Gamuran

Before they were known as Shadowkin, the Dawnlanders of Yakai were made up of many different clans, each with their own hierarchy and ruler. In this regimented society, ceremonies, such as marriages, funerals, and festivals, played an important role in maintaining social harmony. As such, their various rules were strictly enforced, and to break them incurred the most severe of punishments. So it was in the case of Gamuran, the lowly stable boy caught gazing upon his lord’s daughter on the day of her wedding. For his transgression, his eyes were put out, so that they may never again look upon that which they were not worthy to see. Left scarred and furious at his treatment, hatred toward the rulers of Yakai grew in Gamuran’s heart. When the Demonspawn ushered in the age of the Mikage Autocracy, he was one of the first mortals to pledge themselves to Siroth. Though he wished for his sight to be restored in his ascendance to Demonhood, he was bestowed with a gift far greater: the ability to see one’s strength of conviction. This Demonic power made him invaluable to the Mikage, as in an instant he would know whether an individual could be turned to their cause or trusted. He became a judge, jury, and executioner of the regime, and countless prisoners were brought to him one by one to determine whether or not they could be of use. Thousands died on Gamuran’s command, but many more lived, as he saw the weakness in their will that would lead to their servitude. As the Mikage’s power grew, so too did Gamuran’s, and he rose to become a highly senior figure. Weaponizing his gifts in order to gain more influence, he falsely asserted a lack of conviction in his rivals to ruthlessly dispose of any who might challenge him. At the height of the Mikage regime, Gamuran was among the most powerful beings in all of Yakai, a far cry from the lowly stable boy who was blinded for daring to gaze upon a noble’s daughter. After the fall of the Mikage, Gamuran was unrepentant. Unwilling to give up the power he had claimed, he continued his work for Siroth with renewed vigor. Taking his most loyal followers and fleeing the reach of the insurgent rebels, he began to build a new order. He knew there would be many across Yakai who felt lost and confused after the destruction of the Autocracy, and who did not trust the new rebel leadership. Preying upon these insecurities, and using his Demonic gift to find those who could most easily be manipulated, Gamuran formed a cult around himself. Its numbers swelled to thousands as people were drawn to his preaching, finding solace in his explanation of how they had been failed by the rebels, and how none but him could see the true direction of where their society was heading. Throughout Yakai, word spread underground of the vitriolic speaker around whom the shunned and forgotten coalesced, a leader bent on ridding the region of the rebel sickness. This was the birth of the Fellowship of Truesight. Building the cult firmly in his own image, Gamuran commanded that all who would follow him must partake in the ritual removal of their eyes, so as to ‘better see the truth’. While he has far greater ambitions that concern regions beyond even the borders of Yakai, for now, Gamuran must contend with survival. Fearful of both the rebels and fellow exiled Mikage who remember his scheming, he keeps his Fellowship of Truesight relatively hidden, skulking among the shadows, recruiting those who feel at a loss in this new world. As his army of blinded followers grows, Gamuran plots, and waits for the opportunity to restore himself to power in Yakai. When he feels he has a number truly capable of challenging the rebel leadership, and subjugating any remaining Mikage Demonspawn who would dare defy him, he will present his army to Siroth, and ask for gifts and reinforcements to aid him in his ascension. With an army of devout Demonic followers that Siroth could provide, all in Yakai will surely fall to his will, and those who will not serve him will be slaughtered. Perhaps then, when he has a whole nation at his mercy, the lowly stable boy who was brutally punished for daring to act above his station will finally feel his need for power has been satisfied.