Martan Kizer
An excerpt from 'A History of House Wolf'
... The Kizer family might have fallen out of prominence, were it not for a young man named Martan Kizer, the eldest son of Achebel Kizer. He had just reached the age of manhood when his aunt died. The two, not far apart in age, had been very close, and young Martan was devastated. His aunt’s death, however, permitted Martan a prominence within the family which he might not otherwise have experienced. His father died two years later when his carriage overturned on a cliff. As his mother had died years before in childbirth, Martan inherited the Duchy of Friaul when he was merely seventeen, making him the highest-ranking noble in his family. This was not merely an empty honour, however - he was also the eldest male bearer of the name, giving him authority over his younger siblings Kinor, Meora, and Veiane, and over his orphaned cousin Mercy Hartzell.
For a time, Martan’s uncle Marcus Trueblood (his mother’s elder brother) managed to exercise some degree of control over the young man. Martan married Trueblood’s younger daughter Lirienne when he was eighteen and she was sixteen, but the union produced no children, and by all reports the two were not close. Indeed, Martan was said to be on much closer terms with his cousin Mercy, and was shattered by her death in 2148 at the age of sixteen. Even in his youth, Martan displayed diplomatic skill, brokering decent marriages for two of his siblings despite the cloud of scandal the family had recently fallen under. His brother Kinor married Julinia Escalera, who would bear him two children, Jovien and Lenara. Martan’s youngest sister Veiane was married to Follan Maez and bore two daughters, Solilea and Oriabel. The other sister of the family, Meora Kizer, went into the church and never married.
Martan led his family with considerable skill, gaining authority over many of his cousins among the Escalera and Falgout families. The Trueblood family never warmed to his leadership, perhaps because they considered his treatment of his wife Lirienne objectionable. As well, the Hartzell family bore him some enmity, believing that Mercy Hartzell should have been returned to them to be raised. Some even held him responsible for her death.
He achieved his greatest political prominence under the rule of Hugolin Silveira (2140-2147). From 2144, when he was 21, until the accession of Enzephir Dyess three years later, Martan was the Lord Chancellor, one of the youngest ever to hold that position. By most accounts he was skilled at the role, acting as something of a stabilizing influence on the notoriously erratic emperor. Still, he was swept from office along with all of the other governmental officials when Enzephir came to the throne. Some have speculated that Martan bore a grudge against Enzephir for depriving him of his rank, but there is contradictory evidence that the two men remained on good terms. After all, Enzephir replaced the entire government with men and women of his own choosing, and he certainly did not seem to dislike Martan in particular. Indeed, Martan was often invited along on hunting trips or seaside visits with the Emperor and his Warlord, Patric Arguelles, during the early years of Enzephir’s reign.
After his brief tenure as Lord Chancellor, Martan never again held political office. Instead, he took a great interest in the management of his duchy, Friaul, and in the affairs of his extended family, as well as continuing to maintain a strong presence at the early court of Enzephir. He died in his sleep in 2166, at the age of 42.
Or did he? Lord Grey, Grey Grizzle and Martan Kizer are one and the same.
