Toto IV of Iansisle

His Imperial Majesty High King Toto IV of the Grand Empire of the Shield and King Toto VI of Shadoran was born on 17 July 1890 to HIH Princess Jessica and her husband the Duc d’Enoleany. His mother ascended to the throne on Toto’s twentieth birthday and ruled until her death in 1926, when Toto came to the throne.

Early Life

Toto acquired a reputation for abstinence and frugality during his reign, which he always attributed to being brought up in the conservative courts of HIM High King Ian V and HIM Ian VI, both of whom he respected greatly.

Toto and his mother, who reacted against the stifling conservatism of Ian’s Court, were all but estranged, especially after his grandfather and uncle died within six years of one another and she ascended to the throne. After he quarreled with his mother publicly over her imperial policy in 1907, Toto was dispatched on a tour of Iansislean Gallaga, becoming the first Prince of Shadoran to visit the land.

He always resented being banished from court in that manner and spent some years in self-exile in Nusheld. Toto then spent another four years on a European tour. While he was there, Jessica and her Privy Council arranged a marriage with Elizabeth Grey-Tammerly, a distant relative of the Walmingtonian royal family. Surprisingly, the match ended being a happy one: Toto and Elizabeth would together beget five children.

Toto and Elizabeth at Beshon

The outbreak of the Great War made Europe an unpleasant home. Although both Iansisle and Walmington were remain neutral, Toto thought it best to take his young wife away from the horrors of war. He and Elizabeth moved to Beshon Court, a royal palace in the northwest of Shadoran, where they received only a relatively small stipend from Queen Jessica. In July 1915, a girl was born to Elizabeth, whom Toto ironically named Jessica after his mother.

Early 1919 saw the birth of another baby, Elizabeth, named after her mother. Queen Jessica’s matronly instinct began to take over at this point, and she agreed to start giving Toto enough money for a household befitting the heir to the throne. When a male heir, James, was born in July 1920, she agreed to allow Toto to move into Dûn Ádien and participate actively in court activities, providing that he behaved himself.

Last Years of Jessica I and Toto’s Reign

Toto held true to his word and did not criticize his mother’s or her government’s policies upon his return to court. He spent most of his time lavishing attention upon his growing family, to which was added another son, Brian, in 1922.

Jessica died at the age of 54 on 14 September 1926 and Toto eagerly rose to the throne. However, a general decrease in both troop quantity and quality combined with massive popular sentiment against continued Diantranian wars and the fact that the new ‘Combined Parliament’ could not be dissolved by the monarch to thwart his attempts at reversing Jessica’s imperial devolvement. Instead, Iansisle withdrew in on itself and stopped pursuing anything resembling an active foreign policy.

Toto himself became obsessed with Christian virtues, and sought to devolve his faith on a population generally apathetic to religion. A reaction in Parliament resulted in several acts severely limiting the High King’s power to propose legislation in 1927-1929. Toto then sought to exert power over his family, which alienated James but was well received by Brian. However, to his credit, Toto did never such power over his reluctant children as Jessica had over him, and James never truly resented his father.

At last, Toto consented to Iansisle’s taking a more active rôle in international events and dispatched a party to the Developing Nations Summit in Golden Agate just months before he died.

Death

Toto caught a bad cold on 12 December, 1937, while touring the castle ramparts in a snow storm. The cold quickly developed into pneumonia and, despite the best efforts of Iansislean medical science, High King Toto IV died on 15 December. He was succeeded by his son James.