The Shadowlands


The Shadowlands are a loose collection of undead, maho-tsukai, and oni who wish to the see the Empire either destroyed or corrupted. The fall of Shiro Hiruma to the Empire in 755 was an insult that allowed the undead general Tsukuro to gather the scattered and disjointed elements of the Shadowlands together under a single banner, and his ranks swelled further with the opening of first one, then two of the dreaded Black Scrolls.

Tsukuro led a massive assault upon the Great Carpenter Wall, and though his forces breached the Wall multiple times and nearly shattered the Crab, the appearance of Hiruma Kazuma on his flank with an army of Nezumi caught him off guard, and in his moment of confusion the Crab used the last of their strength to lash out and destroy the undead general.

Without Tsukuro's leadership, the various elements of his armies began to crumble. Those undead that were not cut down by the Crab in the following weeks retreated past Shiro Hiruma, leaving the Crab Clan battered and bleeding, but unbroken.

Tsukuro's generals argued over who should take over the remnants of his shattered army, and it was soon suggested that a grand tournament - a mockery of the Emerald Championship of the Empire - would be held to determine which of them was best suited to lead the others in battle. What followed was a brutal competition that ended in victory for a maho-tsukai named Kiyoshi, whose corrupted magic allowed him to easily dispatch those who placed their faith in martial strength. Kiyoshi declared himself the Onyx Champion and led his remaining forces deeper into the Shadowlands to begin plotting against the Empire.



The Onyx Champion

Kiyoshi: The man who was once known as Miya Kiyoshi was unfortunate enough to be visiting Ryoko Owari when Iuchiban's forces swept down onto the city. Kiyoshi was captured and brought to Iuchiban, who was amused with the idea of having his own personal herald. The Miya was less than willing to oblige him, so Iuchiban consigned him to his Bloodspeaker minions, commanding them to change Kiyoshi's mind.

It only took about a week of non-stop torture, blood-letting, and a few very creative Kansen to break Kiyoshi's will, and when Iuchiban set out from Ryoko Owari, Kiyoshi rode ahead of him on a steed of blood, announcing his new lord's presence to the world. Unfortunately, Iuchiban's forces met with defeat at the Battle of the Bloody Retreat, and Kiyoshi was forced to flee south as his master was defeated and imprisoned back in his tomb.

Kiyoshi fell in with Tsukuro, but the undead general placed him among the other maho-tsukai, not caring about his claims of Imperial blood or tutelage at the feet of Iuchiban. Kiyoshi's skills at wielding maho were much stronger than those of the other maho-tsukai, but he downplayed his own talents, not wishing to draw any more attention to himself than was necessary. When Tsukuro was eventually cut down, Kiyoshi entered the tournament to determine his successor and used his dark magic to rip the bones out of his opponent's bodies.

He was declared the victor of the tournament and took up the mantle of Onyx Champion, a reflection of the so-called Jade Champion within the Empire. Rather than throw his ravaged forces against the Empire, Kiyoshi led them deeper into the Shadowlands to gather their strength, where he eventually discovered the Tomb of Fu Leng.

His power was further augmented when he was visited by the Dark Oracle of Earth, who granted him the Hammer a Ruin, a dai tsuchi forged within the seething corruption of the Pit of Fu Leng, and answered the Onyx Champion's question. Kiyoshi later appeared before the Unicorn, claiming that the Kami Shinjo was trapped by the Lying Darkness and offering one of her netsuke up as verification of his claims. After some tense negotiations, he revealed the location of Shinjo's imprisonment to the Unicorn, in exchange for Fu Leng gaining the corpses (but not the souls) of fallen Unicorn samurai for a period of ten years. The Unicorn have done their best to keep the details of this arrangement a secret from the rest of the Empire.

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Credulous at best
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