Geofri Dalca, The Usurped

Personal History

Born the 2nd son in a long line of kings, Geofri Dalca was raised under wealth, social power and a good education. While originally proving to be a promising scholar and with aspirations to manage and expand the Sidaca Library, he had to suddenly adjust his life after his older brother was unexpectedly killed by a Hippogriff when out boar hunting with a small party. His father passed away 2 years later after suddenly seizing and getting a dangerous fever. His last words to his son, the future king of the Golden Expanse were claimed to be "Rule with a fair and heavy hand, but do not trust the courts to be your allies."
Now king at the age of 19, Geofri found himself in a vulnerable place as his mother became a hermit within the castle as a result of his father's death, and the court around him offered "friendly" advice claiming to have his best interests in mind. While King Geofri Dalca began to focus on the future through more rights for his lower class citizens, he found the kingdoms coffers quickly draining after an earthquake destroyed several points of key infrastructure and his beloved library. The noble houses offered to rebuild smithies, military fortifications, bridges and damaged mills under the condition that they would be able to personally oversee them and their uses. Happy to have more time to himself and less time performing admin work for the kingdom, Geofri slowly and unknowingly let the noble houses gain power, wealth and control of everyday life for it's citizens more and more. 
At the peak of these noble houses power, leaders from each came to him with an ultimatum, he would anoint one of them as king and hand over his crown, or they would take it by force. Geofri, unwed, with no children, no political power, and a lack of will, feigned to think about it and grant the crown to one of them in a weeks time. When the group returned a week later, they found the king missing, having abandoned a throne he never wanted. The resulting chaos of various rich nobles desiring more power lead to The Golden Divide and lead to a fractured nation.