Edric III was the sixteenth monarch of Dorio. He was known for his efforts to consolidate the Dorian Empire in the wake of his disastrous father, Benedict II.
Early life[]
Edric was born to Benedict II in 257. When he was only a year old, his mother died giving birth to a stillborn son, leaving him to be raised by his unstable father or by tutors. Intimidated by his father's religious fanaticism and powerful wrath, Edric tried to avoid him whenever possible, and spent most of his time with a variety of educators.
This led to Edric picking up a wide spread of skills from a young age, and he quickly became self-reliant and innovative. Although he was only twelve at the time of Benedict's "Azkaviel" speech, Edric recognized its destructive effect, and went to Kenkor to wait out the immediate revolts. Kenkor was still a principally Heplian region, and most non-Heplian Kenkorii were of the Xyarat faith, so there was comparatively little rioting, and Edric was able to work with Governor Jed Halleran to keep it under control.
This experience was also instructive to Edric, who got to witness firsthand governance more effective than Benedict's disastrous misrule.
Valat liaison[]
When the Dorian liaison to Valatsa was murdered in a 275 riot, Edric was quick to manipulate himself into the position so he could try to assuage the Valats. He distanced himself from Benedict and particularly the Azkaviel speech, calling instead for diplomatic summits to allow leaders from various factions to work out a compromise.
Benedict was angered by Edric's supposed "treason," and so as Edric attempted to hold his first diplomatic summit in 278, members of the Monastery of Arms attacked and started trying to kill the leaders. Edric received minor injuries in the event, but Vazranist leaders still accused him of setting up the trap, damaging relations between them.
Benedict attempted to replace Edric with the extremist Gregorios Toukat in 282, but Edric refused to surrender his position, instead giving Gregorios a clerical role under him. This gained Edric some respect from the Valats, and he gradually began redeeming himself in their eyes, and in 289 he was able to arrange another summit. This time it happened successfully, and Edric was able to persuade moderate Vazranist leaders to cease their rebellion.
Reign[]
In 292, Edric decided that Benedict had become entirely unfit to rule, and deposed him. Edric spent the first years of his reign repairing relations with Valatsa, Leguna, and other angered regions, and made good progress in that; however, relations with Daravia had also been damaged by Benedict's rule, and Edric put comparatively little work into reconciliation with them.
The arrival of printing presses from Pertusia in 297 provided a wealth of new opportunities, and Edric was quick to make use of them. He replicated and updated many of the works from the time of Edmund the Bookkeeper, and competed frequently with Marlin IV of Daravia to have the most successful publications.
In 305, Govad VII of Vicra moved the capital to Gedging; Edric saw this as a potential threat to Dorio, and was quick to move soldiers to the Isthmus of Kenkor, although he did not intend to actually carry out any military operations there. Edric's peacekeepers were periodically needed to settle intra-Vicran conflicts, although relations were not much damaged by their presence.
The Sunicar Revolutionary War in 313 also forced Edric to react. He was quick to send peacekeeping patrols throughout Dorio to prevent any Sunica-inspired revolts, and he sent support to Hiesing in its assaults. (Daravian leaders, meanwhile, blamed the anti-Benedict revolts for inspiring Sunica.)
In 318, sandfever began to spread into Kenkor and southern Dorio, and Edric and his son Herbert both caught the disease. Edric abdicated in the winter of 318 due to sickness, and died in 319.
Personal life[]
As he traveled to Valatsa, Edric met the Tristanian noblewoman Andrea Otrolius, and he eventually married her in 276. They had a daughter, Elba, in 277, and then a son, Herbert, in 279. Edric was very politically involved during the following years, and was unable to be an especially attentive father, so his children ended up somewhat distant from him.