Nick was older than most of the other gyptain children he knew. His younger brothers, Charlie and Ash, were twins. However, they each had their own distinctive appearances, and were easy to tell apart. A few of the less gullible, or shallow-minded locals who hung around the places they moored refused to believe that they were twins, even brothers. Further more, there was the odd occasion when a child would simply refuse to believe that there was such a thing as twins, and Nick would have to hold him down while his brothers proved it to him with rocks. Being a couple of years older than they were, his strength was greatly valued. Especially when they were moored at Port Meadow, near the colleges.
These were dangerous grounds, as the tension between the servant children of these colleges and the townsfolk was wild enough without a big mouthed gyptian child sticking his nose where it wasn't welcome, and Charlie had a habit of mouthing off. Gyptians valued their children above all else, and so their mother, usually very flexible when it came to rules, demanded that they always stay together whilst here. She had developed a motto for their little group, safety in numbers. This wasn't a problem, as they spent most of their time around the gyptian dominated areas. Here they could always claim the moral high-ground if attacked. Not that that meant much to the children, but they got in less trouble when they returned to the boat. Somehow their exploits, however innocent, found their way back home before they did.
But, naturally, they weren't always innocent minded, and often wandered around the Claybeds looking for a fight, be it collegers, townies, or the brick-burner children themselves. Nick could recall one particularly epic battle, when a small group of his gyptian friends stumbled across a fight well in progress down in the Claybeds. Some collegers had assaulted the Claybeds from further inland, and with the brick-burner children stuck between them and Nick's small armada they were scattered and defeated, but not before they had unleashed a barrage of mud and clay, making it impossible to distinguish between sides. A girl from one of the colleges had the idea to have all their dæmons take the same form, thus turning the battle in their favour, as the gyptians continued to attack each other accidentally. Nick's brother, Ash, instructed their side to follow suit, and before long it was just a mass of wildcats, vicious hounds and screeching children grappling in the mud. Having successfully attached three of the collegers to a fence by the seat of their pants, the gyptians decided to call it quits, and return home somewhat victorious. They had planned to go on a hunt the next day to finish off the collegers, but Nick's parents had other ideas, and they spent the day confined to the boat, scrubbing the deck and performing other mind-numbing tasks.