Venzi dal Vento ("Venzi, from the wind")

TRAITS:
  Brawn   2       [8]
  Finesse 3       [16]
  Wits    3       [8]
  Resolve 2       [8]
  Panache 3       [16]

ARCANA:
  Loyal           [-10]

ADVANTAGES:
  Vodacce (r/w)   [1]
  Castillian      [3 xp]
  Cymru (ACQ)     [3 xp]
  Eisen (ACQ)     [3 xp]
  Combat Reflexes [3]
  Keen Senses     [2]
  Membership: Swordsman's Guild [free]

BACKGROUNDS:
  Seeking revenge against brothers [1]
  Possibly recognizable as former pirate [1]

SWORDSMAN SCHOOL:
  Ambrogia

SKILLS:
  Fencing: Attack 3, Parry 3                        [4 (skill for free)]
  Dirty Fighting: Attack 2, Throat Strike 1         [1, 2 xp (skill for free)]
  Knife: Attack 3, Parry 1, Throw 1                 [4, 2 xp]
  Athlete: Climbing 2, Footwork 3, Sprinting 1, Throwing 1 [4]
  Sailor: Balance 2, Climbing 2, Knotwork 1, Rigging 1, Swimming 1 [3, 2 xp]
  Courtier: Dancing 1, Etiquette 1, Fashion 1, Oratory 1   [2]
  Scholar: History 1, Mathematics 1, Philosophy 1, Research 1, Astronomy 1 [2, 2 xp]
  Gambling (Specialty) 1                                   [1]

  Feint 1         [0]
  Pommel Strike 2 [0, 4 xp]
  Riposte 1       [0]
  Exploit Weakness (Ambrogia) 1 [0]

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Foreigners associate Vodacce so strongly with treachery and betrayal
that they imagine all who live there spend their entire lives skulking
around back alleys, stabbing each other with one hand while trading
illicit poisons with the other. This is curious, forgetting as it does
the uncountable beauties of Vodacce -- the vineyards, ripening in the
sun; the hills, green and lush or sparse but still beautiful; the
food, the wine, the parties -- and also forgetting that generally, a
single stab in the back is all you really need to get ahead in life.

Venzi was raised from birth in the beautiful side of Vodacce. His
father, Virgilio Tagliati, was a minor noble, a side-branch of the
Bernoulli family. He was getting on in years, but still the head of
the family, and still running his estate in north-east Vodacce. His
wife Marianna having died in childbirth some years ago, he had been
left to raise his three sons alone. Venzi was the middle child -- his
elder brother was Luciano, a fool who was unable to look beyond his
own appetites, and his younger brother was Angelo, who was wicked.

It is no surprise, then, that Venzi was his father's favorite, and so
no surprise, then, that Venzi's brothers decided he must be gotten rid
of. Once the plan was made the execution was simple enough. Luciano and
Angelo took Venzi out drinking, and sometime at the height of the party
things went black. Venzi awoke to the cry of birds and the gentle
rocking of the ground; further inspection showed the floor was made of
wood planks, the birds were gulls, and he was shackled in the hull of
a slave ship heading for the Crescent Empire.

You might think the story ends here, and so perhaps it should -- but
you forget about Fate. Somewhere a hand reached out, a thread twisted,
and up on deck, the lookout shouted "pirates!" 

Generally pirates avoid slave ships heading to the Crescent Empire, as
they are filled with slaves and not with the treasures paid for them. 
But this particular pirate ship was in need of crew, and its
commander, Captain Avery, gave the order to board the slave ship. The
battle was short and decisive, and at the end, the slavers and their
slaves were given the same offer: join up or be left to drift. 

The slave-ship's officers declined the pirates' generous deal, as did
some of the frightened or foolish slaves. But Venzi, at least, saw a
new destiny stretching ahead of him. Avery had saved his life and Venzi
would do his best to see that debt repaid. 

Venzi sailed with the pirates for four years. This life was so
different from the one he had led back in Vodacce that it seemed like
that one was just a dream, and yet it was skills he had learned then
that saved his life now. Fencing lessons, only half-heard at the time,
came back stronger than ever once they were truly needed. Supplementing
these, Venzi learned new abilities and new reflexes to survive at sea,
and was finally beginning to settle in when everything changed once
more.

Avery was a clever man but perhaps had grown arrogant with success. Or
maybe he just got unlucky once too often. In any case, the latest
captured prize turned out to be a decoy bristling with soldiers, there
were two other guard-ships hidden behind the island, and a disasterous
battle left Avery and three-quarters of his crew dead, and the rest
scattered. 

Some Fate Witches say there is always a thread that ties you to your
homeland, and it requires only a tug to pull you back no matter how
far you have roamed. Whether or not this is true, it is certainly true
that when Venzi finally made his way to a tavern in a nearby port, and
sat down with a glass of wine to collect his thoughts, he realized it
was time to go home. 

Avery had bound him to the waves, and he had served faithfully, but he
was bound no longer, and there were other commitments to fulfill. He
booked a cabin on a ship bound for Vodacce (it was strangely pleasant
to be passenger now, instead of crew), and, some days later, stepped
onto Vodacce soil for the first time in years.

Venzi felt his thin purse -- enough for a week's lodging, perhaps. But
his mind had already drifted onto other things. His hand drifted to
the hilt of his sword, and he gazed off at a point far in the distance. 
"Luciano, Angelo," Venzi murmured. "I have come back for you."

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(Sempronia's note)
GM whispers, "It reads merely, "Money and connections will be
yours. The power of de Falisci will help you regain your position.""