Toki clan
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| 土岐 Toki (Senrian) | |
|---|---|
| Royal house | |
 Emblem of Toki clan in Himuka (left) and in Xiaodong (right) | |
| Country |  Ongokudou, Senria Toki Sougunate Himuka, Tuthina |
| Founded | 961 |
| Founder | Toki no Yosimasa (Senria) Toki Sinzou (Xiaodong) Toki Youhiko (Himuka) |
| Current head | Toki Natuhiko |
| Final ruler | Toki Sinobu (Senria) Toki Hayato (Xiaodong) |
| Titles | Hatamoto of Tengyoukawa (1011-1655) Daimyou of Ongokudou (1136-1421) Sougun (1660-1858) King of Himuka (1764-) |
| Style(s) | Royal Highness |
| Deposition | 1655 (Senria) 1858 (Xiaodong) |
The Toki clan (土岐氏), sometimes called the Toki dynasty, is a noble family of Senrian origin and the current royal house of Himuka, a constituent kingdom of the Most Serene Empire. First recorded in the 10th century as retainers to the Amakusa clan, the Toki clan was first landed in 1011 when Toki no Yosimasa was landed in Tengyoukawa. Since then, its descendants have changed its allegiance multiple times between Senria, Xiaodong and Tuthina, maintaining landed titles in them across different time period.
Since its rise to prominence, lineage of the Toki clan has broken fealty with Tao dynasty, Empire of Senria and - following Toki Youhiko's conquest of Himuka - the Toki Sougunate itself. Because of this, the clan has become a notorious symbol of duplicity in Senria and Xiaodong alike following their deposition in the respective countries.
History
First recorded as retainers loyal to the Amakusa clan in the 900s, an early member of the family named Toki no Yosimasa was awarded a fief around the town of Tengyoukawa in 1011; after the extinction of the Amakusa clan in 1136, Toki no Katuyasu became daimyou of Ongokudou. The Tokis, while ostensibly under the rule of the Tao dynasty following the Toukou War, declared their allegiance to the Empire of Senria in 1198. The Toki family lost control of Ongokudou to the Minamoto clan in 1421, but retained their lands near Tengyoukawa.
In 1651, during the Soukou War, Toki Sinzou broke his oaths to the Minamoto clan and openly sided with invading Jiao dynasty forces at the Battle of Tousokabe; in exchange, the Jiao dynasty promised to restore Ongokudou to the Toki clan should they win the war. Jiao forces pulled out suddenly in 1655, however, to quell domestic unrest, and Toki Sinzou- sought by Minamoto Yosiharu as a traitor- fled the country, arriving in Xiaodong in (year). (sinzou rises to power in xiaodong; xiao will write this)
Toki Kings of Himuka
Toki Hatoyama died in 1757, resulting in the ascension of Toki Yousuke, his eldest son, as the fourth Sougun of the Toki Sougunate. However, his succession was not undisputed, with his younger brother Toki Youhiko slated for succession at the time. According to later writing by Youhiko, Yousuke, like his predecessors, focused heavily on stabilising his regime in Xiaodong due to the foreign nature of the Toki clan, but unlike them, by the time Yousuke had inherited the Sougunate, the most obvious resistance from the Xiaodongese population and aristocracy had already died down.
Worried that he would be next in line to be purged in his attempt to secure his position, Youhiko proposed a military expedition to southern Tuthina, where the Kingdom of Himuka was in rebellion against the Empire. Arguing that without protection from Tuthina, Himuka would be vulnerable to conquest, and its geographic and cultural proximity with Senria would be valuable to the Toki Sougunate.
Despite being advised against giving military force to Youhiko, Yousuke decided to grant him a small military retinue and ships to Tuthina, believing that failure would be inevitable, and Youhiko would either be killed in combat or executed for his failure. With only a batallion and barely enough provision to reach the archipelago, Youhiko nonetheless departed to the Empire, arriving at Phyennay in winter of 1758.
Upon arrival, Youhiko requested an audience to Emperor Teliyasu, the reigning monarch of Tuthina at the time. Unbeknown to Xiaodong, he volunteered to support the Empire in reclaiming Himuka in exchange of wealth and status, as well as resupply and provision to his force. Teliyasu, who was occupied with suppressing political enemies following his enthronement in 1755, agreed to the proposal. According to official records, Youhiko's force swelled to 1,500 men and was equipped with Tuthinan muskets, halberds and swords.
Youhiko, realising that advent in gunpowder weapon had rendered existing infantry organisation obsolete, purportedly sold the majority of halberds and swords in exchange of more guns and mantlet. Equipping his most well-trained units with muskets and bayonets, Youhiko set sail to Himuka to join the war.
Despite having numerical superiority, Youhiko's military reorganisation proved to provide a bigger advantage, and soon his force conquered several towns in northern Himuka. Local population was soon drafted by him, utilising captured melee weapons that Youhiko's core force did not use. The heavy mantlets, termed sigasya by Youhiko, proved to be effective in combat, both to reduce casualties from muskets, as well as to improve morale of the conscripts with illusion of protection.
By 1764, Youhiko's force had become the largest pro-Tuthinan military within Himuka through conscription of local population. Seeing their defeat as inevitable, Kyong Sunamasa, then King of Himuka and leader of the rebellion, attempted to bribe Youhiko into joining their ranks. Agreeing to a personal meeting outside the capital city of Hinata, Youhiko was believed to had the king captured and executed instead, while official records claimed that the king tried to assassinate Youhiko during the meeting.
Impaling Sunamasa's corpse with his banner, Youhiko's force stormed the Himuka military, who was demoralised by the sight of their dead king. Youhiko soon captured the royal capital, and had all male members of the Kyong royal house killed. Once the remnants of pro-Kyong force were defeated, Youhiko became the de facto ruler of most of Himuka.
In order to secure legitimacy, Youhiko personally wrote a letter to Emperor Teliyasu, stating that he had to become the provisional monarch of Himuka until a new one could be appointed by the Emperor, as the commoners were "a superstitious cowardly lot" that would remain rebellious without a king.
Youhiko soon received a furious reply personally written by the Emperor, scolding Youhiko for "degrading himself", as "a true hero like [him] ought to become true king instead of provisional [king]", before formally appointing him as the first Toki King of Himuka. With his status legitimised, Youhiko soon absorbed the rest of Himuka through diplomacy and force.
Securing control over Himuka, Youhiko informed Yousuke of his success in conquering Himuka. Concealing his royal title, Youhiko claimed that his force was in urgent need of reinforcement, and as the Sougun, Yousuke should secure the latest territory under the Toki banner. Unaware of his true intention, Yousuke organised his forces before setting sail to Himuka, believing that he would be able to purge Youhiko with it and claim Himuka for himself.
Upon reaching coast of Hinata, the Toki expedition was ambushed by Youhiko's navy. Claiming them to be pirates, Youhiko's navy dealt significant damage to the unprepared Toki forces, with the few who managed to land on the island soon captured and executed by Youhiko. Then, Youhiko claimed that the Xiaodongese Toki branch plotted to steal the realm from him, and severed all relations with his continental kin. Instead, he married the daughter of Sunamasa and became the founder of the Himuka Toki cadet branch, whose member continued to rule the kingdom to this day.
(fall of the tokis in xiaodong, which xiao will write;)
Cadet branches
(himuka cadet branch)
Legacy
(cultural thingies; loathed in senria, loathed in xiaodong- this likely in part Senrian-Xiaodongese War, where xiao propaganda reminded xiaos of the "national disgrace" of toki rule while senrian propaganda painted toki sinzou as the prototypical traitor/collaborator; not loathed in tuthina)