Lying Darkness
Born:	(c. 5th century)
Died:	Unknown
People

The Lying Darkness, was an avatar of the Nothing. ^{[citation needed]}

Contents 1 Knowledge about the Nothing 1.1 Creation of Nothing 1.2 Creation of the World 1.3 A Naga Tale about the Nothing 1.4 Scheming 1.5 Shosuro 1.6 Obsidian Hand 1.7 Growing in size 2 Creation of the Lying Darkness 2.1 Goju 2.2 Alternative Story 2.3 Twisted 3 Touch of the Darkness 3.1 Absorption 3.2 Mimicry 3.3 Corruption 4 Undoing the World 4.1 Shinjo 4.2 Morikage Toshi 4.3 Ebon Stone 4.4 Sayel 4.5 Kaleel 4.6 War Against the Darkness 4.7 Naming 5 Death 6 Avatars 7 External Links 8 References

Knowledge about the Nothing Edit

Creation of Nothing Edit

The Nothing was existential void that pre-dated the existence of the world. The world was born from Nothing in three stages. One-third of the world was created out of its fear of loneliness, another third out of its desire for companionship, and the last third came from its remorse for accidentally creating the world and therefore ruining the perfect, empty void.^{[citation needed]}

Creation of the World Edit

Amaterasu and Onnotangu walked the Celestial Heavens, at peace with their realms. They loved, and they laughed, and all was well with Onnotangu and his bride, Amaterasu. They spoke of immortality, and of creation, and Onnotangu built a wonderland for his bridal bower, filled with trees and plants, and all the beautiful things of the world.

The Lady Sun, enchanted with his gift, begged him to let her populate it with children, but Onnotangu was jealous of his bride's love, and would not hear of such a thing. Yet, as he loved her, they created the animals, and the beasts of the sea, and spread them across the world. But still the Sun was not satisfied. They created man, and still, she wanted more.

At last, Onnotangu's love for her broke through his fear, and they created the Children, the sons and daughters of the Heavens: the immortal Kami. The babies became the light of Amaterasu's world, and she adored them. So much, that she forgot her love for Onnotangu, and turned her face from him. As the Moon and the Sun gave names to the world, she forgot to hide her love for the children, and she spoke of each thing as another gift for her children. She no longer needed the Moon.

Onnotangu grew bitter. He began to hate his wife, their children, and the world they had made,seeing each as a reflection of the Sun's false love. So, as he gave Amaterasu the names for each beast and tree, he held one name for himself, and did not tell it to her. He kept that one name, the last of all names.

When the Children of the Sun fell from the sky, screaming their mother's name, Onnotangu cursed them all. He watched the Sun weep as her children were cast down, and he cried, "My wife has betrayed me, and for her crime, I will chase her through the heavens. She will have no rest, no peace, and she will forever be alone, apart from her children. As she took her love from me, so will she be forever without love."

"My children, too, deserve no mercy. One by one, I shall hunt them and their people, until the world is as red as blood, and as black as night. I shall destroy them, for daring to steal what is my own."

"But I shall have one child," said Onnotangu, gnashing his teeth with fury, "a son of my own choosing, who has never betrayed me. A child who has never known the Sun." And he went to the last of the world's creatures, the unnamed Shadow. The Moon spoke to it as a father, and he lifted it up from that place, and carried it to become the blackness between the stars. ^[1]

A Naga Tale about the Nothing Edit

Once, the People stood beneath the Bright Eye's radiant gaze, and felt her warmth alone. She was our lover, a mother to the creatures of the world and the beloved lady of the People. Her eye was that of kindness. Her mate, the Pale Eye, was jealous of the things of the world, and he caused her to weep because his hatred of her beloved people. The Pale Eye, cold from anger and envy, watched as the People sang praises to the Bright, and so he hid his face in the Shadow. He gave no warmth to the People, no friendship or hope, and to his mate the Bright Eye, he gave pain.

As they walked across the land, prepared to give names to all, the Pale Eye lagged jealously behind. Alone, his eye was caught by a small slip of Shadow which hid beneath a rock and did not want a name. "Let us make a deal," the Pale Eye said to the Bright. "I will provide the names, and you will choose which creature to give them to." The Bright agreed and it seemed a fair agreement, and so they spread the Names among the world. Jealous of the love that the People had for the Bright Eye, the Pale chose not to show the hiding Shadow to his mate, to let it stay as it wished and be free. And when the Bright had used all the names he had given her, the Pale did not offer more and the thing within the Shadow remained as it was, unnamed and unmade. After the Bright and the Pale stepped again into the Sky, the Shadow greedily used its power to feed upon the People. Pleased to avenge its father, the Pale Eye, it devoured the bodies of the People, twisted them beyond bone and scale.

Yet among the people rose a hero. His name, at the time was Qatol. He was a warrior, a dread-mind-hunter, bringer of food. The Qatol fought the darkness with weapons of steel and jade, but nothing drove it away. More died. More vanished into the Shadow, never to be seen again, their souls lost forever. The Bright Eye, weeping as her People died, could do nothing. She could not break the bargain with the Pale, and she had no other names to give. Angered, she sent her youngest son to steal a name from the Pale, but he fell to the earth with his brothers and sisters, defeated.

No name was ever given, and the Darkness that Walks remained free. ^[2]

Scheming Edit

When the Kami fell to earth to escape their father, the Nothing attempted to turn the realm of Jigoku against them, warning that Fu Leng especially must be destroyed. But this inspired more curiosity than fear within Jigoku, which seized Fu Leng as he descended. Having failed once again, the Nothing again retreated to the shadows in fear. ^{[citation needed]}

This Nothing became the Lying Darkness, its one goal to un-create existence. While it hid, it watched the world and schemed of ways to destroy it. Eventually Nothing found a being of suitable potential to accomplish this goal, and revealed itself to Fu Leng. Fu Leng learned magic from it, but ultimately refused an alliance. The Nothing was enraged by this and attacked him, but Fu Leng's powers had grown too strong for him to be beaten. Fu Leng used a crystal sword to cut off a part of the Darkness, and it retreated back to hide in the shadows once more. ^{[citation needed]}

Shosuro Edit

Shosuro was created by the kenku Mukashi and his brother Takashi using the small piece of Nothing cut off by Fu Leng ^[3] Following the Day of Thunder, Nothing watched as Shosuro and Shinsei fled. They were being pursued by many demons, including the First Oni itself. Nothing whispered to Shosuro, offering to aid them if she would be its ally. Shosuro doubted its intentions, but with the arrival of the horde following them she accepted. Nothing drew the attention of Shiba, who had been scouring the Shadowlands for days. Shiba arrived just in time to defeat the First Oni and allow Shosuro and Shinsei to escape, but at the cost of the Kami's life. ^[4]

"I am Nothing. I only wish to help. There is one near who can aid you, but I want something in return." -Nothing [4]

Obsidian Hand Edit

After the first Day of Thunder, the Nothing stole the severed obsidian hand of Lord Moon which was to be used as a weapon against Fu Leng when he returned. ^{[citation needed]} It was given to Shosuro by the Darkness. The Obsidian Hand held not only the flesh of a God, but a piece of the soul of the Shadow. ^[5] Through Shosuro, it was able to corrupt the Scorpion Clan, using them as its eyes and ears. ^{[citation needed]}

Growing in size Edit

The Darknes was a small and tiny being when it was created, and it sought the way to grow. ^[6]

Creation of the Lying Darkness Edit

Goju Edit

The Lying Darkness approached Goju, who had fled the Kami in fear of their influence. In Goju the Darkness found a tool for acting in the Empire, and the Goju family was created. ^[7] Because the Darkness existed outside the natural order of things, it could only directly affect those who invite it into themselves. If the Darkness could not gain some advantage with its intended prey, then it could affect them only through its minions. The Goju made the perfect weapons for the Darkness in cases such as these. ^[8]

Alternative Story Edit

Other accounts said Goju was a Scorpion, a protégé of the 5th century ninja Bayushi Aramoro. When the order of ninja was ordered disbanded and executed by Hantei X, Goju and his followers fled the Imperial Magistrates, and found the Lying Darkness waiting for them. Eager to recruit minions who could act directly in the mortal world, the Darkness offered them the power they required to escape. The Goju became strange, shapeshifting creatures who commanded the shadows. The first demon-ninja were born. ^[9]

Twisted Edit

Infected by Goju's madness, the Nothing was twisted into the Lying Darkness that eventually would try to claim and unmake all of existence. That which the Lying Darkness touched was granted great power, no longer bound by the laws of the Celestial Order. Everything claimed by the Darkness forfeited its own identity, becoming solely an extension of the undefined Lying Darkness. ^[10]

Touch of the Darkness Edit

Absorption Edit

It was the most time-consuming, but also the most profitable course. Through absorption the Darkness drew the victim in a piece at a time, slowly stealing away everything that made him an individual. The Darkness lured in the victim, either by giving them special abilities or by breaking down their barriers, emotionally and mentally. They began to lose their memories, features, until it was left only a physical shell as smooth as a pebble. By the time this occured, the Darkness had completely stolen their identity, taking it as its own. The Darkness might use any knowledge or ability that the victim possessed, or unraveled whenever convenient. ^[11]

Mimicry Edit

The Darkness could also mimic any form it chose, but it not affected the individual copied. Although this method was much easier and required almost no time, the Darkness did not receive any of the benefits of absorption. It could not draw on the memories and abilities of the victim. ^[12]

Corruption Edit

The Darkness imparted special abilities to a willing vessel, in return for the target's service. These vessels begin to shift, their features did not fade, but they ceased to fit, giving the faces an asymmetrical, deformed quality. These minions were extensions of the Darkness and their forms were subject to its will. When maintaining the extension's integrity required too much attention Darkness withdrew its support entirely, leaving a body which no longer possessed enough cohesiveness to function, who died horribly in few hours. ^[13]

Undoing the World Edit

Shinjo Edit

Shinjo was kidnapped by the Lying Darkness when she was with the Ki-Rin Clan in the Burning Sands. For centuries she was held in the Black Earth, with dark djinn whispering in her ear. Nobody tried to find her but the Nothing did not corrupt her soul. The Lying Darkness, an ally of Fu Leng at that time, was forbidden by the Dark Lord to twist her, and Shinjo remained uncorrupted until she was released. ^[14]

Morikage Toshi Edit

In 782 the Shiba governor of Morikage Toshi called off his marriage to Agasha Yuriko. The bride's mother enact a curse upon the city, and as the woman's thirst for vengeance and her power to enact it was so strong that the Lying Darkness heard the Agasha's call and granted her wish, consuming Yuriko and binding her to the castle at the same time. The city became a focus point for Shadows activity, and also opened a flickering "hole" to the Spirit Realm of Toshigoku. ^[15]

Ebon Stone Edit

Somehow a group of warriors from distant lands released the Lying Darkness in the Ivory Kingdoms. Many of them died upon it, until the Lying Darkness was defeated by Shinsei. The little prophet imprisoned part of it inside the Ebon Stone, who was guarded by the Ebonites, to avoid its release from the imprisonement. Those who failed the Test of the Ebon Stone were seduced and manipulated by the Lying Darkness, becoming members of the necromantic cult of the Jackals. ^{[16] [17]} The Stone was destroyed in 1132, during the events of the Awakening, which roused the kami Shinjo from her imprisonment ^[18] and released the Lying Darkness into the world from where Shinjo had bound it. ^{[citation needed]}

Sayel Edit

In the Burning Sands he was known as Sayel, allied with Shilah's son, the jinn Kaleel. It was the Darkness that locked away the fury of the Goddess, and it was the Darkness that masqueraded as the Ebonite's lost prophet and the Jackal's ancient gods. ^[18]

Kaleel Edit

The jinn Kaleel was defeated by the Celestial Alliance ^[19] when Sayel devoured him and his armies. But at great cost, because after unmaking the Jinn, the Sayel threatened to spiral out of control, until Kaleel's brother Israk managed to funnel it into the heavens, where beings greater than those of our world could hope to oppose it. ^[18]

War Against the Darkness Edit

Following the Second Day of Thunder in 1128, the Lying Darkness began its attempts to destroy the Empire. Slowly but surely it attempted to gain control over the Emperor Toturi I. ^{[citation needed]} The only clan he could not infiltrate was the Naga. The Lying Darkness tried to control them through their isolation. He wished to drive their Akasha mad until they could bear no more. ^[20] Its power was at its peak in 1133, but the Battle of Oblivion's Gate proved decisive in the fight for the Empire. ^{[citation needed]}

Naming Edit

When Lady Sun and Lord Moon were replaced by Hitomi and Hida Yakamo they named the Lying Darkness, so as to give it form and take away its power. The Lying Darkness was named Akodo, a name that was unused, but already strong, a name that stood for all that was Samurai and Bushido. ^[21]

Death Edit

In an instant, the Lying Darkness was completely destroyed. Those who bear the Goju name weakened and fled into the shadows. Those who bear no name appeared without memory save that Akodo was their family name, and joined the fight beside the Empire, driving back the Shadowlands beasts. The dying Dragon of Air saw the last remnant of the Nothing and swallowed it, becoming the heir of the Lying Darkness, the Shadow Dragon. So long as the Dragon could survive the Lying Darkness could never truly return. ^[22]

Avatars Edit

The Lying Darkness had had several avatars within Rokugan:

• Shosuro
• Goju Adorai
• Shadow Dragon

External Links Edit

• The Lying Darkness (Dawn of the Empire)

References

• The Hidden Emperor Pages 5,6.

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