Chrysostom Wythe

Chrysostom Wythe
Full name	Chrysostom Wythe
AKA	Lord Woodshire
Physical information
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Hair color and style	white
Eye color	blue
Skin color	white
Biographical information
Father	Prince Alexander of Shireroth
Mother	Lady Kaja Grengaezj-Swar
Spouse	Violet Claire Northhampton (m. 1630–1671, her death) Winona Tomchin (m. 1673–1701, divorced) Teddie Lettice (m. 1701, div. 1712) Catherine Fish (m. 1713)
Children	Caspar Chrysostom Wythe Jeremiah Benjamin Wythe Edan Naftali Wythe Dina Niit n Taag, Countess of Highpass Matilda Clarice Wythe Alexandra Stephanie Wythe Leander Halibut Wythe Stella Sturgeon Wythe Aurelian Amalson
Date of birth	1607 AN
Place of birth	Harèd Wythe Estate, Goldshire Hamlet
Date of death	1722 AN (aged 115 AN years)
Place of death	Wythe Estate, Woodshire
Residence(s)	Embassy of Hurmu in Shirekeep
Nationality	Shirerithian, Hurmu
Allegiance(s)	The Golden Mango Throne
Occupation	Ambassador

Chrysostom Wythe, Count of Woodshire, Viscount Holly-Wythe, was a Shirerithian nobleman and statesman, who served as Steward (head of the executive) of Shireroth for 38 years (1680–1718). Regent of Shireroth during the illness of the Kaiseress, 1682–1683. He belongs to the Wythe family and bloodline, and to the Order of the Holy Lakes through his fourth wife. Following his retirement from Steward, he was appointed by the Senate of the Lakes Hurmu's ambassador to Shireroth, a position he held until his death in 1722.

A grandchild of Kaiser Wythe (reigning 1589–1591), Lord Chrysostom Wythe, as he was then known, grew up in a lush estate outside Goldshire Hamlet. Studied law at Metzler University 1616–1625, graduating with a doctorate, after which he joined the Shirerithian Ministry of the Exterior as a lawyer in international law. Headed the international law division until his retirement in 1660, whereupon he joined politics in the Imperial Democratic Party, elected to the Adelsraad in the same year. Appointed Commissioner of Representation (deputy Minister of the Exterior) in Shireroth later the same year. Promoted to Imperial Minister of the Exterior in 1672. Appointed to the peerage as Viscount Holly-Wythe and to the Landsraad in 1674. Appointed Steward in 1680. In 1682, due to a period of prolonged sickness, Salome directed the IAC to appoint him as Regent.

He led Shireroth steadily for 38 years, handing over the reins of government to Louis Thuylemans, after having reached 111 years of age. During his stewardship, Shireroth regained much of its honour that was lost during the Kalirion Fracture. He oversaw the reintegration of Guttuli, Modan, Greater Kildare, and Batavia to Shireroth, and helped liberalize the classist structure, by, for example, doing away with the worst evils of slavery. Thuylemans honored him during his inauguration speech as a "one of the great men who has ever aided the Mango Throne, and a captain who guided the Shirerithian ship to safe havens in times of chaos."

He died on 18.XII.1722.

Family

For more information, see the Line of Wythe

His father, Prince Alexander, is the second child in a group of triplets born to Abigail Margaret Smith and Kaiser Wythe (reigned 1589–1591). Alexander's elder sibling was his brother Prince Montgomery and his younger sibling was Princess Charlotte of Shireroth.

Prince Alexander married Lady Kaja Grengaezj-Swar. They had two children, Chrysostom and Alexandra Désirée. Both Alexander and Kaja died in the Oustfest Massacre of 1644.

Chrysostom married Violet Claire Northhampton (b. 1609, d. 1671) in 1630. Their descendants are:

• Caspar Chrysostom Wythe (born 1633; died 1671 during the Kalirion Fracture), married Lady Celeste Adeur (b. 1639) in 1659
  • Lord Cassian Caspar Chrysostom Wythe, Viscount of Solaris (b. 1660) married Lady Amalþuïnta Æmman (b. 1667) in 1692.
    • Lord Caspian Cassander Wythe (b. 1693) married Maria Viktorovna Abramova (1692– ) in 1715
    • Lady Cassiopeia Cassidia Wythe (born 1695)
  • Lady Elizabeth Celeste Wythe (born 1662) married Alexandrian Monsieur Patrice de Coster (b. 1653)
    • Lady Mélanie Claire de Coster (born 1682)
    • Lady Jeanne Isabelle de Coster (born 1682)
    • Lady Celestine Élisabeth de Coster (born 1684)
• Lord Jeremiah Benjamin Wythe (born 1635) married Lady Emelie Brightwell (b. 1640)
  • Lord Patrick Montgomery Wythe (born 1664)
  • Lady Carola Amanda Wythe (born 1667)

Chrysostom remarried two years after after the death of his first wife, to longstanding mistress Winona Tomchin (b. 1645). Their descendants are:

• Lord Edan Naftali Wythe (b. 1673)
• Lady Dina Ephrata Wythe (b. 1679) married Count Oze IV of Highpass
  • Ozymandias Jaas Peet Niit n Taag (born 1704)
  • Isabella Novichoka Dina Niit n Taag (born 1707)
  • Kaja Alexandra Sepp Niit n Taag (born 1711)

In early 1701, Chrysostom filed for a divorce from his wife, Winona, which was finalized on 5.II.1701. He subsequently married Teddie Lettice, a former coursemate of his daughter Dina, and later employee of his in the Ministry of State, on 16.II.1701. Together they had two daughters:

• Lady Matilda Clarice Wythe (b. 5.XIV.1701)
• Lady Alexandra Stephanie Wythe (b. 15.III.1703)

By 1712, Chrysostom had discovered that his wife Teddie Lettice had in fact had a decade-long affair with his son (by his ex-wife Winona), Edan Naftali Wythe. He invited his wife to file for divorce and live out their lives in peaceful cohabitation, but banned the couple from ever marrying with one another. Teddie and Edan agreed. Teddie subsequently filed for divorce, which was finalized by court order on 10.XIII.1712.

On 20.XV.1713, he married Catherine Fish, a male-line descendant of Kaisers Fish XII and Reynardine I, in a private ceremony in Shirekeep. A son was born in 1714, and a daughter in 1716:

• Lord Leander Halibut Wythe (b. 8.VI.1714)
• Lady Stella Sturgeon Wythe (b. 3.XII.1716)

On 16.III.1723, Amalie Madison, a fieldworker on the Woodshire estate, gave birth to Aurelian Amalson who was later confirmed to be the natural son of Chrysostom Wythe.

Death

State funeral of Chrysostom Wythe.

On 18.XII.1722, he died from a heart attack at his country estate in Woodshire. Initially, it had been reported that he had died in his sleep, but witnesses described seeing Chrysostom going for his morning walk from the manor house to the peach orchard, that one of the field workers, Amalie Madison, had called the manor house to report his untimely departure, and that his body had been recovered and posed in his bed. Amalie Madison later confessed to having been the recipient of the Count of Woodshire's affections, and that he had died during their morning coitus.

Despite his advanced age, Chrysostom was known to keep active and on top of the affairs of his estate right up until the end. The forewoman of the estate's flour mill, Catrin Rana, was later heard sobbing inside her office, where Chrysostom was known for visiting regularly for private reviews of the mill's productivity.

Chrysostom received the rare honour of being buried with a state funeral with full state honors. On 27.XII his remains were brought to the Valley of Mors. In attendance were his surviving children (sans Dina Niit n Taag, who "could not make it"), grandchildren, and great grandchildren, his ex-wife Teddie Wythe (accompanying his son Edan), his current wife, the Countess Dowager Catherine Fish, Kaiseress Salome, Steward Louis Thuylemans, and others. It is rumored that, following his burial, the Countess Dowager had commented that now she would be able to get a proper night's sleep for once.

At the opening and reading of his will on 18.XIII, it was revealed that Chrysostom had assigned that his estate pay an income to a list of some twenty-three women of various ages, the youngest being 25 and the oldest being 62. All had worked in the civil service at some point early in their careers, with a third moving on to careers in private industry; the highest ranking listee still in government was The Admirable Maire Tynec, Director of Hydraulic Engineering within the Imperial Commission for Benacian Works and Cadastres. When asked about her relationship with Chrysostom, Director Tynec, age 57, said that she was glad that the former steward had thought so fondly of her after all these years. The Honorable Junior Agricultural Inspector Tea Nahersche, age 25, said that she had met Chrysostom at a work function at the head office of the Bureau of Agriculture & Food during her internship, and that he was a good dancer, knew the best places to eat in Cabbagefall, and had a gentle touch.

Posthumous bastard

On 16.III.1723, Amalie Madison gave birth to a baby boy. She had claimed the boy, which she had named Aurelian Wythe, was the natural son of Chrysostom Wythe, and that the late lord had promised her a marriage. Due to lack of evidence of paternity at this point, the local registrar in Woodshire refused to register the name "Aurelian Wythe" (including registration of nobility), and instead registered the boy as Aurelian Amalson.

Amalie Madison appealed the decision, on the grounds that out-of-wedlock children were part of the nobility of Shireroth historically and traditionally, and that Aurelian ought to know his lineage and respect for paternity. She called upon the Wythe family to allow DNA testing.

In a quirk of matters, the appeal reached the chief justice of Woodshire Village Judex, being Lord Cassian Caspar Chrysostom Wythe, Count of Woodshire, Viscount of Solaris, Viscount Holly-Wythe, and grandson of the late Chrysostom Wythe. Before recusing himself (if there was something Lord Cassian had passion for, it was the respect for the administrative justice system), he quipped to Ms Madison, "If we allow this, there is no telling how many more bastards will come to suck the teat of my dearly departed grandfather".

The puisne justice of Woodshire Village Judex denied the case on the matter, without considering its merits, on the grounds that paternity had not been established.

At this point, Madison began her PR campaign to get recognition for her son. By XIII.1723, Chrysostom's disgraced son Lord Edan Naftali Wythe agreed to Amalie Madison's request of DNA testing Edan and Aurelian to see if they have the same paternal DNA markers. Edan was the only one from Chrysostom's family who agreed to DNA testing. In the end, the results indicated that Edan and Aurelian shared the same male-line mitochondrial and chromosomal markers, indicating with 99.6% probability that Edan were first-degree relatives of one another on the agnatic line. The results from more specialized testing showed that by all probabilities, Chrysostom was indeed the father of the child.

Political offices

Legislative offices

• 1660–1674: Member of the Adelsraad
• 1674–1718: Member of the Landsraad

Executive offices

• 1660–1671: Commissioner of Representation, Ministry of the Exterior
• 1671–1672: Shirerithian Ambassador to Alduria
• 1672–1680: Imperial Minister of the Exterior
• 1682–1683: Regent of the Imperial Republic
• 1680–1718: Steward of the Imperial Republic
• 1720–1722: Ambassador of the Order of the Holy Lakes to the Golden Mango Throne.

Styles and titles

Coat of arms of His Serenity the Count of Woodshire, since 1710

• 1607–1660: Lord Chrysostom Wythe
• 1660–1671: The Honourable Lord Chrysostom Wythe
• 1671–1672: His Excellency The Honourable Lord Chrysostom Wythe
• 1672–1674: His Excellency The Right Honourable Lord Chysostom Wythe
• 1674–1688: His Excellency The Right Honourable The Viscount Holly-Wythe
• 1688-1704: His Excellency The Right Honourable Chrysostom, The Count of Woodshire, The Viscount Holly-Wythe
• 1704–1713: His Serenity Chrysostom Wythe, Steward of the Imperial Republic, The Count of Woodshire, The Viscount Holly-Wythe
• 1713–1718: His Serenity Chrysostom Wythe, Steward of the Imperial Republic, The Count of Woodshire, The Viscount Holly-Wythe, Knight of the Holy Lakes
• 1718–1722: The Admirable and Illustrious Chrysostom Wythe, The Count of Woodshire, The Viscount Holly-Wythe, Knight of the Holy Lakes

Honours

• Grand Knight Commander of the Order of the Royal Blood (1690)
• Knight of the Holy Lakes (1713, automatically by marriage to Catherine Fish)

Ancestry

Preceded by: Soraya II of Octavius-Parini

Steward of Shireroth 1680–1718

Succeeded by Louis Thuylemans