Gunther Goth

King Gunther Goth of Sunset Valley (1901-1946-1990) was the second official king of Pleasantview. He ascended to the throne upon his father's passing. Although considered a good king by most, he was in near constant conflict with House Alto and House Landgraab. Both houses sought to further their own interests, often at the expense of the king. On his death, he was succeeded by his only child Mortimer Goth.

Early life
Gunther Amadeus Victorius Goth was born in 1901 at Castle Goth to the Baron Victor and Baroness Gretle. He would be the first of four children and as the eldest son would be fully expected to succeed Victor. His early life was marred by constant arguments between his mother and his grandmother over his (and later his siblings') guardianship. Gunther would constantly switch between tutors favored by the Baroness Gretle or tutors favored by Lady Raven. The debate didn't end until Victor abruptly expelled his mother from Castle Goth. Afterwards, Gretle had Gunther tutored in French, Latin, SimNative language, economics, astronomy, and mathematics. He and his sister Frida were put under the tutelage of the Earl of Simmerset.

As the years progressed, Gunther showed little enthusiasm for sports or any physical activity. Victor attempted to rectify this by doing a variety of outdoor activities with him, but to no avail. Gunther was particularly recluse and enjoyed being on the inside. Victor and Gunther no longer saw eye-to-eye on most things, especially things concerning Gunther's future.

Growing up
By 1918, Victor had mostly left Gunther alone to his own devices. This all changed when Victor became king of Sunset Valley. As Victor's eldest son, Gunther automatically became the Crown Prince: the heir to the throne.

The final blow to the relationship between father and son came when Victor forcefully enrolled Gunther into the "Royal Naval Academy" in 1919. Gunther absolutely hated the institution and at several times tried to get himself kicked out. In 1921, he dropped out and went to live with his aunt, the Lady Morgana. Victor attempted to save his relationship with his sister and son by raising both of them to dukedoms. Morgana continued to ignore Victor's attempts, but Gunther gave in and returned home in 1922.

Adulthod
As Crown Prince, Gunther was fully expected to marry and have children. However Gunther was completely resistant to the idea; he was so resistant, he threatened to run away if Victor attempted to marry him off. Nevertheless, Victor was set on finding Gunther the perfect wife.

In 1924, Lord Lirion Crumplebottom suggested a betrothal between his niece Lady Agnes Crumplebottom and Prince Gunther. Victor was hesitant: mainly because he considered the Crumplebottoms to be financial rivals of House Goth. Apart from the Goths themselves, the Crumplebottoms owned the most land in the kingdom. After a series of discussion that lasted well into 1925, Victor relented. On 6 May 1926, the wedding between Agnes and Gunther was due to be held. However, the wedding would not happen. The day before (5 May), Princess Lolita Goth was found dead with her lover in an apparent murder-suicide. Victor ordered the entire engagement off and became recluse for the first time in his life.

Despite the depressing state of being for the Goth family, Gunther tried to make the most of it. He continued to express interests in education and the arts. He opened the SimCity National Art Gallery in 1928 and invested in the building of the Royal Library in 1929. After the death of his grandfather in 1930, the Earl Van Arbor, he refurnished the Van Arbor estate into an art school. The death of his aunt in 1935, Duchess Morgana, similarly shocked him. He painted a still life painting in remembrance of her; this would be the only piece of work that Gunther would create.

As the surviving children of Victor began to age (Gunther, Frida, Samuel), the pinging question of marriage and children became more prevalent. In 1937, Frida married a painter named Diego Kahlo. Because he was not a peer, Frida forfeited her rights of succession for herself and her children. She was subjected to commoner status and lost all of her royal titles. In the same year, Samuel married Olivia Hunter, a woman he met at Sims State University. On the other hand, Gunther did not marry but began to secretly start seeing Lady Cornelia Crumplebottom (who was engaged to another gentleman at this time). Not long after, Cornelia broke off her engagement and eloped with Gunther; they fled both their families to live in Champs Les Sims.

Gunther and Cornelia lived together in France for 3 years until Gunther received a letter from his dying mother; Gretle requested that both of them return and be officially married at House Goth. Both of them agreed to this and promptly returned to Sunset Valley in the following week. Gunther and Cornelia were officially wed on 6 May 1940; Cornelia's brother, Lord Robert Crumplebottom, was the only member of Cornelia's family to show up for the wedding. A week after the wedding, Gretle died from natural causes.

At this point, Victor was almost totally recluse in nature; Gunther took over as Prince Regent in 1941. As prince regent, Gunther also took over Victor's position in the Council of Kings. He was ruler in all but name.

Being king
An aged Gunther never expected to become a father, as Cornelia managed to give birth to a healthy baby boy named Mortimer Alexander Octavius Victor Goth. Mortimer's birth was a time of celebration for the House of Goth, mainly because it was the first birth to have taken place in over 30 years. Even the sickly King Victor celebrated the birth of his newborn grandchild. Victor would not celebrate for long, however, as his condition began to worsen. He died of natural causes two months after Mortimer's birth. Gunther became the new king.

Upon becoming king, Gunther almost had a heart attack upon seeing the state of finances for the kingdom. The kingdom was in debt of §660,000 towards several parties. Gunther hired an entire finance team to bring the debt under control and began to sell off major assets, a move which his family resented.

As king, he was also forced to play peacekeeper between the two greatest noble houses of Sunset Valley: House Alto and House Landgraab. Naturally, the rival houses hated each other and would stop at nothing to rid of each other. In 1948, Gunther forced the heads of both houses to sign the Goth Peace Accords. The accords ensured the houses would not fight each other and would not drag other houses into their petty squabbles. It also stopped both houses from being able to buy land anywhere in the kingdom; this would inevitably lead both houses to start estates in other kingdoms.

Gunther became ardent on solving much of the issues of the kingdom through taxpayers' money; taxes on income and property were substantially increased during his tenure. On the upside, he signed the Medicare Act in 1956, in an attempt to partially subsidize healthcare in Sunset Valley. Still, his policies became unpopular.

At the request of his brother, Gunther restored his sister Frida to princely status and raised her husband to Earl of Mayberry in 1957. This did not sit well with the other noble houses, and the Council of Sunset Valley attempted to block the act: it failed.

Later life
Gunther officially sanctioned the betrothal of his son Mortimer to Lady Bella Bachelor, daughter of Count Simon in 1964. Gunther was middle-aged by the time he became king, so being king for about twenty years had taken a toll on his health. In 1966, Gunther made Mortimer a Duke of Engelswich, a title traditionally passed to the crown prince. Gunther would become less involved in politics as a whole; his retired from the Council of Kings in 1970 and allowed Mortimer to take over as Prince Regent in 1974.

As he aged considerably, a series of health problems struck Gunther. His eyes began to fail him due to cataracts and his mind began to suffer because of dementia. He and Cornelia moved to 13 Skyborough Blvd where they would live out the rest of their days. Gunther died of natural causes in 1990.

Styles

 * The Honorable Lord Gunther Goth of Antwerp (1901-1918)
 * His Royal Highness Crown Prince Gunther of Sunset Valley (1918-1921)
 * His Royal Highness Crown Prince Gunter, 1st Duke of Engelswich (1921-1946)
 * His Majesty King Gunther of Sunset Valley (1946-1990)