Bryantid dynasty

The Bryantid dynasty - also known as Bryantling (, meaning "Bryant-descendants") or Bryanten (, meaning "of Bryant") - is the current ruling family of the Kingdom of Etrand.

Origins and rise
The Bryantid dynasty's origins are tied directly to the Londbert family, as the founder of the dynasty, King Bryant I was originally born with the name Ladislaus Londbert, son of Kymbern Londbert. The Londbertid family is one of the oldest noble families of Etrand - being descended from relatives of the founding King Corlagon himself - but at the time was also one of the most impoverished, having managed to gradually gamble away much of the family's lands and wealth through the centuries, both figuratively and literally.

The family's heir at the time, Ladislaus Londbert - who would later found the Bryantid dynasty - served as a tax collector in Grandfolk as part of his education before getting hired as advisor for the last male Tondbertid king, King Calder I of Etrand. In 713, Ladislaus was sent away to administrate over Northern Etrand as a viceroy. In 718, when the Etrandish Succession War broke out, he sided with Mythela. After having won the civil war for Mythela, Ladislaus adopted the new name Bryant, and when he married Mythela he renounced his status as a heir to the Londbert family, allowing his younger brother Morthen to inherit in his stead once his father would die.

The Bryantid dynasty however would not be made official until Bryant's son Cairbré rose to power. As there were still Tondbertids who disputed his claim to the throne and called his father a usurper, Cairbré proclaimed the foundation of a new dynasty - the Bryantid dynasty - as part of his anti-Tondbertid measures and made a decree that stripped the Tondbertid family of their claim to the Etrandish throne. Cairbré legitimized his sovereignty by marrying a princess from another sovereign state - Artaburro. After having consolidated his reign, Cairbré enjoyed a very stable reign, firmly establishing the Bryantid dynasty as the ruling house of Etrand.

Bryantid Insanity and Bryantid snake-eyedness
All known Bryantid kings before Orlonius were known to develop at least one type of derangement as they grow old, and were also reported to have changed eye colours and developed a unique condition called "snake-eyedness - their eyes starting to have a closer a resemblance to the eyes of a snake rather an ordinary human. It is often referred to as the Bryantid curse by many believed to be of magical origin.

Starting from his late forties or early fifties, Bryant's originally brown eyes turned green, he became obsessed with science, and have developed a sexual apetite for his own gender - all evidence for the latter would be censored out of existence by his deeply religious and conservative son and successor, Cairbré, who in turn started seeing visions and babbling about his inevitable "ascension" starting from the age of 54 or 55 - his babblings were disregarded by the rest of the court as little more than a drunken old man's ramblings (it is unlikely that his alcoholism was a result of his mental condition). His green eyes gradually turned blue. Cairbré's successor Calhoun was almost obsessed with his children and got lethally devastated after his oldest son's, Crown Prince Bryant's death - Calhoun's eye colours did not change, but he did start exhibiting snake-eyedness half-a-year before his death. No signs of the Bryantid madness have surfaced for Orlonius yet, but he is already starting to have the snake-eyedness.

It is said that King Bryant's eldest son, Crown Prince Eurenic of Etrand was born with the snake-eyes. While other Bryantids start developing their condition anywhere between the late 40's to the early 60's, Eurenic inexplicably became an overly aggressive man already in his early 20's, which is what led to him losing favour.

It is worthy of note that all Bryantid rulers remained functional and effective rulers even with their mental conditions. Cairbré was even said to have "remained capable of making perfectly rational decisions even when under the influence of alcohol" - this however is most likely propaganda or a fabrication made up after his death.