During the reign of Emperor Shojinawa Kenshiro, a
charismatic warlord named Anamurumon rose to power among the bandits of the
Minkai countryside and terrorized the entire nation. In direct defiance of the
emperor and the will of the gods, Anamurumon foolishly sought what his lowly
birthright denied him—the very seat of power in Minkai, the Jade Throne. The
warlord’s forces raided and burned several cities, abducted and ransomed
important diplomats, and slew many of the emperor’s best samurai. At the height
of his power, Anamurumon had seized the largest farms and threatened every
trade route around the imperial capital of Kasai, all in an effort to starve
the capital and force Emperor Kenshiro’s capitulation.
In 4247 AR (6747 by the Tian Imperial Calendar), Anamurumon
managed to draw out the emperor and strike a mortal blow against him on the
battlefield. But the warlord was unable to claim his stolen throne, for
Anamurumon had underestimated the power and favor invested in the imperial
families by the gods. With his dying breath, Kenshiro called upon the power of
the Shojinawa Seal, one of the five Imperial Seals that symbolized the goddess
Shizuru’s blessing and the imperial families’ divine mandate to rule Minkai.
Anamurumon was struck down and fell victim to a terrible curse. With their
leader rendered impotent, Anamurumon’s forces were routed by the emperor’s
reinforcements, thereby preserving the empire even as Kenshiro passed away.
Anamurumon’s soul was ripped from his body and cast into the
void, a disembodied spirit cursed to wander the Great Beyond for eternity.
Seething with jealousy and rage, Anamurumon’s spirit appealed to Fumeiyoshi,
god of dishonor and envy and patron of the oni. Ever jealous of Shizuru and
those blessed with her favor, Fumeiyoshi heard Anamurumon’s plea and answered
the former warlord’s prayers by returning him to the Material Plane as a wind
yai oni. But Fumeiyoshi’s gift proved to be a curse as well as a boon, for as
an oni, Anamurumon was now bound by the Laws of Golden Perfection—the complex
compendium of rules put in place by the gods that prevents the oni from taking
direct action to seize control of the mortal world and rule over mankind. And
though his new oni form was much more powerful than his previous human body,
that very form now forever prevented Anamurumon from claiming the Jade Throne
he so craved.
In addition, when he manifested in his new form on the
Material Plane, Anamurumon found himself trapped in the House of Withered
Blossoms in the Forest of Spirits. This ancient pagoda was both a palace and a
prison for the oni inside, a tenuous brotherhood of cruel, corrupted spirits
clothed in flesh, who only grudgingly accepted Anamurumon’s arrival in their
midst. Anamurumon devoted the next 4 centuries of his unnatural life to
maneuvering for power among their ranks and planning an escape from the House
of Withered Blossoms, still powerfully driven to strike back at those who
defeated him. He established a single identity for those oni who rallied to his
cause, thenceforth known as the Five Storms, and slew all who opposed him.
The Jade Regent’s
Lineage
Some oni – Anamurumon in particular – sought the means to
sire half-fiend children and tiefling grandchildren, correctly deeming that
oni-blooded tieflings would fall outside the Laws of Golden Perfection, and could
thereby further his goal of taking the Jade Throne through subterfuge rather
than direct action. The Five Storms took special care to conceal the nature of
these children whenever possible.
To this end, Anamurumon raised and trained his most
promising grandchild, a young boy named Soto Takahiro. The boy’s mother died
after childbirth, tortured to death by Anamurumon himself to ensure that his
grandson would bond only with him. As Takahiro grew up, so too did he grow in
power and status, his mind constantly shaped and hardened by Anamurumon to suit
the oni’s plans. Eventually, at his grandfather’s urging, Takahiro joined an
order of samurai devoted to protecting the Higashiyama clan, and was assigned
to protect one of their younger scions, Shigure, who Anamurumon planned to
elevate to the Jade Throne by arranging the deaths of his elder siblings in the
line of succession. When Shigure finally became emperor in 4708 (7208 IC), he
brought Takahiro with him as his personal bodyguard—all according to Anamurumon’s
plan.
However, no one outside the oni of the Five Storms,
including Takahiro himself, know that Anamurumon is anything other than human.
His grandfather told him his mother died in childbirth and his father died
before he was born. Takahiro knows he has special powers (he is nearly 7 feet
tall, for one thing), but Anamurumon has taught him to believe they are a sign
of the gods’ divine favor. Anamurumon now serves as his grandson’s chief
magistrate and closest advisor.
The Jade Regent’s
Concubine
Renshii Meida is a gifted oracle, who trained as a geisha
and offered her services to the Higashiyama family as a seer and advisor to
interpret the will of the gods and ancestral spirits alike. She seemed to serve
them well, but in reality, the Renshii clan had been close allies with the
warlord Anamurumon centuries before, and she was in his service still.
She and Soto Takahiro, now the Jade Regent, developed a
lasting, if secretive, love affair. Anamurumon knows of the relationship, but
believes his grandson merely seduced the oracle as part of the plot to betray
the emperor. With Takahiro now firmly seated on the Jade Throne, Anamurumon is
now ready to be rid of Meida and find a suitable match for the future emperor.
However, unknown to the Jade Regent (and more importantly, to his grandfather),
she is now pregnant with the Jade Regent’s child. Her closest handmaidens know
her secret, but no others.
The Jade Regent’s
Appetites
Despite his relationship with Renshii Meida, it is no secret
among the geisha that the Jade Regent has a lustful appetite for female (and
occasionally male) companionship. Meida suspects the occasional dalliance, but
has no idea how frequently he strays, or that his indiscretions are well known
to seemingly all but her.
The Jade Regent’s
Assassin
The assassin Kaibuninsho was not the only ninja in the Jade
Regent’s employ. Another, known to most only as the Raven Prince, is part of
Anamurumon’s inner circle. Little is known of him, save that he is a Tengu.
O-Sayumi’s samisen reveals that his true name is Giras
Notori. He trained with several ninja clans, but never joined any of them as a
full member. As his talents and reputation grew, Anamurumon approached him with
a challenge too great to pass up – nothing less than the assassination of each
imperial bloodline down to their last heir. Seeing this as the crowning
achievement for any ninja, Notori took the oni’s contract, and as a result,
hundreds of members of Minkai’s imperial families have met their fate at his
hands.
Despite his actions, Notori
retains a sense of honor, as well as a sense of duty to abide by the codes and
strictures of the ninja clans that trained him.
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