The Jade Regent's Rise to Power

One evening before leaving the fortress of Seinaru Heikiko, the party was gathered in front of the fireplace, sipping sake. Hatsue was describing some of the horrors that were being inflicted on the people of Minkai in the name of the Jade Regent. Ameiko suddenly slammed her cup down on the table. "How did this monster ever ascend to the throne in the first place?" All eyes turned to Hirabashi Jiro, who stared into the fire for a long moment before he spoke.

“The five royal families of Minkai – Amatatsu, Shojinawa, Teikoku, Sugimatu, and Higashiyama – have ruled our nation by divine right for over a thousand years. Rule has passed between them, sometimes peacefully, sometimes not, aided by the power of the five Imperial Seals created by the goddess Shizuru. We have had many good rulers, and some truly wicked ones, but they were always of the royal blood. 

“But then, over 75 years ago, something began to happen to the royal families. One by one, with increasing frequency, their heirs began to die. At first, most of the deaths seemed natural, or accidental, and those that weren’t were chalked up to the usual political infighting within the royal families. But over the years, they became more and more violent, and too frequent to ignore. It was as if someone were systematically attempting to exterminate all five families.

“The Shojinawa clan was the first to go. They had dwindled to the smallest of the families, and their final heir died in a fall from a horse in 7166. The Amatatsu family fled soon after; they had lost several heirs under suspicious circumstances, and when Amatatsu Doro, your great-grandfather, was assassinated, your grandfather took what was left of the family and disappeared. The Teikoku family was next, and their end left no doubt that someone was targeting the royal families. They too had suffered many ‘accidents’ over the years, but they were the oldest of the ruling families, and proud. Once every ten years, the family gathered for a great feast at their ancestral fortress, to celebrate the founding of Minkai by their ancestor, Shogun Teikoku Sokai. While they were at the feast, the great hall was consumed by freezing black fire, burning the entire family alive.

“Over the next twenty years, the two surviving families continued to lose heirs at an alarming rate, until at last only the Higashiyama family remained. Emperor Higashiyama Raijin was a very old man, but he had many children, and he scattered them across all the lands of Tian Xia to try to keep them safe, but it was of no use. By the time he finally died (of undoubtedly natural causes at the age of 98) only the youngest, Higashiyama Shigure, remained alive.

“Emperor Higashiyama Shigure, the Last Emperor, took the Jade Throne some twenty years ago, but ruled for barely a week. Only days after being crowned, he disappeared with his trusted bodyguard, the samurai Soto Takahiro. There were rumors in the palace that one of his advisors, a young oracle named Renshii Meida, had a vision of an attempt on the emperor’s life, and that he went into hiding out of fear. All that is known for sure is that when Soto Takahiro returned, he carried a document signed by the emperor naming him Regent, to rule temporarily in the emperor’s place until his return. He also bore the Higashiyama Seal, which affirmed that the emperor had truly and willingly bequeathed his power to Takahiro.

“Over the last two decades, our people have suffered greatly under the rule of the Jade Regent. He uses the country’s treasury to buy the fealty of the lords who are greedy, and the power of its army to cow those who are weak. He has little regard for the suffering of the people, and starvation is running rampant as crops fail and people are too sick or oppressed to work their fields. He brought in his grandfather, a man named Anamurumon, to be his chief advisor, and openly consorts with the oracle, Renshii Meida, as his concubine. It is said that he even keeps Oni among his personal bodyguard!

“Without the divine mandate to rule granted to the five imperial families by the goddess Shizuru, the Jade Regent can never become the legitimate emperor of Minkai. But over time, with no true heirs to claim the throne, the Jade Regent will become the de facto emperor, and Minkai will pass irrevocably into the hands of Takahiro and his descendents. I fear this will usher in a new dark age of terror, blood, and excess.

“But all is not hopeless. With our lost princess returned, the Amatatsu family can again reclaim the Jade Throne, and save our people and our nation.”