Serkal Sandspark

Lord Serkal Sandspark

Serkal Sandspark grew up an only child under the capricious rule of his always-eccentric father, Cougal. While his father was a virtuoso of sorts, obsessed with art, draconic studies and even the prospect of entering others' dreams, Serkal was a humourless, dour child who seemed to take his role as an heir more seriously than Cougal took his role as the actual lord. From an early age, Serkal immersed himself in studies of alchemy, magitech, and history, in preparation for his role as lord of the largest alchemical centre in Arkhera. So grim was Serkal's countenance that Cougal hired a fool, Mezzag, to lighten his mood, though in the end Serkal cut through the jester's whimsy and instead they befriended each other over what appeared to be mutual depression.
As he grew into a young man, more of Sandpark Tower's responsibilities fell to him. Cougal would, in his increasingly whimsical behaviour, refuse to speak to his wife, Strakha Saltclaw, as well as his brother-by-law and vassal, Veraz Saltclaw, saying that they 'stunk of Yukishima' and in general exhibiting traits of paranoia and irrational anger. This was in spite of the fact that aside from the alchemical and mineral deposits accessed from the Scorchpeaks, the Saltclaws' town, Sandport, was the single most valuable asset the Sandsparks had, owing to its trade connections to the Soltelle Empire.
Serkal, undaunted, would soothe relations and keep his father occupied with a personal studio gifted on his naming day and other harmless pursuits that would keep him out of politics while the true power of Sandspark Tower stabilised his rule ahead of time. He hired a new wisdom, Selen'har, a female go-getter of a high elf, to replace the sycophantic old gnome, Gibb, whose main contribution was enabling Lord Cougal's growing madness, then began amassing a personal guard of sorts. Cougal eventually grew to realise he was being sidelined by his wife and son alike, and so grew ever more spiteful.
He would rove through Sandspark Tower, sleeping with all sorts of commoner women, and eventually got one of his subjects, Skarea, pregnant with a bastard. While Cougal regularly threatened to legitimise the child, Gregal, Serkal was completely unthreatened, as not only was he more respected than his father by the city and his fellow lords alike, but this bastard would be younger than him, and therefore behind him in succession regardless. This inability to faze Serkal led Cougal to become increasingly investigative, trying and failing to bribe Selen'har to dig up dirt on Serkal, and then turning to Mezzag to see if he'd betray Serkal, only to find their friendship was also unbreakable. Serkal may not have been an outgoing sort, but those he befriended were unshakeable allies.
Eventually, Cougal decided to target Serkal's mother, abusing her and beating her simply as an outlet for his aggression that attacking the at this point physically imposing (for a goblin) Serkal wouldn't achieve safely. This led to Serkal surreptitiously supplying his mother with a gun that inevitably ended up used in self defense. The gravely injured Lord Cougal Sandspark spent his last days an angry, delusional madman blaming everyone else for his folly to the last, and eventually Wisdom Selen'har gave him extract of belladonna to ease his passing. While Serkal had never fully loved his father even at his most harmless, the occasion was full of melancholy.
Serkal would rise to lord quietly and without question, with most agreeing that it was essentially donning the title for a position he'd already filled long before. He'd strengthen his relationship with the Saltclaws, reach an uneasy truce with his neighbours and rivals in Parakos, and start dabbling in Yukishiman research papers. It would be through these papers that he found evidence that degenerative madness with age, especially in creatively gifted people, was a heritable trait. This knowledge would grow to haunt Serkal, and though he kept up his boring-yet-successful reign as a politician, as a person he would grow pervasively pessimistic about his future, especially following his mother's death, where, on her deathbed, she recalled the time her father-by-law, Serkal's grandfather, exhibited similar behaviour to Cougal in his old age.
The freshly orphaned Lord Sandspark decided that if he began showing signs of the madness his father had, he would need an heir that was younger than him, but wouldn't be a teenager upon his death. He had long known he had no desire for women, so the solution he had in mind would work on multiple counts. He ironically did what his father perpetually threatened to do himself; he legitimised his bastard half-brother, Gregal. He was a teenager at the time, and while he knew of his heritage he didn't know or care for his father, while he only knew of his brother as a politician, not as kin.
Serkal, meanwhile, tried his hardest to treat Gregal with kindness and respect, ensuring that despite his low birth, he would be invited to any and all diplomatic summons and feasts. Eventually the two would forge a working bond, though Gregal consistently showed more interest in blacksmithing, alchemy and fighting than politics. Still, with Serkal's resources, Gregal had grown to be an accomplished young man, and so Serkal's contingency plan was assured.
Time wore on, and Serkal eventually settled on the way he'd take his own life if he ever began to show the signs of his father's madness. He took up climbing the massive tower that acted as his family home, scaling the tallest structure in Arkhera save the Great Lake Obelisk with little more than the cracks between the bricks and his claws, and would regularly sit atop the tower and gaze over the great desert that was the Sea of Daemons, or, occasionally, he'd turn his eye north-west, towards the Scorchpeaks. It was a beautiful sight, worthy of the last thing he'd behold before death.
As such, Serkal now lives with a publicly known will written; when he dies, he expects his half-brother Gregal to assume responsibility of Sandspark Tower, and after this, he trusts Gregal to choose a suitable heir among his children. He is vague on this last point because his nephew is younger than his eldest niece, and given contemporary succession trends seen in the Houses of Foenaxas and Verawor, he wishes to keep Gregal flexible on whether Nazza or Zazz is his successor. He's beloved by his subjects and the bane of his liege lord and rivals, as his only goal is to stoically ensure the continued greatness of his family line after the embarrassment his father brought to it.

Physical Description

General Physical Condition

Serkal Sandspark has a crest of fiery orange hair which stretches around his head and acts as a set of sideburns and beard too. His eyes are a noticeable orange, wide and large as with all goblins. His skin is a scaly green without noticeable dappling or brown patches, and his claws, when protracted, are surprisingly sharp for a noble goblin; this is due to his hobby of climbing the outer edge of his tower.
When acting as a noble, he wears rich, Madaki-style clothing; oranges, greens, and reds, along with a small Nadibhan-style round-hat upon his head. When climbing, meanwhile, he wears minimal clothing that's easy to move in, usually shorts and a simple goblin-sized tunic.

Social

Contacts & Relations

Wisdom Selen'har (wisdom)
Novice Rika (wisdom's apprentice)
Mezzag the Fool (jester and friend)
Sir Marwyn Brighthair (knight, personal guard)
Dame Corrina Kel'gasmar (knight, personal guard)
Sir Aryx Moonspawn (knight, naval commander)
Count Geraz Saltclaw (economically important vassal and cousin)
Overlord Kel'nas Sinhelios (overlord)

Family Ties

Religious Views

Serkal Sandspark accepts all religious temples within his city, and has even tolerated the construction of a Yukishiman temple to the Sovereign's Cult, making the city a haven for Yukishiman immigrants that otherwise feel marginalised. However, this doesn't speak to his own personal religiosity, but rather his lack thereof. To him, all religion looks the same, and he doesn't care what others believe, provided they aren't trying to proselytise him.

Alignment

Lawful Neutral

Current Location

Sandspark Tower

Species

Goblin

Ethnicity

Arkheran

Honorary & Occupational Titles

Lord of Sandspark Tower
Liege Lord of Sandport and the Scorchpeaks

Year of Birth

506 AGA 45 Years old

Circumstances of Birth

Noble

Birthplace

Sandspark Tower

Parents

Cougal Sandspark

Strakha Saltclaw

Current Residence

Sandspark Tower

Gender

Male

Eyes

Orange

Hair

Red

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Green and scaly

Height

3'8''

Aligned Organization

House of Sandspark

Other Affiliations

• House of Saltclaw
• House of Sinhelios
• Sea of Daemons

Known Languages

Common Tongue
Goblinese Malassaian