Interesting! You're off to a good start too, with two castles and a town. Hopefully you don't just sit around doing nothing with them. WFA are a comparable faction in that area, maybe go knocking on their doors and say 'hello' after you finish getting settled in?
Also out of curiosity, what's your policy on trading going to be? The FCC free trade fiefs around Curaw were great to sell in since they're near the edge of the map and it would be a bummer if you guys closed your borders.