I think the biggest change in Chachan's backstory would come if his brother never learned of Arcanimina. He wouldn't have gotten interested in Nymian Scholars, nor an interest in peddling information over the weapons and armor of his family. Which means he never would've had the argument that had him leave their home in a huff.
With his brother still there, Chachan would've continued to live the spoiled life of the youngest. He wouldn't have become nearly as good a smith as he did since there wouldn't have been that pressure to replace his missing brother. His dreams of fancy would be tempered by wanting to stay and help his brother.
In the end, Gogon would've likely taken over the shop and used his intelligence to really corner the arms market - really making Gegenji a household name around Doma. Chachan would've been at his side, bumbling around and helping where he could in his own good-natured way.
However, being well-known for making weapons would be... troublesome. With the razing, Garlemald would likely hit the Gegenji household as a priority target to seize the stockpile of armaments there (which they kinda did in my headcanon already). This could end in a couple ways, but two stand out to me:
1.) The family escapes and they band together in Mor Dhona, seeking to rebuild their family business (as Chachan's father is doing now).
2.) This twist of fate is enough that the family doesn't escape, and fall with their hometown, ending a bloodline of smiths forever.
Alternately, one of them survives and is left a hollow shell of a person after the shock and horror at seeing their family killed in front of them.
... That got pretty dark pretty quickly, huh?
With his brother still there, Chachan would've continued to live the spoiled life of the youngest. He wouldn't have become nearly as good a smith as he did since there wouldn't have been that pressure to replace his missing brother. His dreams of fancy would be tempered by wanting to stay and help his brother.
In the end, Gogon would've likely taken over the shop and used his intelligence to really corner the arms market - really making Gegenji a household name around Doma. Chachan would've been at his side, bumbling around and helping where he could in his own good-natured way.
However, being well-known for making weapons would be... troublesome. With the razing, Garlemald would likely hit the Gegenji household as a priority target to seize the stockpile of armaments there (which they kinda did in my headcanon already). This could end in a couple ways, but two stand out to me:
1.) The family escapes and they band together in Mor Dhona, seeking to rebuild their family business (as Chachan's father is doing now).
2.) This twist of fate is enough that the family doesn't escape, and fall with their hometown, ending a bloodline of smiths forever.
Alternately, one of them survives and is left a hollow shell of a person after the shock and horror at seeing their family killed in front of them.
... That got pretty dark pretty quickly, huh?
~