Emperor Timon VI

Timon Leisvich Sperling, more commonly known as Emperor Timon VI, was the Ether Zel emperor of Shu from the assassination of Emperor Carl II, well into the Post Meridian period, reigning from 0 to 54 PM. He was born a sickly child, but developed a certain fervor for life that was noted by his instructors. A deeply passionate person, even as a child, Timon was often struck by bouts of anger, depression, and joy, which could last weeks before subsiding. At twenty-two, against the wishes of his father, he eloped with a Draken Dir he considered the love of his life, driving his father into a burning rage that cooled with time.
Despite his disobedience, Timon remained Carl II's favorite child due to his intellect, and the same passion that drove Timon to defy his father drove him to read through countless tomes and master the arts of politics. Even as the second son, Carl II was known to opine in private that he would rather Timon take the throne than his primogeniture. This wish came true in a horrible encounter early in the Fall of Meridia, where Carl II and his heir were incinerated by a suicidal Fire mage. Timon, despite having been supposed to be in the same carriage, had slipped away earlier after an argument with his father, and was only alerted to this incident hours later.
Timon was a noticeably changed man after this incident. Historians speculate that the guilt of surviving gnawed away at him, as did that his last words to his father were in anger. Immediately upon being crowned, Timon ordered that the ostensibly Balatian perpetrators be brought to justice, kickstarting the creation of independent Balatia and Shukin. Over the next year, Timon presided upon the failed military campaigns in both splinter nations, as well as a relatively poor performance of Shu forces against the undead.
Despite these initial setbacks, Timon came to be known as an effective, if not loved, emperor in the latter part of his reign, revitalizing the Shu economy, signing important trade agreements with Shukin and Balatia, and consolidating power within Northern and Southern Shu. However, with his age, his mood swings became more pronounced, often leading to bouts of unprompted rage or manic depression at the slightest provocation. Timon seemed aware of this, and confided to his trusted queen that he believed he was losing his mind. Unfortunately, these bouts led to tragic consequences; after getting into an argument with his only child and heir, Timon struck her repeatedly with his scepter of office, laying her low. His daughter died two days later, despite some of the most skilled Life mages in Shu attempting to heal the wounds.
It is believed that this event shattered his mind, and Timon completely isolated himself from then on, only ever speaking to his wife and a few trusted compatriots, while his council effectively control of Shu. He spent the last six years of his reigns in self-imposed exile in his summer palace before throwing himself from a tower, leaving no heir behind. His wife is said to have climbed the steps of the tower, seen her husband's body on the ground below, and threw herself from the same tower to join him, though this is likely apocryphal.
Historians remember Timon as one of the most complicated and tragic figures in modern history; a second son made Emperor by chance, a man driven by passion but astutely politically capable at times, the Emperor who presided over the loss of much of Shu's territory, but the progenitor of many of Shu's most effective economic policies. Strangely, despite most historians agreeing that his wife likely outlived him significantly, there is little account of her past his death.