| Omen | |
|---|---|
| |
| Born: | Unknown |
| Died: | -- |
| Parents: | Kuni Utagu, Kuni Tansho |
| Titles: | Oracle of Jade, Voice of the Jade Sun |
| People | |
| Please note: This article is about the Kuni Kiyoshi who was the son of Kuni Utagu and became the Oracle of Jade. For other uses of the term, please see Kuni Kiyoshi (disambiguation). |
Kuni Kiyoshi was a Crab Clan witch hunter and the son of the Kuni family daimyo, Kuni Utagu. He later became the Oracle of Jade and Voice of the Jade Sun.
Utagu's Son[]
Through his whole life Kiyoshi was a disappointment to his father and could not live up to his rival, Utagu's protege, Kuni Shigeaki. Kiyoshi constantly sought to prove himself. In 1157 Kiyoshi made his first mission tracking the Bloodspeaker Mohai. Mohai had stolen a magical golden box from Shinden Asahina, and by chance Kiyoshi had stumbled upon the crime. Whatever that box's contents were, he had to be stopped before Mohai could deliver it to his mistress, Shahai. [1]
City of the Lost[]
Omen was guided in his hunting by Hida Hio and the nezumi N-kithith. When the group were climbing deep in the Shadowlands they heared a maho chanting, and Hio and the nezumi fled. Kiyoshi was not a coward and reached the peak, being the first to discover the City of the Lost, but when back at home no one believed him because he had no other witnesses. [1]
Losing his name[]
Kiyoshi set out again to prove the existence of the city and was wounded by an arrow fired by Lost Crab. He became Tainted, being recovered by Hio and N-kithith who brought him to the shaman Te'tik'kir. The shaman gave Kiyoshi a spear that slowed the spread of the Taint, but was unable to stop it completely. Te'tik'kir saw a scar in the Name of Kiyoshi, cuased for the rift the Witch Hunter had with his father, and the shaman used a ritual that would erase Kiyoshi's shame by causing all to forget that Kiyoshi ever existed. From that minute on all people remembered Kuni Shigeaki as Kuni Kiyoshi, although not as Utagu's son. The man that had been Kuni Kiyoshi took the name Omen. [2] [1] The name was elected because the first time he came to the City a star had crossed the sky in the night, and such an event was seen as a dire omen. [3]
Omen while Tainted, holding the Crimson Spear
City of the Lost Guardian[]
Omen went to the City of the Lost as a vigilante spy and the information he could find he released to the Crippled Bone Tribe using specially encoded messages. As a tainted individual he was free to walk on it. [3]
Black Scroll[]
In 1159, in the Month of the Goat, he was able to keep Ryosei free of the Taint while she confronted her father Kitsune Gohei in the City, stole the Tenth Black Scroll and gave it to the Fox Daimyo. [4] [5]
Fall of Otosan Uchi[]
In the month of the Rooster Daigotsu's forces rallied in the City of the Lost, for a new offensive after their successful attack to the Kaiu Wall. Omen tried to learn Daigotsu’s new target, but could not. [6] Eventually he saw Garen Hawthorne embarking Tsuno to attack Otosan Uchi by sea, and this attack would be the Fall of Otosan Uchi. [1]
The Oracle of Jade[]
Omen escapes with the Jitte
Later this year Omen heared his former name Kiyoshi from an entity who was within the Temple of the Ninth Kami. He came in, and following the voice instructions entered the throne room seeing the Celestial Jitte. When he took the Jitte was instantly cleansed of his taint. He did not know that the voice was the Dragon of Jade. Free of taint the Shadowlands minions sensed him and before they could reach him, Omen opened a portal and fled through it. Omen had become the first Oracle of Jade. [7] The Jade Dragon had been sent to Ningen-do to find a hero with sufficient power to help Tengoku during the Fu Leng's assault to the Heavens. [8] Unable to exist in the mortal realm for long, the Jade Dragon had quickly reached out to Omen. [9] This event caused an imbalance in the Heavens that led to the awakening of the Eighth Dradon, the Obsidian Dragon. [10] Omen stole the Celestial Jitte that Hakai took at the Test of the Jade Champion, and used his magic to leave the Shadowlands. [11]
Abilities[]
As the Jade Dragon was less powerful than his elder brethren, Omen was less powerful than the other Oracles. His abilities were nevertheless quite potent when directed against the Shadowlands. Omen had all the powers and abilities as a minor Jade Dragon. He could transform into a Jade Dragon and might only use his breath weapon in his dragon form. As the other Oracles, Omen had to follow the same rules that obliged the Oracles not to interfere in the affairs of the mortal world. [9]
Third Rise of Iuchiban[]
In 1165 Omen sensed Iuchiban had returned and told it to Kuon. [12] Omen blamed the Fortune of Vengeance, the dragon Yozo, to have allowed Daigotsu to get a copy of the Journals of Kuni Nakanu. Yozo had given both Daigotsu and the Empire information that could lead to Iuchiban's destruction to restore the balance. [13]
Kisada's Return[]
In 1166 the Great Bear, Hida Kisada, returned to the Mortal Realm. Omen confirmed Kuon the returned spirit was the truly Kisada. [14]
Tao of Fu Leng[]
In 1168 the Emperor Toturi III died in the Battle of the Tomb, and the Crab that survived the battle safely returned to Kyuden Hida [15] with a book. Omen sensed the presence of the book when it was retrieved from the Tomb of the Seven Thunders, and made his way to Crab lands to advise Hida Kuon on what to do with it. Omen revealed it was the Tao of Fu Leng, an evil book written by the hand of the Dark Kami himself. The book was deemed too dangerous to study as it would corrupt its reader, and too dangerous to destroy as it would unfailingly re-create itself and possibly fall into the hands of the Shadowlands. Omen found no book's marks on any of the men that had carried the Tao, Hida Benjiro and Yasuki Jinn-Kuen. The book was entrusted to Omen to safeguard it, as the Oracle of Jade he was completely immune to the Taint and Maho. [16]
Kyofu rejoined the Crab[]
Kyofu came to his former clan and requested an audience with Hida Kuon. He no longer looked like the Onisu, he was handsome, though his flesh was strangely discolored. Kyofu asked to be given command of the Damned so that he could lead a force against the oni. After his intentions were verified by Omen he would command the tainted crab in the Kyofu's Last March. Kyofu was given Kettei to wield in the battles. Kuni Daigo pledged to bring the sword back to the Crab upon Kuroda's death. [17] Kuroda was killed by Kyoso no Oni in the Battle at the Wall of Bones in 1169. [18]
Legion of the Jade Hand[]
Kuon had asked Omen to protect the Tao of Fu Leng, and he gathered together a number of honourable Crab samurai in a remote tower in the Twilight Mountains. From them he created the Legion of the Jade Hand and commissioned them to guard the foul artifact. [19]
Voice of the Jade Sun[]
Maru and Omen
In 1170 Omen was called by Tengoku and took on a new identity, the Voice of the Jade Dragon following the ascension of the Dragon of Jade to Lord Sun. [20] The previous months it had been more difficult to commune with the Jade Dragon, but after this epiphany his awareness expanded outward beyond anything he had ever known. [21]
Starting a quest[]
The man that had once been called Omen left the tower without a word, tasking his men to guard the Tao without his presence. Omen began the long walk north toward the Imperial City Toshi Ranbo. He had a quest, to find those virtuous in the Empire to give his blessings. He passed through Dokushi Mura, a good and proper village. He could not left them without offering his patron's blessing to them. [21]
The Hand of the Jade Dragon[]
In his travel he was in the Plains of Thunder, near a pride of lions. Matsu Benika saw him and protected the traveller without knowing who was Omen. He found Benika a virtuous woman, and gifted her with the Hand of the Jade Dragon in honour of her consistent adherence to bushido. [21]
Iweko I[]
The Celestial Tournament[]
Upon arriving at Toshi Ranbo, Maru and Omen announced to all in Shosuro Jimen's court that it was the will of the Celestial Heavens for there to be a new Emperor, who would be chosen through a tournament similar to that held by the Kami at the Dawn of the Empire. [22] Maru and Omen presided over this tournament and judged its competitors. They allowed the Spider Clan, sponsored by the Kami Fu Leng to compete alongside the Great Clan representatives. [23] Omen bestowed the blessings of the Jade Sun upon the winner, Kitsuki Iweko, who became the Empress Iweko I. [24]
The Empress[]
Omen and Maru remained at Iweko's side, should she require their counsel, as she presided over her first Winter Court at Kyuden Bayushi. [25] The Voices rarely attended Imperial Court sessions. [26]
Chosen of Ryoshun[]
Omen visited Benika again, and she told her concern that she alone could carry out the duty as living example for an entire Empire. The Voice told there would be others, [27] several of the gifted with the Gifts of Ryoshun. The selected exemplars of mankind were summoned to Meido by Ryoshun to be chosen as followers to either the Voice of the Jade Sun or the Voice of the Obsidian Moon. Each was gifted with an item crafted from the essence of one Spirit Realm to help them in their service to the Voices. [28]
Destroyer War[]
In 1172 Omen was present in the Empress' audience, where the Great Clans were given new Imperial Charters during the Destroyer War. [26]
See also[]
External Links[]
| Preceded by: None |
Oracle of Jade 1159 - 1170 |
Succeeded by: None |
| Preceded by: None |
Voice of the Jade Sun 1170 - Present |
Succeeded by: - |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Prelude to Darkness, Part Two: Omen, by Rich Wulf
- ↑ The Four Winds, pp. 42-44
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Jade, by Rich Wulf
- ↑ Prelude to Darkness, Part One: The Fox, by Shawn Carman
- ↑ Legend of the Five Rings; Third Edition p. 41
- ↑ Imperial Histories 2, p. 204
- ↑ Jade, by Rich Wulf
- ↑ Four Winds, p. 51
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Secrets of the Crab, p. 53
- ↑ The Ruins of Otosan Uchi, Part 3, by Shawn Carman
- ↑ Escape from Shadows (Heaven and Earth flavor)
- ↑ Blood Dawn, Part II: Son of Stone, by Shawn Carman and Rich Wulf
- ↑ Forgotten Lore, by Shawn Carman
- ↑ Persistence, by Rich Wulf
- ↑ The Battle at the Tomb, Part 4, by Shawn Carman and Nancy Sauer
- ↑ Dark Knowledge, by Brian Yoon
- ↑ Souls of Steel, Part Two, by Brian Yoon
- ↑ Oaths, by Shawn Carman and Rusty Priske
- ↑ Peace at the Point of a Sword, by Rusty Priske and Shawn Carman
- ↑ Vacant Throne, pp. 109-110
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 The Sun & Moon, Part II, by Shawn Carman
- ↑ The Heavens’ Command, by Brian Yoon
- ↑ The Celestial Tournament, by Shawn Carman
- ↑ The Conclusion, Part 6, by Shawn Carman
- ↑ Glory of the Empire, Part 1, by Shawn Carman
- ↑ 26.0 26.1 Duty of the Clans, by Shawn Carman
- ↑ Gift of Ryoshun, Part I, by Shawn Carman
- ↑ Gift of Ryoshun, Part II, by Shawn Carman
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