Kali-Ma

Kali-Ma was the female avatar of Shiva the Destroyer, the goddess of destruction in the pantheon of the Ivory Kingdoms, within the Mortal Realm of Ningen-do.

Appearance and Demeanor
Kali-Ma was a six-armed, clawed woman with immense teeth and a monstrous visage. She was feral and highly dangerous, fed on humans, tortured for fun, and thrived in the ensuing atmosphere of fear. Kali-Ma viewed all humans, and most other races, as prey.

Cult of Ruhmal
The Cult of Ruhmal worshipped Shiva and cooperated with Kali-Ma and her children in their dark goals.

Children
Her children was known as the Progeny of the Destroyer, who had an appearance very similar to that of her mother. One of her daughters, Anata, was sent to Rokugan in 1132 disguised as a young Ivory Kingdoms girl alongside with the Ruhmalist Feydn Rafiq. Rafiq betrayed Anata for his own ends. and Anata was eventually killed by a group of samurai investigating the Cult at the behest of Otomo Banu and on the advice of Feydn Rafiq.

Kyoso no Oni
The entity known as Kyoso no Oni, who the Rokugani believed she was an Oni Lord, was not. Agasha Kyoso used scrolls confiscated from Yobanjin raiders and were determined to be dangerous. The scroll was a ritual taken from the Cult of Ruhmal in the city of Medinaat al-Salaam. The ritual did not summon an oni, but rather drew upon the power of Kali-Ma.

Essence of Jigoku
In 1168 a Black Scroll was found in the Tomb of the Seven Thunders during the Battle of the Tomb. It was identified by the Scorpion Clan as a new Black Scroll, not one of the twelve originally created by Isawa to bind Fu Leng. Soshi Natsuo researched the scroll, the Essence of Jigoku, and opened it in 1169 near the - border. It marked the awakening of Kali-Ma, who began to build an army to assault Rokugan and to seek this Black Scroll. It was unknown how it was created, but it contained a portion of Kali-Ma's power.

Black Scrolls
The Black Scrolls' purpose was to seal away power of a magical or divine nature taken from external sources. Natsuo's ravings seemed to indicate that whatever was affected by the power was in some remote corner of the world, far from Rokugan. This Black Scroll could free them of a god whose time in the Empire had passed.

Champion of Jigoku
Fu Leng was ovethrown as Champion of Jigoku, and Kali-Ma stood supreme as the avatar of jigoku in the mortal world. Kali-Ma began a path of destruction, and took servitors from the lands she conquered, and from the cultures she encountered.

Ruined Kingdoms
In a dark temple Kali-Ma worshippers enacted a bloody ritual, where they willingly giving of their blood and flesh turning upon one another until only the strongest, and most horrible remained. The Ivory Kingdoms were put to the torch while Kali-Ma fought gods in the heavens.

God-Beast
Fueled by Jigoku and being her faithful ruining theirs, the divines fell before her power. One god remained alive with its form broken and its mind shattered. Kali-Ma changed her and the goddess became something else, the God-Beast. The few cities that remained within the realm were destroyed utterly by its power.

Ebon Daughter
In the few short years since the rebirth of the Ebon Daughter, she had become the high priestess of the Cult of Ruhmal and the favored daughter Kali-Ma. At her hands and at the hands of Kali-Ma's other Chosen, the Ivory Kingdoms were consumed in war, fire, and death.

Seeking an object
Kali-Ma sent the Ebon Daughter to seek something long forgotten and hidden away beyond her reach, something that was hidden within the boundaries of the Emerald Empire of Rokugan. In winter 1169 the Ebon Daughter met with the Dark Oracle of Fire in the Mountain of Fire. Chosai had become an ally of her, who used her servants to help him attack Rokugan, which would lead to the War of Dark Fire. In return Chosai would help which Kali-Ma desired, which was within the Empire, and she must acquire it at all costs.

The Path of the Destroyer
Although Rokugan had received several cryptic warnings, including a prophecy from Kitsune Narako, the armies of the Destroyer caught Rokugan by surprise in 1171. First came a huge wave of Oni and other Shadowlands creatures that sought to flee from the Destroyer's armies. The assault was relentless as it seemed like the entire Shadowlands had emptied in the attack. The Shadowlands assaults took a heavy toll on the Crab forces. However, bolstered by Unicorn and Lion reinforcements, the samurai were able to hold the Wall. However, this was just a prelude to the real battle to come as just behind the Oni hordes were the armies of the Destroyer, fresh and ready for battle. The Destroyers overwhelmed the exhausted samurai and breached the wall, letting hordes of Destroyers pour into Rokugan.

The Wrath of Kali-Ma
While the battle for the Carpenter Wall was raging on, a small group of samurai, driven by Kitsune Narako's prophecy, infiltrated the Shadowlands to seek the power behind the Destroyers. These samurai found Kali-Ma, a huge six-armed, vaguely female humanoid with incredible strength and magical ability. The samurai were spotted in the process and attempted to fight Kali-Ma but were quickly overwhelmed by her power and her elite guards. She chose to let a few escape back to Rokugan to reveal the truth behind the Destroyers.

Daigotsu and the Spider
The Ebon Daughter had delivered a message to Daigotsu, capitulation or destruction. The Dark Lord's answer was ha and the Spider would see Rokugan burning before the Empire would be owned by Kali-Ma.

God-Beast
In 1172 the majority of the Crab lands were under the Destroyers control, and the pace had diminished in the Scorpion lands in order to set the majority of the human vassals to the Black Scroll search. Kali-Ma was enraged with the resistance the Empire showed to her advance and unleashed her God Beast. The southern front lost considerable ground during the beast’s incursion. The front lines were broken and the southern Scorpion lands were hotly contested with significant Destroyers’ presence, but the God-Beast was killed.

Opening the Black Scroll
Fu Leng, in the guise of the monk Furumaro, had been seeking to have the Black Scroll opened, and Yoritomo Saburo finally did so. Kali-Ma had stolen Fu Leng's divinity, and this divinity had been taken by a pure soul and bound within the scroll. When the Black Scroll was opened, this divinity returned to his original master, the Ninth Kami, restoring him to his full power once more.

Death
In 1173 after Daigotsu died, he crossed over into Jigoku and became the Master of Jigoku. After Kali-Ma killed Fu Leng, the Dark Lord appeared and craddled the dead god in his arms ripping Kali-Ma's heart out of her chest in the process. He ruled the Realm of Evil and had the power to make Dark Fortunes.

Also See

 * Cult of the Destroyer