Shinjo

Shinjo
Born:	Pre-calendar
Died:	1160
Parents:	Onnotangu, Amaterasu
Siblings:	Akodo, Bayushi, Doji, Fu Leng, Hantei, Hida, Ryoshun, Shiba, Togashi
Children:	Shinjo Martera, Shinjo Yonaru, three more un-named sons
Titles:	Unicorn Clan Founder, Shinjo Family Founder, Unicorn Clan Champion
People

Shinjo was one of the Kami, the children of the Sun and the Moon. Onnotangu ate his own children, and when Hantei freed them all, they fell through a hole in the sky, out of Tengoku and into Ningen-do, the mortal realm.

Shinjo once called herself the 'Master of the Four Winds'.

Demeanor

Shinjo was a resilient, honorable, personable, aggressive, and incensed explorer.

Children of the Moon and Sun

Fu Leng

When the Kami still stood in the Heavens, Shinjo and Fu Leng were great friends. Shinjo loved her bother, who made her laugh.

Eaten by her father

Her father Onnotangu hunted his children down. Bayushi and Akodo fell first. Hida, Doji, and Shiba were likewise found and consumed. Togashi led Shinjo near Fu Leng's clever refuge and exposed them all to his father. Togashi, with his foreseeing skills knew they had to be found by Onnotangu, allowing the Celestial Order and Fate to proceed. Lord Moon consumed them all.

Founding Rokugan

As soon as the Children of the Sun and the Moon touched the soil of the Mortal Realm, they ceased being divine. While they were still not truly mortal men, they were also no longer gods. They soon set off from Seppun Hill in order to explore and understand this mortal world they had fallen into, to return five years later.

Tournament of the Kami

The Kami realized that the mortals of the world to which they fell needed guidance and organization that only they could provide. Hantei looked out and saw the people of Rokugan as children who should be taught the wisdom required to flourish. The Kami realized they were just the ones for the task. The siblings organized a tournament, and the victor would become the ruler of the new-formed Emerald Empire of Rokugan and of his or her other siblings and their mortal followers, an oath which was known as the Promise. Shinjo's speed and cleverness enabled her to defeat Hida in the Tournament of the Kami, but the underhanded tactics of Bayushi then eliminated her.

KI-Rin Clan

Shinjo went on to found a clan called the Ki-Rin. The Ki-Rin would later become the Unicorn Clan. In the year 31 Otaku and her husband Ide joined Shinjo’s Ki-Rin Clan.

War Against Fu Leng

Shinjo confronts Fu Leng

"It is my brother, Fu Leng. We thought he perished as Ryoshun did, but Fu Leng has returned. He has been driven mad somehow. He has pledged to undo everything Hantei has wrought and claim this land for his own. He commands an army of oni from the deepest pits of Jigoku." -Shinjo

Attempted Alliances

At the beginning of the War with her brother, Shinjo sent her vassal Ide and his student Shinjo Bairezu with a message to the Yobanjin. Shinjo wished for the Yobanjin to join the Ki-Rin, to offer protection from the war with Fu Leng. The Yobanjin chieftain Battul would not accept and warned Bairezu to tell his master never to send messengers to them again.

Meeting Fu Leng

Shinjo informed her brother Hantei she wished to know why Fu Leng had begun the war. The Emperor was enraged with her, but allowed the journey. During the War Against Fu Leng, Shinjo was the only one of her brothers and sister to try and reconcile with their fallen brother. She visited his citadel in the Shadowlands, but her efforts were rebuffed. Shinjo had met Fu Leng for love, love of everything that suffered, even her lost brother. She knew why she had to oppose Fu Leng and Shinjo returned alongside the rest of her siblings to fight by their side.

Gathering Thunder

At the height of the war, the armies of Fu Leng were pushing the defending Crab back slowly. None of the Kami were willing to confront their mad brother, and defeat seemed inevitable when a wise man named Shinsei appeared. He revealed that a small group of individuals could infiltrate the Shadowlands and defeat Fu Leng, but they would have to be mortals. Hantei, grievously wounded from a recent battle, declared that one individual from each clan be sent to join in this endeavour. Shinjo sent her finest vassal Otaku to be the Ki-Rin Thunder. Shinsei assembled the remaining Seven Thunders personally, and joined them on the quest to defeat the Ninth Kami.

Day of Thunder

The Seven Thunders and Shinsei made their way deep into the Shadowlands, where they found Fu Leng and defeated him. The cost was heavy, as only Shinsei and Shosuro survived the fight. They fled north, with the First Oni and many other creatures pursuing. The timely intervention of Shiba allowed Shinsei and Shosuro to reach Rokugan, but at the expense of Shiba's life. Fu Leng had been defeated, but at a very high cost.

Burning Sands

Ki-Rin's Exodus

"Fu Leng has been defeated, but I take no joy in our victory. Perhaps there is a land where the Ki-Rin might find peace." -Shinjo

After the defeat of Fu Leng, Shinjo and her clan were tasked in the year 45 with ensuring there were no threats to Rokugan from outside its borders. Shinjo assembled the Ki-Rin Clan and released her followers from their obligation to serve her. Shinjo left Rokugan and was accompanied by the Ide, Iuchi and Otaku families, each family followed by choice, each followed from devotion. Shinjo and the Ki-Rin rode north into the Burning Sands to explore the world leaving only a small remnant of her clan behind (who went on to found the Fox Clan). She was given Doji's Mirror to keep in contact with Hantei, and Doji gave her a small sandalwood fan to remind that Rokugan was also with them during her journey.

First Encounter

One of the first groups the Ki-Rin encountered in the Burning Sands were the Ujik-hai, a warrior people who lived on the harsh steppes. The Ujik-hai had seen the scouts of the Ki-Rin and their chieftain wished to take their equipment and horses for his people. Approaching the Ki-Rin under a banner of peace, the Ujik-hai lured out Shinjo, the heads of the Ki-Rin families and a small retinue to a meeting. Once they had the retinue surrounded, the Ujik-hai attacked, but the powers of Shinjo, slew Ujik-hai men, and the other family daimyo's slew a dozen more which caused the attack to falter. The chieftain himself was beheaded by Shinjo, and the son of the chieftain watched as his father's head was cloven in two before it struck the ground, whereupon he fled with the remaining Ujik-hai. Over time Ujik-hai came to join the powerful Ki-Rin, the vows of the Promise were exchanged, and so their numbers grew steadily. The addition of the Ujik-hai was fortunate, for they brought key survival techniques such as how to find food, water and shelter in the very harsh environment of the Burning Sands. Shinjo would become very close with one of the Ujik-hai elders named Martazera, who would open Shinjo's eyes to the differences between the Ki-Rin and other lands. By the time the Ki-Rin exited the Ujik-hai steppes they had grown to over 1000 strong.

Shi-Tien Yen-Wang's Curse

The Ujik-hai came to the realization that the so-called heathens were not only worthy, they were honorable, more so than their own death gods, the Shi-Tien Yen-Wang Gods, whose corruption was becoming more evident. The vast majority of the Ujik-hai, remembering true honor, followed a man named Moto and swore fealty to Shinjo. These people became the Moto family of the Unicorn Clan.

No one was left to worship the Shi-Tien Yen-Wang and without worshippers, they began to weaken. These dark Gods cursed the Moto, and pursued them angrily. Their curse made the Moto the most nomadic family of all, as they attempted to constantly move and escape the revenge of their fallen masters.

Shinjo's Promise is broken

Shinjo had made a promise to her followers that she would never leave them. During the Exodus of the Ki-Rin, she was lured beyond a stretch of mountains. In its foothold a strange oasis appeared and Shinjo suddenly vanished there. She returned after seven days disappeared, and a halo shone about her. Shinjo offered her life to Otaku Shiko, to atone her broken promise, but only after her children would be born.

Children

After several months Shinjo had a Ki-rin, which bathed with fire Shiko and Iuchi, and they saw Shinjo with five children. The children that were born of Shinjo also carried the blood of the creature of ghostly fire, the Ki-rin.

New Promise

Instead to take her life, Shiko asked a new promise.

"I will always return." -Shinjo

Blocked way Back

When the Ki-Rin tried to return back from the strech of mountains they encountered the Rocs ridden by long-haired, pale-skinned men and women, which attacked the Clan. Using a powerful spell, Iuchi caused a rockslide in the mountain pass that killed not only the Rocs but also a large number of Ki-Rin samurai and one of Shinjo's sons.

Mirror divided in Four

After the Battle with the Rocs the pass back to Rokugan, the Ujik-hai steppes, and the Burning Sands had been blocked. Shinjo decided to divide their number to find another passage. She used her katana to divide the mirror into four pieces, aided by the magic of Iuchi. It broke the communication with Rokugan, but allowed the messages between the divided groups. A piece was given to each family and the fourth was kept by Shinjo. When the mirror went dark most in Rokugan had assumed the worst.

Lying Darkness

In 442, two hundred years after the mirror was broken each of its wielders saw how Shinjo was ravaged by talons of Darkness. The three groups gathered toward their Lady was. They found her and a stronghold, where the Lying Darkness was its master. The land was barrened as the Shadowlands were. They assaulted the building but left the flank exposed and quickly were surrounded by minions of the Darkness. Shinjo ordered to flee and she alongside three of her children charged against the Darkness. The Unicorn fled believing that Shinjo always would return, as promised. Shinjo's light faded behind the dark tendrils of her foe.

Black earth

File:Black Earth.jpg

Shinjo imprisoned at Black Earth

Shinjo had been kidnapped by the Lying Darkness. For centuries she was held in the Black Earth, with dark djinn whispering in her ear. Even though no one tried to find her, the Nothing did not taint her soul. The Lying Darkness, an ally of Fu Leng, was forbidden by that Dark Lord to twist her, and Shinjo remained uncorrupted. Beneath the city of Medinaat al-Salaam laid a gate to the Black Earth, a world ruled by Shadow where the Goddess slept.

Ashalan Prophecy

The Ashalan Maymun had built in 332 a crystal tomb for Shinjo in the City of the Seventh Star. When the time would come, the prophecy known as the Awakening would free her, and the energy would release the jinn bound to the city, which would be instrumental in the defeat of the Jinn Lord Kaleel after its return.

The Awakening

The Avatars gather

In 1132, Hojyn gathered with the four Avatars, Shosuro Tage the Scorpion, Amru the Qabal, Moto Kara of the Kirin, and Zahra the Ebonite. Together, they roused Shinjo using the power of the Fallen Star.

Moto Gaheris

The former Moto Khan Gaheris had undergone a divine experience and felt an urge to travel to the Black Earth. The Tenth Kami, the Guardian of the Rift Ryoshun, guided him. Powered in some way by the Avatars, the great goddess Shinjo awoke from her slumber beyond a rift in the Black Earth and fled forth from it into the Black Earth where Gaheris was waiting.

Ryoshun's Fate

Shinjo feels Ryoshun's death

Shinjo felt the killing blow against her lost brother Ryoshun and cried filled with remorse as she soared out of the barren realm. Jama Suru had performed a maho ritual to trap Shinjo, but Ryoshun answered the spell's call instead. Ryoshun had taken the place Suru reserved for her and the tenth Kami was killed under the Juru's knife.

The Return of Shinjo

The Awakening

Gaheris and Shinjo eventually escaped the Black Earth, and Shinjo's freedom was complete. The very act of the Goddess waking destroyed a large part of the city of Medinaat al-Salaam, which destroyed the armies besieging Medinaat al-Salaam and the Shattering of the Jewel ended. She left for her distant homeland. Utaku Shiko had waited for her until she reappeared, and when she did, she was pregnant with five children, whom were ki-rin. Shiko decided she could not kill Shinjo for breaking her promise, and instead told Shinjo she could amend her promise to say that while she might leave her clan, she would always return to them. ^{[citation needed]}

Back in Rokugan

After Bayushi Aramoro's victory in the Emperor's tournament the main Scorpion force returned to Rokugan to reclaim their lands. Shinjo herself led them. The Scorpion Clan was reinstated by force of deeds. Even when the Emperor did not remove its status as exiles, nobody opposed the return of a Clan led by a Kami itself.

Purge of the Kolat

Shinjo's Judgement

Shinjo sensed the Unicorn general who kneeled to her was a kolat and executed him on the spot. Otaku Tetsuko confessed and described the members she knew, and commited seppuku. She personally executed hundreds of members of her own clan, revealing them to be Kolat but she could not find Yokatsu. Moto Gaheris was appointed by Shinjo as the new Unicorn Champion, and spared the life of the Daimyos Shinjo Shono and Otaku Kamoko.

March to Otosan Uchi

With the help of the Scorpion, Shinjo learned of the Lying Darkness and its hold over Toturi. Shinjo assembled the combined forces of all the clans in the Assault of Otosan Uchi, which had become dark and bleak since the return of Toturi. Toturi tried without success to bribe the Scorpion Clan, offering their lands and title returned for the death of Shinjo.

Shinjo and Yoritomo

The Imperial armies defended the Imperial City but the battle stopped when all realized that Toturi had disappeared again. Shortly after the Mantis' defeat in Phoenix lands Yoritomo was approached by Lady Shinjo, who offered to put him on the Imperial Throne. Yoritomo refused, saying he would never become a pawn of the Kami, even if it would make him Emperor.

Twenty-Seven days of Darkness

In anger at the death of her husband Onnotangu, Amaterasu fled the Celestial Heavens, beginning the Twenty-Seven Days of Darkness. Before she departed had commanded Shinjo to take all the Ancestral Swords of the Clans and throw them to the stars. In the fifth day of the twenty-seven Amaterasu commited jigai, and in the seventh Hitomi appeared at Otosan Uchi and visited the Imperial Throne room, while Shinjo stood to one side, watching her.

The Moto War

Gaheris led the Moto to the Twilight Mountains, were the Dark Moto had gathered at the command of Otaku Kamoko. When the two armies clashed Kamoko raised her sword against the Dark Moto she commanded, and was mortally wounded in personal combat with Moto Tsume. Shinjo arrived to see how Kyoso no Oni appeared from Kamoko and killed Tsume. When the oni turned to consume Kamoko, Shinjo made Kyoso to flee. Gaheris crushed the rest of the undead Moto.

The Departure of Shinjo

Shinjo ascends

Shinjo left the mortal realm and ascended to the Celestial Heavens in 1133. Gaheris was in charge of the Unicorn Clan believing the Kolat influence of the Shinjo family not entirely gone. She set Otaku Kamoko among the stars to honor her sacrifice and commanded the Otaku family to change their name to Utaku so Kamoko would be the last Battle Maiden to bear the Otaku name.

Death

Shinjo was killed in 1160 after her brother Fu Leng, freed by Daigotsu and equipped with Emma-O's Spear, invaded the Celestial Heavens. Shinjo sought out Fu Leng to try and convince him to turn from his path, as she did long ago. The conversation between the brother and sister was brief, and so was the battle - Emma-O's spear proved too much for Shinjo and she was killed.

Shinjo's Journey

The Kami found herself in the Realm of Waiting, Meido, where she saw that the Shi-Tien Yen-Wang were trying to wrest control of the realm from Emma-O, claiming the Fortune could no longer discharge his duties properly. She was met by her brother Ryoshun, the steward of lost souls, who was with one of the Lords of the Death. They showed Shinjo a portal which ressembled the Oblivion's Gate, and which bring new life to the spirits who passed through it by means of reincarnation. Shinjo crossed through the portal, there to await rebirth when the time was right. Later Kitsu Hisashi arranged an agreement to share control of Meido between the Lords of Death and Emma-O.

Reincarnation

It was believed that Shinjo reincarnated in Shinjo Shono and Moto Genki's daughter, Shinjo Min-Hee. Ninube Chochu wanted to steal the power from the reincarnated Shinjo, as well from the soul of Togashi, and the Shadow Dragon. Chochu tried to take Min-Hee, but Akasha fought the creature which fled.

Moto Naleesh

It was later known that Akasha's daughter, Moto Naleesh, was the reincarnation of Shinjo.

External Links

• Shinjo (Dawn of the Empire)

Sources Conflict The sources relating to this article are in conflict with each other.

Four Winds page 53 claims Shinjo involved in the arrangement between Emma-O and the Shi-Tien Yen-Wang. The fiction Lifeless, part One and Two described Shinjo passing a portal to be reincarnated (Part One) and Kitsu Hisashi made the arrangement (Part Two). I consider the fiction over the RPG book. --Oni no Pikachu 15:26, February 5, 2011 (UTC)

References

Preceded by: None	Ki-Rin Clan Champion Pre-calendar - 442	Succeeded by: Shinjo Yonaru
Preceded by: None	Shinjo Daimyo Pre-calendar - 442	Succeeded by: Shinjo Yonaru

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