House Barginali
Salvanor Barginali b. 4580 d. 4683
Thesselrod Barginali b. 4614 d. 4719
Raynard Barginali b. 4654 d. ????
House Barginali’s roots grew as deep as Auberc’s ran shallow. The Barginalis held title to Lorvale Province (just north of the capitol and an easy ride) for centuries, dating all the way back to the time of Arvyl the First. The founder of the house, Deveros Barginali, the first Marquis of Lorvale, allied with Ataryl when he came south from Pel Aesylle and they formed a fast friendship. For longer than Ataryl’s thousand year reign, House Barginali was upheld throughout the empire as just and kind.
Sadly, all good things must come to pass, and so it was with House Barginali’s kindness. When the curse afflicted the God-Emperors, the Barginalis seemed to lose all sense of decency. Their business ventures, which included extensive holdings in the Hawkpeak mines in addition to their large and bountiful fiefdo, expanded to the growing slave trade. When Hali assumed the office of Lord Warden, Salvanor Barginali held title to Lorvale and his son, Thesselrod, a youngster of only eighteen years, was the presumptive heir. Thesselrod lived to the ripe old age of one hundred and five, passing away just a few years before Hali went into exile. He spent his last two decades at the ancestral manor in Lorvale and allowed his son, Raynard, to represent Lorvale in Tintammil.
Raynard was typical, almost prototypical, of Sangritharian nobles in the court of Torval Waverider. Having been catered to all his life, he had a strong sense of entitlement and an ego that could fill the throne room. As a young man in Tintammil, Raynard met Vand Auberc, the son of Count Istari Auberc, and nine years his junior.
Barginali learned or guessed that Vand Auberc had arranged his older brother’s death to gain the family inheritance and found that intriguing. Also, Barginali saw how Auberc commanded attention and loyalty from the sots lounging in Tintammil and thinking he could put Auberc’s charms to good use, cultivated a friendship with the swaggering count which led to frequent arguments with his father. Thesselrod thought it beneath his proud house to consort with upstart merchant nobles displaying purchased titles like they were ribbons from a country fair. Raynard, however, thought the possibilities of a relationship with the young Auberc outweighed the stink of his less than noble origins.
With Vand and Olantor, the Marquis of Videssyn, Raynard formed the triumvirate that led the nobles of Tintammil during Torval’s last years on the Pearl Throne. Though vain, Barginali was shrewed and no opponent to take lightly – he knew how to push people’s buttons and pull their strings.
However, Thesselrod wasn’t the only one who objected to his son’s alliance with Vand. Count Istani Auberc, Vand’s father was equally opposed. Unlike Vand, Istari was a good man and didn’t want his house’s honor stained by joining with the Barginalis who had made their fortune on the backs of slaves.
Raynard suggested frequently that Vand “take care of things with his father, just like you did with your brother,” and eventually, Auberc did just that while managing to make it look like an accident. After Vand became Count, he cemented his business partnership with Raynard and together transformed the Auberc business from fishing to slave trade.
As Auberc grew older and more influential, Barginali saw fit to support him from the sidelines rather than challenge him for leadership. After watching the God-Emperor deteriorate from powerful monarch to maddened despot, he wisely decided to stay out of the line of fire. Having Auberc as the face of the nobles suited Raynard well. Once Auberc was slain, however, Raynard saw little choice. He and Videssyn were the only two who could fill the void and Videssyn was anything but a leader. Reluctantly, Barginali took over the noble rabble.
A decade or so before the story told in The Curse of Arvyl’s Folly, Lord Barginali had a run-in with Kaphiri Fellstar. After hearing reports of bandits in Lorvale, Kaphiri came north at Hali’s request with a legion of Averchai, one of whom was a young Renjarro Palluri, to put the bandits out of business. You might be wondering why Kaphiri rode alongside Averchai. Well, that’s a reasonable enough question and fortunately, I have a simple answer. By 4715, when this incident took place, Daerycil Belsor had been High Warden over the Averchai for four years, more than enough time for Hali to learn just what sort of man her was. Worried about Belsor’s tendencies towards over zealousness (a nice way of saying Belsor acted before thinking), Hali asked Kaphiri to to keep an eye on the overzealous High Warden.
Surprisingly Belsor did behave on that mission, but the same can’t be said for the Marquis of Lorvale. Mounting evidence led Kaphiri to suspect the bandits of being in Barginali’s employ, but he didn’t have enough to openly accuse Barginali, so he did the next best thing – he slipped into Barginali’s castle under the cover of night and left anonymous post-it notes hinting at Barginali’s complicity. Under normal circumstances, Kaphiri’s midnight jaunt would have gone undetected, but the adjutant hadn’t counted on the arcane alarms set by Barginali’s pet wizard, an Endiron mercenary named Ustarov Vidalian. Kaphiri’s gilded tongue won him a get out of jail and Barginali’s permanent suspicions. The two crossed paths numerous times over the next decade, meetings best described as bitter and acrimonious.
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