Black Tortoise Xuan Wu

Black Tortoise Xuan Wu (a.k.a. Midnight Xuan Wu)

Xuan Wu, known by legend as one of the four Shijin and as the Black Tortoise, is the god of the Northern Sky. His story started back before the kingdom of Beihai even formed. Xuan Wu was originally a young Tiefling prince from Xucheng, destined to one day rule with his brothers and sisters over the kingdom. Back then, Xucheng had not yet declared outsiders as enemies, though many who were not born and raised in Xucheng saw the kingdom as a hellhole. Xuan Wu was to become the water god of Xucheng, training through cultivation to purify himself. However, Xuan Wu realized that he could not become fully divine unless he were to purify both his mind and body.
Stories tell of a prince who became a god but was not satisfied without full divinity. Xuan Wu used his sword to cut open his gut, take out his stomach and intestines, and wash them in a pure river to rid them of the impure earthly foods that he had consumed. The river was in fact not pure unfortunately, and his stomach turned into a demon tortoise while his intestines turned into a demon serpent. Xuan Wu fought these two demons to subdue them before they could cause chaos, slaying them with his sword. This heroic act turned his sword into a spiritual weapon as it was stained in the blood of those two demons, and the sword took on the powers of both the tortoise and the serpent.
Although Xuan Wu had given up his ability to eat by killing the demonic transformations of his stomach and intestines, he still could not reach full divinity due to other factors like his Tiefling blood and body. Thus, Xuan Wu instead transferred his spirit to his spiritual device, his sword, and took the form of a tortoise-serpent hybrid. Instead of becoming the water god of Xucheng, Xuan Wu left Xucheng to travel to the North. His trek created the valley between the Cherry Mountains and the modern city of Beihai, which is what allowed people to pass through the mountains and settle the area.

The Black Tortoise and commonly referred to as Midnight Xuan Wu, is the god of the Northern Sky, Midnight, Water, and Knowledge. Xuan Wu’s spiritual power resides within the Temple of the Enlightened Obsidian Sky (Zhenwu) in Beihai. Locals pray to him often for safe voyages.

Current Location

The Temple of the Enlightened Obsidian Sky, Beihai

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Alignment

Lawful Neutral

Date of Birth

-

Gender

Male