King Iscalon the Fourth

King Iscalon the Fourth

King Iscalon the Fourth was king of Tumult from 1030 to 1040. He inherited the crown from his father who ruled the kingdom for the previous several decades. He is known for his assassination by Lord Kourend Salmonpuddle and his allies, as he had fallen to the Dormant and was working to destroy his country. He is survived by his son Bedrich and his bastard son Lairus (though that is contested).

Mental characteristics

Personal history

In his young years, Iscalon the Fourth fell madly in love with the lady Anne Grantham of the Grantham family. They married early to the chagrin of their families. The Granthams at the time did not like the king's policy, and thus did not want to be seen as supporting their rule with a political marriage. Anne was disowned, and both her and Iscalon fled to the king's summer palace in Riverside to be out of the public eye. The king was not too worried as he had a couple more sons who could potentially inherit the throne. In 1016, Anne became pregnant with prince Bedrich. She died in labour, greatly hurting Iscalon the Fourth. Bedrich became the only one he cared about. When his brothers also died from disease, he became the crown prince though he did not want it.
Iscalon the Fourth became king of Tumult at an old age, his father holding the throne for many more years. His father would not give him the throne until he proved himself, so Iscalon became an avid traveler and diplomat for Tumult trying to garner his father's favor and public support. This brought him to the Sinfetter in the 1020s, where he discussed trading relations with the Shadar-Kai, as they were a group potentially capable of rivalling any on the Veritian Leaf. Yet, during his years there, what he calls his "youth" though he was in his late forties at the time, coincided with the Dormant Rise. Iscalon saw first hand the oncoming onslaught of the Dormant and despaired. As he fled back to his country, news of his father's death reached him and that he was to be king. That is when he started hearing the whispers of the Stillborn God, brought about a relic called the Eye of Truth which he acquired in Living Dream.
In 1040, the Clot attempted an assault on Vigil within the lands of Tumult, which sorely messed with Iscalon's plans of national suicide. When a group of adventurers led by the returned noble Kourend Salmonpuddle showed up with a Dormant traitor, Iscalon had to pick up the pace in causing havoc before the Dormant arrive. Luckily, he already had a plot in order with the Demon Troubles and the Branch of Uz. This led to the Dance Incident of 1040, which brought the Uzite Dread Sin of Gluttony to Felicity. He was expecting some kind of chaos and madness, but was not expecting such fortuitous of an entity. But when his son aimed to intervene, the old love he held broke through his Dormant corruption and he sacrificed his arm to use a Tuthian Arkenstone upon the dread god. He realized he had to get Bedrich out of the way before attempting another disaster upon Felicity. He sent him to Val'ul, and began to plot his next move. He had a problem, Lord Kourend Salmonpuddle, the hero of Felicity, the one who was foiling all his plans and unifying his people rather than dividing them. And with another victory at Riverside thanks to Kourend and his allies, he saw he needed to do something against this rising resistance. Thus he used his life to stop them. He created his own assassination to stop these heroes. He succeeded at first, and with his death Kourend and his allies were sentenced to life in the Pit. But they escaped and returned to Tumult to save the prince and fix their reputation. Thus King Iscalon was found to be a traitor.

Accomplishments & Achievements

Much of the problems which occurred to Tumult in 1040 could be tied back to him. With the aid of the Dormant, he began the Demon Troubles through his influence on the Szereban family. He financed the creation of the movement against the reunification with Val'ul. He held back aid to Third during the Second Mineosian Crusade's siege. He did nothing about the Lady of Dusk and Doctor Caskajaro. He planned the Dance Incident terror attack. And much of his policy was terrible for local business and industry. He was playing every side so that all would fail before the Dormant even showed up.

Personality Characteristics

Motivation

In his late years, his motivations were to sabotage his country through bad decision making, wasteful spending, ignoring internal conflict, and other generally destructive political methods.

Social

Family Ties

Father to Lich King Bedrich.

Species

Human

Age

63

Life

977 1040

Circumstances of Death

Assassinated by Lord Kourend Salmonpuddle and party

Birthplace

Felicity

Aligned Organization

Tumult

Other Affiliations

• The Dormant Cult