Agtano of Westaferraz

Agtano of Westaferraz
Queen consort of Westaferraz
Tenure	376 – 380
Queen regent of Westaferraz
Tenure	384 – 397
Born	c. 360
Died	402 (aged about 42) !CAPITAL
Spouse	Arblað III of Westaferraz (m. 376; died 380) Eiþan Arfriþ (m. 381; died 387)
Issue	King Arberxt II of Westaferraz
House	House of Westaferraz (by marriage)
Religion	Old Koudish Paganism

Agtano of Westaferraz (c. 360 – 402) was queen consort (376-380) and later queen regent (384-397) of Westaferraz. Her actions in the Westaferraz War of Succession led to the altering of the political landscape of Southwestern Vostau for a great deal of its history, and as a practitioner of palace intrigue unrivalled by most in the Rua Kingdoms, she has one of the most divisive historical legacies of any figure in early Vostauc history.

Agtano was the second wife of Arblað III, King of Westaferraz. After his first wife, Askaband, died without producing an heir, Arblað's Eiþans pressured him into marrying a second time. It is unclear from where Agtano arose, but she soon gained the ear of the King, and they married in 376. It is almost universally agreed that their relationship had become romantic in due course, and Arblað invited her to palatial council hearings where she learnt matters of intrigue and politics. However, Arblað's life and reign were cut short when in 380, at the age of 25, he died of a sudden-onset illness, at which time Arblað's brother, Arbalþ, took the throne.

It was only after his death that Agtano learnt that she was pregnant with King Arblað's child. Forging alliances and treaties of non-aggression with Arblað's two youngest brothers, Arfriþ and Ardruh, the former of which she sealed with a promise of marriage, she successfully claimed the monarchy of Westaferraz for her infant son, King Arberxt II. In the years that followed with her as queen regent, she affected major changes in the internal structure of the Rua polity, with cultural and geographical ramifications in the modern day.

After her tenure of regency concluded, Agtano faded into the background of Westaferraz nobility, dying five years after her son came of age, with some more romanticised depictions stating her death from the same disease that killed her first husband, Arblað III.

Early life

Agtano's early years are not well known outside of anecdotes. The oral tradition prevalent at the time did not record in its historical works where Agtano came from, nor her status. Oral poetry outside of the purely historical, such as the largely defamatory Agtano the Seductress, list her as being a Rua farmhand, though it is unclear to what extent this can be trusted. Oral historical works tended not to record much about a monarch's spouse other than their age at marriage and death, so it is likely that Agtano's origins will never be known. It is likely that she was born in Rua Vostau.

It is believed that she was skilled in poetry and song by the time she met King Arblað III, this being part of the reason why the King was attracted to her from their first meeting. She may have had rich family or a rich guardian, capable of providing the dowry common in Rua marriage custom, but beyond that, her allegiance is believed to be tied solely to that of the King from then on.