attention fell to Portia Vitiaros, the Viscount’s young daughter. At the time, she was roughly the same age as Simas’ son; he then decided to have Davy, who had been training privately at their cottage, spar with Portia. Thus Davy and Portia became fencing partners—the first step to a more complex partnership.
Being much younger than her brothers, Portia was a lonely child, and found in Davy someone she could spend time with. Davy, on the other hand, was fascinated by her beauty and by the lure of such a carefree existence as Portia’s. Having grown up as a mere witness to the Vitiaros’ wealth, Davy resented the fact that the staff were always relegated to a position of inferiority, even if his life was much better than that of the Halfling slaves. All that was forgotten when he was with Portia: she was a gateway to a better world. For this, Davy loved her.
When the pair hit puberty, they secretly started a romance, which went on through most of their teenage years, despite some ups and downs thanks to Davy’s temper. Portia also changed, pressed by her father to take more part in the family and their commitments as nobles. Her leisure time receded increasingly, until their trysts in the property’s vast grounds practically seized. Davy could barely find the time to speak to Portia during their fencing practice, afraid of Simas’ stern watch.
This left Davy skulking around, always angry for no reason, but it got worse when the Viscount gathered all his family and servants to announce Portia’s engagement to a noble man from a nearby estate. Davy could not bear it any longer: to everyone’s shock, the boy protested and threw himself at Portia’s feet, begging her not to marry and revealing their romance. Portia denied everything and refused to look him in the eye, storming out of the room in tears. The Dagaroth were discharged the very next morning.
From then on, disgraced, the Dagaroth fell on hardship. Davy could think of nothing but vengeance, and that much thinking paid off when one night, drinking at the tavern, he recognized a man he had seen many times as a boy, while furtively wandering the Vitiaros house with Portia. This man behaved as no noble, and in hindsight his encounters with the Viscount seemed unjustifiable. Davy approached the man and, over the course of a few weeks, gained his trust, learning that he was an agitator plotting against House Thrune. His group was sponsored by the Viscount, and one of the Viscount's sons, Tito Vitiaros, even attended personally their meetings. Davy rejoiced with the discovery: it was all he needed to get back at the Viscount and Portia.
Davy looked for the authorities and informed about the Vitiaros’ treason, adding that a great opportunity would soon arise to get them all in one place. He suggested the raid to take place in Portia’s upcoming wedding. Surely enough, the Hellknights showed up to the ceremony uninvited, arresting nearly the whole family.
Before the Hellknights appeared, though, Davy had climbed up Portia’s balcony in a last desperate attempt to reconcile. While the wedding preparations took place, he kept her locked inside her room and repeatedly tried to convince her to run away, claiming that something bad was about to happen, and she still had the chance to escape if she eloped with him. Portia understood what he meant when she saw through her window the Hellknights storming in. “How could you”, she asked Davy, heartbroken, before refusing to go with him. Deeply disturbed, Davy grabbed her by force and dragged her out into the woods, where he met Simas.
Simas had been worried Davy would attempt something foolish on the day of Portia’s wedding, and had been keeping an eye on his son. Drawing his sword, he lifted it to Davy’s neck and commanded him to let Portia go. Simas also asked if the raid was Davy’s doing, and upon confirmation, disavowed his own progeny. “You are no son of mine.”
Portia escaped, though she remains wanted by the authorities. Her brother Tito also managed to flee. The rest of the Vitiaros were hanged, and their properties seized by House Thrune. As for Davy, he left his home for good, and after receiving a reward for the delation, found that there was money to be made in service of House Thrune. After accepting a few assignments to uncover more traitors, Davy got his own handler to work with, and was assigned to Longacre. The job consists mostly of keeping his eyes and ears open while doing whatever he wants—which sums up to drinking, feasting, fighting, and fornicating.
