Castis Dolata

The head of the house Dolata, Sietske Dolata, would find herself left with a product of her younger years as a wealthy teenage noble, a boy by the name of Castis. Sietske laid with a noble of House Wójcik outside of her betrothal to a man of her own house. Upon taking the role of her house head, Sietske chose to adopt him and conceal his true origins as a bastard of Dolata and Wójcik. Castis would be groomed and guided to fit the expectations of the noble family of Dolata. However, due to this false legitimization performed, the families of Wójcik and Dolata would form an agreement to disinherit Castis in both houses and hold him in a position without power. If his past became known to the public while he is in a position of power, it would lead to religious unrest as the duchy would have a bastard ruling over the land. The bastardy of Castis would remain a house secret, and he would be considered a biological heir until the two houses took action to disinherit him to avoid religious consequences when a legitimate son was born.

Castis would later lead his younger years as a mild social recluse, retreating to literature and finer arts in his chambers when his powerful mother sought to teach him the ways of the sword. As a noble knight, Castis would likely die in battle leading the duchy’s army, ending the tension between the two houses upon his death. On the days when he was forced to spar with his teacher, he eventually gained a high proficiency in swordsmanship. Later as a young adult, he’d be pressured out of his passive lifestyle to pursue his pre-chosen destiny as a knight due to this prodigal skill. However, when facing the enemy, diplomacy would be prioritized as a means of ending conflict between the duchy and an opposing force. He would approach the enemy and present his skill in compromise as they would turn away with gold, land, or nothing, as Castis’ charisma and wit would prove to be stronger than his swordsmanship, inspired by the knowledge of his readings.

Despite his great success with and preference to diplomacy, his mother grew angry as these compromises made the duchy appear weak. Before she could act upon the bastard that threatened the stability of the two houses and the duchy, she died of illness knowing of Castis’ technical entitlement to the Dolata’s primary title, the Duchy of Las Hevels as per primogeniture. However, during the process of succession, House Wójcik and Dolata consolidated their power and nobility to carry out the plan that nearly fell through with the death of Sietske. Castis was imprisoned on grounds of being a traitor and heretic knight too weak to fight for the duchy, despite the true reason for imprisonment being because of his bastardy. Later, the second eldest son would be placed into power as head of House Dolata and Duchy of Las Hevels.

While Castis was imprisoned at the age of 23, Duke Jakob of Wodriem Velden, a powerful noble of the Von Kon family, approached Castis with a scheme to utilize the bastard’s weak claim on the Duchy of Las Hevels to dismantle the corrupt Dolata and Wójcik houses and establish Castis as the new duke and ally of Jakob. To weaken the enemy house’s grip of the title, his bastardy would have to be revealed to the public and judged by the religious community. The pure rule of Sietske would be invalidated as she introduced an illegitimate bastard into the family to hide his true origins and Sietske’s carnal lust. Castis agreed to this, using Jakob’s military power and his own diplomatic specialization to drive a wedge between the people of Las Hevels and the administration present.

After this provocation, the administration of Las Hevels and the Duchy of Wodriem Velden went to war, seeking to violate the feudal power of the Kingdom of Podnyboden which prohibited inter-territorial wars. The projected unrest within Las Hevels caused the duchy to fall, allowing Castis to be placed into power under the protection of Jakob on good terms. However, the king of Podnyboden acknowledged this breach of contract and swiftly invaded both duchies, giving Jacob and Castis little time to escape to distant lands unknown.