Succession Crisis

In Aprilis of 352, individuals with noble blood began to get sick all across Lithmore, and then all across the Kingdom. The disease from which they suffered involved terrible bruising and bleeding from all orifices. It soon became apparent that those most closely related to the royal line - Queen Gemera's own - were the worst-afflicted, and as more distant relations recovered the rest only grew sicker.

In June of 352, Queen Gemara ab Harmon perished as the last representative of her immediate bloodline, and Lithmore was left without a clear line of succession. Six contenders rose to declare themselves as interested in the throne.

Eschewing civil war, the contenders sought to win the approbation of the Kingdom as a whole with the aid of their supporters. Several favorites rose and fell over the four-month period of indecision. Eventually, the Kingdom aligned itself behind Tobin ab Samael, who became the first monarch of the new Samael dynasty in Octobris of 352.