Edmure Madrigal was the son of King Ethelred of Karthis, who initiated the second Karthic War against Iskandar.
Edmure spent much of his early life at his father's side, being groomed to one day rule the Kingdom. Like his father, he was a vain to a fault.
When King Edmure declared war upon the Iskari colonists in the year 536/4, Edmure was sent on many early raids. He was present at Crecy, and said to have personally ordered the execution of the Iskari Prince Idris.
This sordid event sparked a disastrous, full-scale war with Iskandar; a conflict which Karthis did not stand a chance of winning.
The Battle of Mudd River
In 547/4, at the Battle of Mudd River, Edmure was captured, along with his father Ethelred. At that time, he was only 17 years old, and an inexperienced warrior. The Iskari soldiers were under strict orders to capture any Vaas nobles alive for future ransom or as hostages. Therefore, the prince was taken alive; albeit battered and humiliated.
Legend has it; a small group of Iskari soldiers approached him on the battlefield, recognizing his armor and sigil. They demanded he throw down his sword; he instead tried to run away, whereupon he was knocked to the ground and hog-tied, while crying and screaming for mercy. Observers said it was a pitiful sight and his own father later told him he was ashamed of his cowardly behavior. Edmure never forgot this humiliation.
As an Iskari Hostage
As part of terms of the Treaty of Rheems, Edmure spent the next 25 years as a hostage in Iskandar, living comfortably on an estate in the Iskari capital of Wyn Falas.
Queen Isobel ordered him treated as royalty, and his "captivity" was a life of lavish comfort, he was encouraged to mingle with the Iskari nobility, and soon met a young Iskari noble-woman named Serena.
The two later married and she bore him a son named Egan in the year 559/4.
Queen Isobel took young Egan into her own Palace to be raised as a member of her own household. She believed that this way, future relations between the Iskari and Vaas would be kinder and gentler.
The young prince of Karthis was treated like the political treasure he was. Publicly, Edmure seemed to accept this; but secretly, he resented the fact his son was being "turned into an Iskari whore."
Release after the Death of Ethelred
In the year 572/4, King Ethelred passed away, and according to the Treaty of Rheems, Edmure was to be released to take his father's place on the throne of Karthis.
Although he was treated well, Edmure always resented his time as an Iskari hostage.
Upon his father's death, Edmure was allowed to return home to take his place on the throne of Karthis.
Queen Isobel; who had overseen Edmure's captivity and made sure to treat him kindly, expected the Prince to continue the status quo in Iskari-Vaas relations.
Isobel did not trust Edmure, and even though she released him, she kept his son Egan as a hostage. Egan had been born in Wyn Falas 12 years earlier, after Edmure's marriage to an Iskari noble-woman named Selena.
The Queen believed this arrangement would ensure the peace would be kept.
Role in the Second Karthic War
Upon his return to Karthis, the newly-crowned King Edmure immediately declared the Treaty of Rheems void and declared war upon Iskandar. He further insulted Queen Isobel by denying that Egan was even his true-born son, and was instead an "Iskari Bastard" who meant nothing to him.
This declaration served two purposes; first it informed the Vaas nobles that Edmure was a true rebel, like his father before him.
Second, it completely nullified the Iskari advantage of holding his son as a hostage. Edmure remarked that if the Queen should execute Egan, it would only rally the Vaas common-folk and Edmure also correctly believed the Queen had become too attached to the boy to have him killed.
Queen Isobel tried to reason with Edmure, but he chose open battle instead, and her Iskari armies crushed him.
He was killed in the year 573/4 during the Battle of Anders Crossing. Even today, stories persist that the Iskari were under orders not to take Edmure alive and he was executed immediately following capture on the battlefield.
