"Ours is the right."

House Surtova is both the most influential and the oldest house in Brevoy, having been established in Issia centuries before the arrival of Choral the Conqueror.  The Surtovas were infamous pirates and raiders in the early days, and with the coming of the Conqueror were able to parlay captured wealth into lands and titles.  Port Ice started as a defensible fortress and grew into a large city that doubled as the seat of power for House Surtova.  When Nikos Surtova allied himself with Choral, he secured his house's place at the right hand of the ruling house, and used that position to move into a ruling position in the wake of the Vanishing.  In the absence of King Urzen Rogarvia, the Surtova's created a "regency" which has become the de facto succession to the crown.  

King Noleski Surtova sits upon the Dragonscale Throne, while his sister Natala Surtova reigns as unofficial queen as her brother is, as yet, unmarried.  Rumor has it that Natala enjoys her position of influence too much to embrace the idea of a proper sister-in-law.  Still, there is considerable pressure for Noleski to choose a bride and produce a proper heir for his new dynasty, and there is no shortage of houses looking to align themselves with the new ruling family.