Queen Isobel Cyrenäe
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(Reign: 547-580/4) Queen Isobel of Iskandar was the daughter of King Ilathrin II and the 20th monarch from her Dynasty.


Isobel succeeded her father after his death at the Battle of Mudd River and is considered one of the greatest rulers of her Dynasty. Even though she was unexpectedly thrust onto the Onyx Throne, Isobel soon proved herself a shrewd and capable leader.

Having grown up at the Royal Court in Wyn Falas, the new Queen was skilled in both diplomacy and politics. Most sages conclude she was a far more effective ruler than her father ever was.

Queen Isobel had lost both her brother and her father in the recent fighting. However, instead of demanding vengeance, she surprised friend and foe alike by calling for an immediate end to the First Karthic War.

She privately told her aides; "There is more than one path to victory, and it need not be a blood-soaked road." Within a few days of her Father's death, Isobel called for an immediate parley with the Vaas Nobility at nearby Rheems Castle.

At the peace conference, Queen Isobel skillfully negotiated from a position of strength; and exploited several advantages she had gained over her opponents:

  • first, after the Vaas defeat at Mudd River, both sides knew that the Iskari Army could easily crush their remaining enemies.
  • second, in that same battle, both King Ethelred and his only son, Edmure had been captured. Isobel knew the pair made better hostages than martyrs.
  • third, by releasing King Ethelred, and keeping his son as a hostage, the Iskari would appear merciful, while holding a threat over Ethelred's head for the rest of his life.
  • fourth, the Queen was well aware that Iskari support for the Highlands campaign was quickly faltering, and she had to act quickly and decisively.

By the end of the negotiations, Isobel forged the famous "Treaty of Rheems" with the Vaas, and brought order to the Eastvale for nearly 25 years.

The Second Karthic War


Sadly, the peaceful period brought on by the treaty of Rheems, died with King Ethelred, who passed away in the year 572/4. Queen Isobel kept her word and released prince Edmure to return to Karthis and take his father's place.

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 woman he had courted. The Queen believed this arrangement would ensure the peace would be kept.

However, shortly after his return to Karthis, the newly-crowned King Edmure 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" and 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, ever the calm, calculating ruler, wrote a short letter to Edmure, "Dearest Edmure, I urge you to keep the terms of the Rheems Treaty. I showed you mercy once; I shall not show it again. This is your only warning."

Edmure, always a impetuous fool, disregarded Isobel's offer and declared open war. In the year 573/4, He recklessly marched his small, ill-equipped army out and was thoroughly crushed at the Battle of Anders Crossing.

Sages agree that Queen Isobel; ordered her commanders to show no mercy to the Vaas, because they refused her earlier offer of mercy. She said "Whatever happens, Edmure will not be a either hostage or martyr; simply a casualty. Is that understood?"

In the aftermath of the battle, Edmure was captured, but was immediately executed and his body quietly burned on a pyre with his fallen soldiers. Within a month of Edmure's death, the Iskari had placed young Egan Madrigal on the throne of Karthis.