France for a long, long, long time had king after king succeeded by his first-born son. Some proclaimed it was divine providence, and it worked -- until it didn't, and the last Valois king died leaving his distant cousin his only heir.
This hero is not so fortunate. In his land, the last lord died (there is no king) and there's no other descendents from the house's founder that qualify. There's a second cousin, who was exiled for crimes (Whoops, oughta specify that -- but I do know the offense would strike him from the succession.) And then our hero himself, who is his first cousin, but through a morgantic marriage. (Perhaps I will call it a morning marriage and figure out their reason for calling it by that name. 0:)
But I need some history for him to think of, about succession. Hmmm. If this one was as orderly as the French one, he can think about other lands where things got messier. For one thing, gives him something to fear when folks start to mutter that after all, being descended from a morgantic union is not a fault in him, and meanwhile, the widow is conspiring to bring back the exile.
