House Castergan

House Castergan of Kierth was the first royal house of the Kierthan Empire before its expansion.

Beginning with its founder, Comgan Castergan, a Kierthan man whom claimed it was his divine right to rule by Orante herself, the Castergans ruled for around two centuries before they were overthrown by House Merser in the Turning of the Crown.

They are known as one of the most controversial houses in Kierthan history. Many Kierthan noble houses are distantly related to the now-extinct Castergans.

Traits
The Castergans were known for their golden or amber colored eyes, inherited by their House's founder. Although not all born to the Castergan line inherited those traits.

It was said that only a true Castergan ruler approved by Orante would inherit Comgan's Eyes.

Founding
House Castergan was the very first noble and royal house of Men to be founded during the Years of Creation, through its founder, Comgan the Founder.

According to legend, Comgan was among the first group of humans who had awoken on the shores of Andor, although this fact is wildly disputed on whether it was Comgan or his possible father.

After the founding of Pencast, the first human settlement in Andor, Comgan is cited to have been a popular figure among his fellow Men, handsome and diligent.

In the 75th Year of Creation, a year after the Orane religion is founded and popularized, Comgan was said to have claimed to have received a vision by Orante herself, proclaiming him as a Protector of Men, and therefore their herald and king.

Chosen Council and the Chosen Nine
In the crowning of himself king, Comgan quickly began to build and stabilize his rule by dividing the Kierthan people by class, namely the common and 'noble' class.

Under Comgan, the Kierthan Noble Houses were founded by the family-names of the men placed on his council, later known as the Chosen Council. Houses Alinet, Crawsmere, Gerham, Marlach, Merser, Suchard, Tolhaim, and Venmore are founded as the Chosen Nine. House Weylin is the only of the Chosen Nine to be lifted into nobility by marriage of Jeyne Weylin to Comgan I Castergan.

The First Ruling Queen
The death of the Crown Prince Gules Castergan shook the realm. As the only male son of Comgan I, it was expected that the line would continue with Gules. The suspicious death of the Crown Prince, no more than a decade old, had thrown the line of succession to be inherited by the only other child of Comgan, Princess Eudora Castergan.

In the suspicious death of Prince Gules, many historians reason that his death was most likely an assassination in order to cause unrest for Princess Eudora's eventual rule. Many protested the king's choice in the Princess to be the heir to the Kierthan Throne.

During the king's fiftieth name-day, an arrow had flown through the air during the tourney, tipped black and feathers a haunting yellow. The king was already dead before anyone could react.

Princess Eudora was quickly taken back to Castergan Castle and promptly coronated in a rush, her coronation lacking many formalities that then added up against her when stabilizing her rule. Many noble houses refused to bend the knee to show allegiance to the new queen, both her age and gender being condemning factors. In the absence of a royal member to Regent her rule until she came of age, the Chosen Council had placed themselves behind the throne, a move which would lead to political unrest in the new nation of Kierth.

Barely five years into her rule, Eudora was quickly challenged for her right to rule on the throne as a woman by the Kierthan court. They bring in the questionable line of succession into issue, as well as her unmarried status as a woman. The Chosen Council begin to fracture under this challenge, most pledging their allegiance to the queen. Houses Alinet and Crawsmere do not.

Clash of Swords
Main Article: Clash of Swords

In the early months of 108 Year of Creation, a civil war breaks out between two groups; one supporting Queen Eudora's rule called the Hilts and the other group wishing for a male ruler called the Blades.

House Castergan was not a overly wealthy house, following in King Comgan I's example of using much of their funds to help develop the new nation of Kierth instead of hoarding it to themselves. Paying for a war was difficult, and it is cited that before the ruling Queen's marriage, that the queen would eat little in order to save funds for the war, eating little more than one apple and a slice of bread a day, pushing much of the food larders to be put into use for the common people and the servants of the castle.

Marrying out of necessity, Queen Eudora married well below her station--to the protests of the Chosen Council--to the Grand Merchant, Price Goldfinger, raising him to the royal rank of Prince-Consort.