Succession Question of Imesse
The question of who would inherit the throne of the High Kingdom of Imesse in the event of the High King, Max III, dying without a legitimate heir is a serious question on the mind of many powerful and influential people all across the Kingdom. The line of Maxalli kings is replete with ill-health and disease, and the High King's own grandfather is an excellent example, as is his uncle.
At 18 years of age, Max has time to marry and establish a legacy through legitimate heirs. The problem stems from his stubborn refusal to consider suitable marriage options. Max has demonstrated a propensity for indecision in many areas of his reign to date, but he has remained resolute and determined in not allowing anyone, especially his mother, the Queen Mother, Sabine, to dictate who is suitable to wed the High King.
Putting aside the suitable matches for a royal marriage, let us consider who would have the strongest claim to the throne should the unthinkable occur and the High King die without issue or heir.
The High Kingdom has more than two centuries of well established tradition and precedent showing that male descent is the primary means of determining the right of succession. No Queen has ever ruled as monarch, regardless of order of birth. Because of this, the majority of nobles and ranking rulers within the High Kingdom feel it is the descent through the male line that is the preferred determining factor. While this is certainly not universally true, a case could be made that those refuting this position are doing so out of self interest rather than objective legal process.
None the less, following the male line of descent from the last ruling monarch of Imesse, in the event of Max III dying without heir, the strongest claim to the throne would go to his cousin, Mak II. The concern here is in the willingness of the King of Lesser Imesse to assume the role of monarch of a united Kingdom. There is now a quarter of a century and two generations of Kings ruling Lesser Imesse as an independent fiefdom of the High Kingdom, and many on both sides of the Caldar River feel the division is beyond healing and the two Kingdoms would fall into open warfare should the issue be forced upon Mak II.
Mak II has three sons, any one of whom could claim the right as their own. Most agree that this would be an unlikely occurrence, however, for many of the same reasons as their father's claim would be. There is now thought to simply be too great a divide between the two kingdoms to bridge with a new southern Maxalli claimant.
Moving past the possibility of Mak II taking the throne, we look for the next established male line of descent. Max I was the only son of Maxin am Maxalli, who was the only son of Lothar am Maxalli. Lothar was the eldest of two sons, the younger being the Grand Baron of Wessridge, Maklar am Maxalli. The baronic line of the Maxalli family has now descended to Maklin am Maxalli, the current Grand Baron. This presents the obvious concern that Maklin is four generations and 91 years removed from the last reigning King of Imesse, Josso Thunderfist himself, the first Maxalli King, and his only legitimate son is even further removed.
An even more distant claimant can be found in Maklar's second grandson's descendant, Lenis am Maxalli, the Lord Defender of the High Kingdom. Lenis is the great-great-great grandson of Lothar, and as such has a real but very tenuous claim to the right of succession.
Discounting the probability of numerous false pretenders to the throne, these two lines of male descent represent the strongest legitimate lines of heirs. Since both are problematic in the extreme and both would undoubtedly result in instant civil war, we will now examine the possible right of succession through the numerous female lines of descent.
Max I had a daughter, Adith, who married Baron Fulton am Bondari. Fulton is the current Baron of Cyell and the couple have nine children. The second child is Adith's oldest son, Fulmar am Bondari, 37 years old and the heir to the Barony. His is the strongest claim to the throne after Mak II, as the oldest and closest male descendant of Max I. Legally, any of Fulmar's four other brothers also have a similar claim to the throne with only their rank of birth putting them behind Fulmar.
Adith's first-born child is a daughter named Aliya who was married to Amos Isenbar. Her oldest son is Walton Isenbar and he has a slightly less weighty claim than his uncle Fulmar, but a strong claim, none the less. Walton's claim as heir has the added weight of the Noble House of Isenbar behind it, a powerful and very influential family that has ruled huge swaths of the north for generations.
Another female line of descent is found in Max I's granddaughter, Mavis Frigani. Mavis is the second child of Mak I and is married to the Baron of Wennick whose son, Gaylen am Frigani is a strong claimant to the right or succession. Gaylen is engaged to wed the daughter of Grand Baron Maklin, and would thus bring the added weight of two lines of descent to his own claim (the royal and baronic lines of the Maxalli family) and his future children's claims.
