James Kennan

After Patrick II, the last Grand Duke of Saxmere, was overthrown in 1806 by his Council of Ministers, the Kennan family and several of their closest retainers went into exile in the Excalbian court at Citadel Excalbia. Over the years, it became traditional for the descendants of Patrick II to use the title Baron of Cambera while foregoing the title of Grand Duke. It also became customary for members of the former royal family to hold commissions in the armed forces of the Holy Empire of Excalbia while retaining the distinctive red uniform of the former Grand Duchy.

With the Kennan family in exile, Saxmere briefly existed as an independent republic before becoming part of the Confederation of Soveriegn States. For more than a century, the Kennan family considered their claims to the throne of Saxmere to be a lost cause. The 2004 election of Thomas Caine as President of the Confederation, however, has opened a rift between devoutly Catholic and highly conservative Saxmere and the more materialistic and secular States of the Confederation. In particular, Caine's affiliation with the Order of the Invisible Hand and the Dutch Democratic Republic of Knootoss have raised opposition in Saxmere.

In early 2005, the exiled Baron of Cambera, Albert James Patrick Kennan, died, leaving his grandson, James David Patrick Kennan, as his heir. After assuming the title of Baron of Cambera, James called on Sir Alec Nugent, descendant of one the old Grand Duke's retainers and a confident of his grandfather, to establish contact with those opposed to Caine and the Order in Saxmere. James has launched a crusade to, in his words, liberate his people from the hands of the Order. To further his quest, he has relocated his residence from Excalbia to the New Rome in Pantocratoria.