Shoon II

Shoon II was the third emperor of the Shoon Imperium. He was remembered as the Atheist Qysar for his hatred of religion.

Activities
Little was remembered about Shoon II's reign except for his active attempt to remove all religion from his realm.

Relationships
Shoon II was a son of Shoon I. He was the third child. His older twin brother was named Ksan, and the oldest son was named Qamar. They also had a younger sister, whose name was lost to history.

Shoon II and Ksan were very close and would join together against their older brother Qamar. Shoon also adored his little sister.

Shoon II had six sons, all of whom were ultimately killed by the magic of the artifact known as Saarkanlyth's Antaglass. Shoon II had commissioned the magical mirror as a test to humble his proud sons and chose an heir, but all of them failed the test.

Shoon II's niece gave birth to a son named Aleph yn Jadhar el Shoon, whom Shoon II adopted as his own son.

One of the most trusted servants of Shoon II was a man named Sulak yn Khamas el Adnan. Saref Adnan was considered the qysar's rare antiques and magic "collector".

History
Born in 34 DR with the same given name as his father, Aleph yn Aleph el Shoon was not thought to be an important child. However, his two older brothers died before they had even come of age. Qamar drowned in a water fountain while drunk, and Ksan died shortly thereafter from a mysterious fever, all the while claiming that he was being haunted by the ghost of his older brother.

It was Ksan's death that drove him to hate all priests and their gods, because he was at his twin brother's side when he died and saw that none of the clerics were able to heal him.

Upon his father's death in 75 DR, Aleph yn Aleph took the throne as Shoon II. Shoon II wasted no time in persecuting the faiths within his empire. Initially, his persecution only resulted in the exile of a few religions from the Imperium and the prevention of new temples being built. However, when priests were unable to rescue his younger sister from dying while giving birth, he went on a rampage against all faiths, ordering the pillaging and destruction of all shrines and temples.

In 99 DR, Shoon II send his henchman Saref Adnan to dispose "of some trouble" among the Tethyrian clan lords. Adnan then murdered a number of the lords, restoring control to the Imperium. Shoon II rewarded Adnan by giving him a magical item later known as the Endless Bag of Saref Adnan.

After his own six sons were killed indirectly by the magic of Saarkanlyth's Antaglass, he selected his nephew, Vymar el Shoon, as his heir. Vymar was the second son of his older brother Qamar. Vymar found the Antaglass and slew the nemesis it created, passing his uncle's test. However, Vymar opposed his uncle's persecution of religions, and so Shoon II had him poisoned.

In 107 DR, while Shoon II was on his deathbed, his grandnephew, Aleph yn Jadhar el Shoon, was born. Moments before he died, Shoon II officially adopted the infant as his son and heir. As he died, Shoon II cursed the gods and all their servants.

For the next sixteen years, the Empire was ruled by Shoon III's regent, Hazamir al Aktorral.

Reputation
Even though his campaign against the gods left their own temples and shrines destroyed, the Church of Bane considered Shoon II a great hero simply for his despotic nature.

In 194 DR, a statue of Shoon II was erected in the Bakkal Sabban of Calimport as part of the Fountain of the Qysars, a monument to the first seven rulers of the Shoon, which was commissioned by Qysar Amahl Shoon V. Shoon II's statue was the one on the southwest side of the octagonal palisade.