Group: Mackintash
Barony: Chelmsford
County: Warwick
Duchy: York
Race: Human
Born in The Coach and Horses public house in Londinium, son of the Landlord Martin Carden and his wife Victoria, Darwin’s early childhood was a happy one. His grandfather Nathaniel, upon his death, had passed the hugely successful tavern on to his son and business was good. The Coach and Horses was a hub of trade with many of the cities most influential traders and noblemen frequenting both the taproom and the private offices upstairs. Darwin listened at the foot of many tables while deals where struck and fortunes made.
But times, and fortunes, change. The civil war saw the Carden family losing its wealth in ventures overseas and when Martin travelled north to fight with his Cousin Eric he died tragically before his sword was even removed from its scabbard, falling from a spooked horse. Back in Londinium, broken hearted from her loss and pressured by debtors, Victoria sold the Coach and Horses under the agreement that she and her two boys, Darwin and Jasper, could continue to live above the premises. The new owners were an unscrupulous bunch however and had a more profitable and less respectable vision for the Coach and Horses in mind. It was renamed ‘The Rose and Peach and became little more than a brothel. Victoria barely noticed, lost as she was in grief and Darwin and his brother were left to fend for themselves during their teenage years in a city much changed during the war. Darwin quickly fostered a love for fighting, drinking and earned a reputation of something of a ladies
man and also a lover of bad puns.
Darwin and Jasper both began working as guards on the overland caravans of the Mackintash Trading Collective when they turned eighteen, working and fighting with loyalty, efficiency and honour. Here they formed bonds of friendship with the Mackintash and Jasper soon went to work in the Londinium offices while Darwin rose through the ranks of the martial arm of the group.
While at sea aboard a Mackintash trading vessel, Darwin received word that his mother had died at the hands of a patron of The Rose and Peach. Returning to London to pay his respects, he was shocked to learn that his mother had been working at the Peach, entertaining clients in her private chambers like a common whore. When he broke this news to Jasper, his brother revealed he had known for some time but not told Darwin, scared of his reaction. His mothers killer was never found, and barely looked for, leaving Darwin fuming at the injustice.
It was at this point that Darwin began to spend more time at sea aboard the ‘Drunken Duck’ with his good friend and drinking companion Captain Simon and met companions who would later, through stories of rooftop chases and back street showdowns, seduce him into joining the Militia guild where he quickly attained the rank of Sergeant. With the Mackintash expanding rapidly with multiple sea faring vessels and larger caravans, Darwin’s position of Martial Commander of the Macintash was formalised and he became the voice of their military arm with the Harts of Albion.
Darwin can be found either on guild duty, standing up for justice with a solid sword and shield, or propping up the bar of the Mackintash tavern, singing a song and telling a tale of one of his bedroom conquests which occasionally, just occasionally, is not entirely lies.