Timof III Shiroko
Emperor Timof III Shiroko
Timof III was the second son of Svante I Shiroko, chosen for rule instead of his older brother due to his brother's lack of proper magical ability. This led to an intense anxiety that grew into a full severe disorder. Historians cite him as the first of the Shiroko rulers to be insane. His anxiety led to fear and the news of his spies alogn with chance information on Uneism led him to believe that former citizens of Braca were seeking a dark good to overthrow the empire. This led to a holy war that became known at Timof's War. He died in a military camp and was subsequently known as Timof the Lunatic.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Born in 502, Timof III was the second son of Svante I Shiroko. Being second born, he was never meant to hold the throne. His older brother, Kuza, should have been the next baejan (emperor). He spent most of his early childhood in his brother's shadow, learning how to support him, but not learning much about leading a nation. However, after Kuza's Attunement Test revealed that he could use neither light nor heat magic (only liquid), Timof III was made the tajanji (high prince, heir). During his own test, he was found to be an aliq-esh, able to use both light and earth essences.
His ascension to the position of heir and his semi-rare ability to use two essences equally caused a great deal of jealousy in Kuza and the relationship between the brothers collapsed more and more throughout their lives. Kuza refused to acknowledge Timof III's presence on most occasions and when he did, he often berated his younger brother. Over the years, Timof III came to internalize his brother's emotional abuse, believing himself to be worthless and nothing but a usurper despite his father's insistence that this was not the case. In 515, Svante I assigned the teenaged Kuza to work as an apprentice at a satellite location of the Department of Public Health in order to keep the brothers from one another. However, the anxiety and shattered self esteem would remain with Timof III for the rest of his life.
He was taught leadership, military strategy, and, most importantly, how to perform the family stitching magic. Timof III became proficient in the magic, but was outshined by his younger sister, Natalay I Shiroko, which only added to his feelings of inadequacy. From his childhood until his reign began, he was constantly looking for ways to prove himself, but also began seeing threats to his position at every turn, becoming paranoid. However, he was mostly able to talk himself out of it and recognize the spiraling feelings for what they were, just his insecurity.
Upon Svante I's retirement in 530, Timof III took the throne of Eoion and married his younger sister, Natalay. The match proved to be helpful for him as she could get him to see reason and assisted in the running of the empire. They also gave birth to two children: Zora (536) and Catarin (537). Despite the help of Natalay, the anxiety and low sense of self worth remained. At every turn, Timof III was convinced that someone was going to try to prove he was unworthy and depose him, particularly Kuza. Even so, with Natalay's help, most of his reign was uneventful. However, in 534 with the formation of the Bracan da Libre, Timof III's anxiety began to reach new heights.
He had already begun to see those descended from the former country of Braca as the enemy, particularly as the territory was still plagued by small flare ups of rebellion even after being part of the empire for approximately 200 years. The fact that the satellite site Kuza worked at was also within that territory did not help assuage his fears. Instead, it only fueled them. He formed the Wenunùdzì, the first spy network in Eoion, for the purposes of monitoring the former Bracans and his older brother.
The information they returned with seemed to confirm Timof III's fears of a growing rebellion movement. He had his older brother assassinated in 557 using poison. Once Kuza was dead, he turned his attention to attacking the citizens as a whole. Among other things, he had the descendants killed in droves, convinced that they were attempting as a whole to destroy Eoion from within rather than the violence being the actions of a small group.
Historians argue over how Timof III became obsessed with the idea of an evil god considering Bolugama does not have deities in the classical sense. Most agree that he had heard of the evil god of Uneism and connected this with Yzelian spies. From there, his crusade became a holy war for the soul of his empire.
Citizens turned against one another in order to stay alive and the violence of the Bracan da Libre became more extreme as well. The civilians in the area went into hiding whenever possible and Natalay did everything she could to dissuade her brother/husband from continuing the assault.
Timof III decided to take himself to the front lines of battle as the fighting continued to escalate, bringing with him his tsirin along with many large Ilyannoi. On the battlefield, fear made him reckless and while he was able to fight the BDR off on several occasions, his attacks also caused extensive damage to the towns around the area. Timof III sent his Ilyannoi into each city to search for spies that he feared would sneak into his camp. This led to intense fear among the citizenry of the Shiroko family creatures, something that has yet to completely abate even after nearly 500 years, particularly in the areas that were central to the war. This and the war itself have led to a hyperawareness of citizens in the area of their status and a strong drive to be seen as part of the empire. Natalay's success in destroying the BDR, and her subsequent campaign to make the dynasty into heroes and the BDR into terrorists once more solidified the empire.
The anxiety and fear fueling Timof III's war led him to abstaining completely from food. Several days of this caused him to collapse in the middle of the battle camp and three days later, he died in 561, one year after the war
Word was sent back to Natalay in the Gandenye and she immediately took the two enormous flying Ilyannoi prototypes she had made to the battlefield.
Timof III's body was sent back to the Gandenye and he was buried with the rest of his family after Natalay ended the war. She succeeded him in ruling the empire and he became known through history as Timof the Lunatic.
Relationships
Life
502
561
59 years old
Circumstances of Death
starved due to paranoia of poison
Birthplace
Place of Death
a battle camp in northern Eoion
Spouses
Siblings
Natalay I Shiroko
(wife/sister)
Children
Gender
male
Eyes
pale violet, slightly wide
Hair
long, heavily braided, white
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
pale, yellow undertone
Height
5'9"
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