Maria Lucila Castaño

Maria Lucila Castaño
Born	1541 Sedel, Asturia
Died	1602 Santiago, Ulthrannia

Maria Lucila Castaño, also known as the The Iron Duchess of Anikatia, (c. 1541–????) was a Ulthrannic conquistadora (female conquistador) who participated in the Colonisation of Anikatia. A new Ulthrannic settlement was named after her, and became today's city of Castaño the capital of the Pearl Islands (Islas de Perla) territory within Anikatia.

Early life

Maria Lucila Castaño was born in 1541 in the coastal town of Sedel in Asturia, the Crownland of the Ulthrannic Empire (due to it being the province of the capital). Her father was Martin Castaño de Carvey, a naval officer who had fought Seukuti pirates and the Tarsan navy during the conquest and her mother was Emilia Mateos Lucila. Unlike most girls of her age, Maria had a thirst for adventure even when she was young and was noted to have snuck out of town to explore the countryside.

Due to Sedel being a soldier town, where many conquistadors and mercenaries came to leave on ships for new worlds, Maria also grew the spirit to fight. At the age of eleven, she left Sedel on her father's ship which was to ferry conquistadores under Delmar Velasquez de to the islands south of the Ulthrannic coast. Many historians credit the voyage as the place where Maria decided she wanted to be a conquistadora. She spent almost the entirety of her younger years with her father as they went from colonial port to colonial port in Ulthrannia's growing overseas empire.

She found herself in Vina del Mar, the capital of Ovdalia and spent her sixteenth year learning about law from Severo de Allende, who was a friend of the family via her father. Although she grew tired of law, it did help her gain an understanding of how she could use the law in order to create a new colony. The finer arts bored her and her desire for fortune, battle and glory only grew with each passing day as more conquistadors returned from newly conquered territories or areas explored.

Only a year later did she join up as a privateer in the Ulthrannic Army and saw action against Seshtu tribal kingdoms that were pressing against the stronger but lesser supplied Ulthrannic colony. During an engagement with some of the Seshtu, she decapitated a chieftain during the melee and in the ferocity of the battle cried to her companions:

"By Ulthrianel we shall prevail, for if a woman so fair can strike down these men, surely the sons of Ulthrannia can do better!"

It was thanks to this battle that gained her some form of notoriety, which went back to Delmar Velasquez who had been appointed the Governor of Livrich. Tragedy back home brought Maria Castaño away from the fighting in Ovdalia and return back to Sedel when word reached that both of her parents had passed and as written in the will; she became the owner of the Castaño household and property. It included a ship, twenty slaves and a manor by the sea where the slaves presided. She spent only a month in Sedel before word reached the town of new voyages to the east. Wasting no time she spent the latter part of June, 1562 selling off all her property that had been given to her in the family will but decided to give the slaves their freedom. She had personally known them in childhood and as she doubted she would see them again, her last order to them would be freedom.

Colonisation of Anikatia

At age 21, in August of 1562, She had sent a letter to Emperor Isador I asking for imperial permission to conduct a private conquest in the islands south of Ashizwe. When she was refused the first time, she rode directly for Santiago and requested a personal meeting with the Emperor in order to get the permission for conquest. This time she had been approved, only on the condition that a representative of the crown would partake in the voyage. This envoy would be Hernando Balcazar de Perene, the uncle of Rodrigo Balcazar, the conqueror of Arthurista (who was only fourteen at the time).

When she returned to Sedel in October, she found over a hundred volunteers and two ships waiting for her but she was determined to find more. She traveled to coastal towns and also to the port city of Cadiz, which was where the Ulthrannic merchant fleet had resided. By the end of October she had 400 men, 7 ships, 10 horses and four cannon but fate was kind as an envoy for Delmar Velasquez arrived to Sedel on her return and offered a meeting.

Her fleet sailed to Nuevo Estrella where she would meet with Delmar Velasquez, offering her an additional three hundred Ulthrannians, two hundred Livirican infantry, twenty horses, six cannon and ten ships. Though for this 'generous offering', Velasquez demanded that Castaño give him a fifth of the plunder in addition to the Imperial Due which would be sent to the Emperor. She signed a contract which sealed her word to Velasquez.

Finally setting sail for Eritya at the start of December, the young Castaño was at the head of just under a thousand men and seventeen ships, most of which were given to her by Delmar Velasquez. She would arrive in the port of Kolpocha in late February of 1563 where a thriving Ulthrannic colony already existed, the legacy of Pedro de Borica's arrival and also that of Máximo Martinez de Cuellar, a conquistador who conquered the remainder of Eritya's main island. Martinez was the Governor at the time and when Castaño arrived with her fleet and army he grew jealous but had no legal authority as she answered to the Emperor and the Emperor alone. With that said, he still refused to give the young conquistadora any kind of assistance except to port in his city.

She gathered her officers on her ship, the Luz de Patria and sought out firstly to wipe out the remainder of the Ky'iushqīn dynasty that lived in the outlying islands. Though this was not much of a threat as the dynasty had collapsed thanks to the arrival of Martinez and other colonists. Before any conquest would even begin, one of her lieutenants attempted to assassinate her and take the reins of command as captain of the force. But he was cut down by Balcazar and then decapitated by Castaño as she needed to make an example of those who attempted to revolt; reminding them that they were doing the work of the Emperor and Empire.

What happened during this 'island hopping' is unknown except through the writings of her personal historian and Emisar Luis Gomez Pilar del Fe. The fleet was divided into four battle-groups each led by a lieutenant and one being led by Castaño personally. The goal would be to subjugate each of the remaining native islands, bringing them under Ulthrannic control before returning to Eritya Main. Each of the conquests were described as "bloody, quick affairs that saw much suffering in little time". These islands had little in way of wealth and Ulthrannian casualties were light, which had disappointed the conquistadors who were looking for abundant wealth.

Only a week later, she organized her men and new volunteers from the colony and began a slow and arduous process of conquering the southern part of what is now known as the 'Islas de Perla'(The Pearl Islands), named for their beauty. Though these conquests were not of much note, it would be landing on Isla de Sombra where Castaño would begin her path to true glory. The island would be where the remnants of the Ky'iushqīn dynasty would make its final stand against the invaders from the west. Castaño arrived first, landing in the water with her personal guard but was ambushed by the first wave of warriors throwing stones and spears before charging in. Though they outnumbered the advance party, the musket fire from the ships and the steel of the conquistadors proved too much.

When Balcazar's two ships arrived ahead of the main force, Castaño combined their forces which was only some two hundred men and a cannon and marched forward into the dark jungle where the enemy awaited them (the reason the island is called Isla de Sombra). Her forces were merciless, wiping out wave after wave of native troops before arriving at the island's capital. She decided to halt and await for the rest of her forces to arrive, but the native king threw the final portion of his strength against the invading conquistadors. In the ensuing battle, the native king was struck by a crossbow bolt which led to a rout and allowed the conquistadors to slaughter the natives. It took four days to subjugate the island but in a letter to Emperor Isador I, Castaño made it clear that while the fighting was short it was brutal but that in the end a new land had been given to his majesty.

A settlement was made on the island in place of the old native town as it was sacked by the conquistadors who took everything of value. What the dynasty lacked in warfare skill they made up for in riches, having hoarded much of it on Isla de Sombra. Castaño, however, had been given word that Martinez demanded that she give the islands to him as Eritya was his jurisdiction and he believed that all of these islands were his. She ultimately refused, saying in a reply:

"I conquered these Pearl Islands in the name of our Emperor, Isador I and not in the name of Máximo Martinez de Cuellar"

Martinez, already jealous by the quickness of her conquests and the refusal of a girl thrice his age to give the islands she conquered to him, led a force of some 1,200 men against her. This would ultimately cost the old conquistador his life as Castaño combined native tactics with Ulthrannic superiority in arms and defeated Martinez's force. A letter was sent by both Castaño and Balcazar to Emperor Isador I telling of Martinez's treachery. When this was done, Castaño ordered Balcazar to go back to Kolpocha and inform the Council there that she would be the de-facto governor of the islands.

Those in Martinez's force, of which only a few were killed, joined with their brothers for future conquests on the mainland which had not been touched an Ulthrannian yet. This would acquaint Maria Castaño with another conquistadora, Isabella Armendarez (who in future would lead an expedition into the heartland of Sutadotazu). Maria Castaño would spend the majority of 1563 and the early months of 1564 building up her new gains which included sending the new waves of colonists and families of the conquistadors to the islands of her conquest, building infrastructure and, most importantly, learn administration skills from members of the Council who saw her simply, as one contemporary source cites 'a cold hearted wolf'.

Though she didn't intend to stay put as an administrator, as she sent a letter to request a second expedition onto the mainland of these 'strange folk'. The Emperor, who's only real disappointment was the death of Máximo Martinez de Cuellar, gave her the imperial permission needed and assembled her vastly larger force: She would assemble her forces on Isla de Sombra some 2,000 Ulthrannians, one hundred of which were cavaliers, 500 Liviricans, 200 Seshtu volunteers from Ovdalia, twenty cannon and a thousand native allies who had come to join them in addition to thirty ships.

See also

• Colonisation of Anikatia
• Ulthrannia