A Quick History of Embrimel
I know I said Abanthus was next, but I realized I need to finish my TC&TF replay first, same with Bellemere as I want to finish my failplay, so I will start with the kingdom we know the least about: Embrimel
Embrimel has two named locations, the coastal ship-building city of Alarial and the capital of Panrion. Yet, while they are ship builders and sea faring people, there doesn’t seem to be a major port, as in Book 3 it is mentioned that that is why Azura evades Fydoria. Though it could also be as simple as the fact that Embrimel is also further East than Abanthus and Fydoria and landing there would be back tracking.
Still, we know that Embrimel does provide ships for the rest of the Five Kingdoms and that during Luther’s rule, he increased production (and reduced living conditions) under the iron fist of Florian Tartassis and post Luther, we know Embrimel is looking forward to profiting on the opened trade to Ducitora and the increased need for boats.
Embrimel is the kingdom without a defined ruling family, presumably the entire family was wiped out during the invasion of Stormholt and Luther was able to secure the kingdom quicker than he was the other kingdoms with less opposition. Probably helped by the fact that he had previous had troops in Panrion before the proposed alliance.
The previous royal family of Embrimel is never named in the series, even in Book 2 in Dom’s spirit world scene, when Adriana mentions that Bellemere and Fydoria were invested in the potential marriage arrangement, Embrimel is left out, so whatever motivated the royal family to agree to the alliance it wasn’t the potential lucrative marriage alliance, though again, given the previous invasion from Abanthus, they have may have just been interested in the idea of peace.
Unlike the other kingdoms, there was no rightful heir to lead and no organized armies, instead resistance comes from the common people, lead by the Keawe siblings, who are named regents after Florian is deposed, an arrangement that continues through Kenna’s reign. The term regency implies that Embrimel has fallen back under the general rule of the crown and Kenna.
In TRH, young Maxwell Beaumont makes reference to the “pirates of Panrion”, so it is likely their reputation as seafaring people continues into the future, perhaps something we will see explored in The Royal Masquerade. Of all the kingdoms, Embrimel is the one with the least defined history, which leaves a lot of potential to explore.