CrownedSun/GildedShadows

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Gilded Shadows

Shadow King and Assassin of the Deliberative, Gilded Shadows worked directly for that august body -- having a position as one of the Four Night Castes that worked to bring order and stability to the River Province, and protect it from harm. One of the best Assassins in the East, he was often put to use against the Enemies of the Solar Deliberative when direct force could not be applied. When not on direct assignment, most of his effort was directed toward the border cities on the edges of the Great Forest, and the Client States that dealt with the Realm. Somewhat bitter with his task, he much preferred the glorious days of War against the Primordials.

Gilded Shadows, also present at the fateful final days of the Solar Deliberative, overheard what awaited him through the front gate and did his best to find another exit from the Palace though he very well knew that no such exit existed. After much use of potent magics and some rather unstately hacking with his Daiklave, he emerged on the roof of the Palace of the Deliberative -- where he was forced to slaughter a number of Terrestrials who awaited him there. He then fled, moving from roof to roof across the city of Meru, from the Sidereal that had also awaited him. On the rain-tossed roof of the Deliberative building, Mourning Aria merely sighed -- she already knew how this would end.

Note: Gilded Shadow's Godspark is incarnated in the form of Jemas Ian.

Associates of Gilded Shadows

Mourning Aria, the Secret Song\\ Exalted by the Maiden of Secrets, Mourning Aria had always been an enigma. Silver-haired, limber and deadly, the two worked together on many occasions in some of the most sensitive and dangerous work. When a Yozi-corrupted Solar had to be rooted out, it was Gilded Shadow and Mourning Aria that infiltrated his social circle and eventually discovered his identity. After the Shoehorn Provinces of the West melted away into Wyld due to sabotague, the two of them headed the investigation to determine what had happened and nearly perished to the Fae host. Yet the two shared more than simply assignments; in a centuries long flirtation, they eventually became lovers. While neither ever married, and enjoyed the company of others on occasion, the relationship they shared was something of an open secret among their fellows.

Yet that love could not ultimately save him. When the Usurpation was initially proposed, Mourning Aria initially supported her friend and mentor Tammiz Ushun and the nascent Gold Faction -- believing that the Solars could be saved, and that every effort should be spared in that direction. Yet, the Words of Chejop Kejak eventually convinced her and with a heavy heart she joined the conspirators -- though with one demand. If her love was to die for the sake of the world, it would be at her hand.

Daita-krahn, Earths-whisper\\ One of the Dragon-Blooded Auxillaries that served under Gilded Shadows, preserved over the ages with the aid of potent magics. One of the few that Gilded Shadows felt he could trust, Daita-krahn served as the primary for many of the operations run by the Dagger of Heaven -- key to his responcibilies were the gathering of intelligence, and the oversight of the Dragon-Blooded Officers under his command. The Earths-whisper and his men would find as much as they were able, and then direct Gilded Shadow in to locate and eliminate whatever threat to the Deliberative they were after while providing backup and support.

This relationship got more difficult as Gilded Shadow got more and more reclusive and paranoid, and the Dragon-Blooded eventually perished during one of the purges of his ranks that the Old Solar did in the century leading up to the Usurpation. One of Daita-krahn's sons outlived his father, though, and vowed vengeance -- which, 94 years after his fathers' death, he recieved.