King Cartier VI

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Lived from 1607 EM- 1639 EM

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Ruled from 1623 EM- 1639 EM

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Only 77 years passed between the time Cartier I took the throne and Cartier V reached the age of ascension. In stark contrast, it was an incredible 62 years between the time Cartier V reached the age of ascension and the time the very next one in line, Cartier VI, took the throne. There are several reasons for this. Most notably was the fertility of the women in Cartier's line. Where as the women in the early part of Cartier's line were fertile and produced multiple possible heirs, the women of the latter part of the line of Cartiers were barren and had a difficult time producing sons. Cartier V's wife Elizabeth had several miscarriages and stillborns before finally baring two daughters late into her birthing years. The eldest of those, Alyssa, died at the age of 10 due to a sudden illness. That left Melinda, six years younger, as heir to the throne. Melinda's fate as the next High Queen was sealed when her mother Elizabeth herself perished from illness prior to Melinda's reaching the age of ascension. Cartier V married again, this time to a young woman just barely older than his daughter; a woman named Lady Sarina of Dunderlin. She did bare him a son. But by then Melinda had already been named High Queen. And besides, the laws of Mesis clearly stated that an heir may only be born of the King's First True One. Any additional sons from additional marriages would be considered bastards. Melinda went directly to the Council of Nine the instant she heard of Lady Sarina's pregnancy just to re-confirm this fact. The Council of Nine agreed, and did confirm that she was the One True Heir to the throne, and only a son born of her loins could ever hold the name Cartier VI.

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While the Council's ruling was good for Melinda's pride and ego, it was not a very good sign for the overall health of the line of Cartiers. Soon after reaching the age of ascension she was wed to Prince Arwin, and very soon after that, she bore him two daughters: Alysane and Abigail. But then after a series of miscarriages and still births, it appeared that she would never bare a son and the line of Cartiers would end. This appeared so likely that many powerful lords throughout the kingdom were already preparing their sons to be the one to claim the hand of Princess Alysane and begin the next line of kings. But then, much to everyone's surprise, Melinda finally gave birth to Cartier VI when she was the ripe old age of 28. 

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Now, another major factor in the decline of the Cartier line, was the decline of the Wolf Brigade. (See entry on Cartier I to learn more about the Wolf Brigade). The once unstoppable force was now mediocre at best, and completely untrustworthy at worst. The requirement for the Wolf Brigade members to remove their tongues, once thought to be a fool proof way of assuring loyalty, was now, during the time of Cartier VI's childhood, already thought of as ineffective, as rumors were swirling that many anti-Cartier extremists had been so dedicated to end the line of Cartier, that they were willing to sacrifice their tongues in order to infiltrate the Wolf Brigade. Cartier VI grew up hearing of these rumors. He heard that it happened several times going as far back as the reign of Cartier IV. And then again throughout the reigns of Cartier V, High Queen Elizabeth, and his mother High Queen Melinda. It was even said that one such member of the Wolf Brigade murdered the original Cartier V.  Cartier VI spent his entire childhood hearing such tales, primarily from High Queen Melinda herself, but also from other Lords and servants he was close to in Castle Blackrock. This is perhaps why he grew up to be undoubtedly the most paranoid king Astadia has ever known.

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Shortly after he reached the age of ascension and was formally named King Cartier VI, he began a practice of randomly executing members of the Wolf Brigade, on the suspicion that there were traitors among them. And though he could not be certain which of them, if any, were traitors, he felt that even if he executed the wrong one, then at least he would send a message to the true traitors, perhaps causing them to think twice before they attempted to cause harm to himself, his wife, or his as yet to be born children. The first member of the Wolf Brigade he had executed was the very guard who had been with him his entire childhood, the man who had protected him his whole life. "I never trusted that one," Cartier VI had once told an advisor. "I always knew he was up to no good." Though in truth, the young king had no solid reason for thinking so.

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But his paranoia extended far beyond just the Wolf Brigade. He began finding traitors everywhere he looked. One such person was Duke Marion of Chamberlin, the Head of the Royal Guard, and a childhood friend to the king's, who the king accused of attempted regicide. He was accused of such because the king once grew very ill after an especially elaborate celebration at Castle Blackrock in which the king drank an excessive amount of wine. The king concluded, quite illogically, that his wine cup had been poisoned. Duke Marion had been overheard quipping, "Perhaps it's the king's mind that has been poisoned," which led the king to immediately point the finger at Marion. Marion was instantly executed without trial, and thereafter the king sent troops to Chamberlin to seize the castle and lands, burning all Marion's crops, killing all of the castle's servants and any surviving family members Marion may have had. 

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This was the first, but certainly not the last time Cartier VI took such an action. The result of his actions was of course, that many powerful lords in the kingdom grew to despise him, and would do anything in their power to destroy him and his line. In addition, the once powerful Wolf Brigade soon became extinct, for Cartier VI executed all its remaining members, and obviously was unable to recruit new members, because who would be foolish enough to cut out their tongue just to be executed later?  It is uncertain whether there truly were conspiracies to end the line of Cartier prior to Cartier VI's reign, as he had grown up believing. There can be no doubt however, that there were many conspiracies to destroy the king as a direct result of his own actions. This is why to this day, Astadians use the terms "Self-Fulfilling Prophecy" and "Cartier VI's Prophecy" interchangeably. 

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Cartier's wife Angelica bore him one daughter, whom he named Lucia after his great great grandmother. He did so because Lucia was the last truly fertile woman in his line, and he thought it would bring luck to his line and assure that even if he did not have any sons after Lucia, that at the very least she would bare many sons to carry on his line. He seemed to completely ignorant of the fact that most Astadians associated the first High Queen Lucia with insanity, and did not think very highly of her.  Angelica bore no other children besides Lucia, as she herself was soon murdered. As she was found in bed with a knife in her belly, there was never any doubt that she was murdered. But who exactly did the deed the world will never truly know. Cartier VI had no fewer than five different people executed for it however. He was reportedly overhead to have said "Well if that doesn't take care of the murderer then nothing will."

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So unpopular was Cartier VI that he had an extremely difficult time finding a young lord willing and ready to be the Ruling Prince and take the hand of his daughter Lucia. Any lord with any real power was ready to let the line finally die. It took until Lucia was the age of 19 for her father to find her a husband, something unprecedented in Astadian history. The young boy Cartier VI finally did find was a boy named Garron of Mayland, the third son of a middling lord in Maylandtown. 

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It was perhaps in Cartier VI's own best interest that he himself was murdered before his daughter gave birth to three sons, all of whom were very obviously murdered. There was no trials for any of their murders, for High Queen Lucia had no true power. All the power resided in the Council of Nine, and a few of the most powerful lords and dukes throughout the lands, all of whom despised the line of Cartier and were in a hurry to see it end. Many of them may have even been responsible for the deaths of Lucia's sons themselves. One of these was Lord Lucas, whose son would eventually begin the next line of kings.

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