Koto Takasuro

Caged in the deepest, darkest cell in the prisons of Calamand was a very special prisoner. Even chained and locked away, both the guards and prisoners were terrified of him. He was a powerful necromancer, and his name was Koto Takasuro.

Physical Description

Body Features

Koto Takasuro' s face would be plain, even forgettable if not for his sea elven heritage. This ancestry left him with light blue markings on his face and body. His physique is equally average, neither tall nor short, small nor large.

Apparel & Accessories

Koto cared very little for his appearance, even appearing disheveled in the luxurious City of the Sun Dragon. He would usually wear clothes of a simple commoner, even in meetings with the emperor, himself. After his release from prison, he continued to wear his ragged prison clothes until his death.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Once the court wizard of the Sun Dragon Court in Jinto. Koto both rose high and fell hard. His father was a simple fisherman from the city of Kokyoto, who brought in a net that was filled with more than just fish. He had pulled in a sea elf woman.
The man was already shocked by his discovery, but was even more surprised to find that she was wounded, and badly. He stopped the bleeding as best he could and brought the woman ashore. He stayed by her side while the priests of the local temple healed her as fully as they could manage.
She still needed rest, and natural healing so she agreed to stay with the fisherman. By the end of the year, the two were married and she was pregnant with twins. During the birth of the boy, Koto, the sky was clear and the winds were calm, but during the birth of the girl, Yuki, a terrible storm hit in an instant. It was an omen for her birth as a sorceress.
The twins were inseparable, spending practically every minute of the day together. Koto generally enjoyed life and lived very carefree. His sister, however, was deeply unhappy, and resented the power she was burdened with. She lacked control of her magic, and that lack of control led to a surge of energy that killed the twins' parents. Now teenagers, the pair searched the land in search of a wizard that could remove the power from her sorcerous blood.
The search attracted the attention of the court wizard, Hiro Osoto, who sought them out and took them to the City of the Sun Dragon to experiment on her. Yuki was instantly dazzled by the grand city of the emperor, but Koto was unimpressed by the excessive opulence.
The experimentation, however, fascinated him greatly. The power involved in re-shaping her blood was the most interesting process for him, and he assisted the old wizard. In a painful series of magical treatments that lasted for years, Yuki was cured.
For two decades Koto continued his studies, becoming a powerful wizard with a flair for necromancy. The next young emperor, hungry for more power of his own declared Koto his court wizard, replacing the now-venerable Hiro.
He helped discover the Tome of Life and Death, and tried to decode its secrets in the name of the emperor. This knowledge eluded him for many years, but its study was having an effect on his mind. He found himself growing distant, paranoid, and enraged. He was secretly relieved when it was taken from him by an ultraloth identifying himself as The Sovereign.
While Koto grew distant, Yuki became a fixture in the court. Her exotic beauty drew every eye and her shy smile melted every heart. She even caught the eye of the emperor, himself, and the two fell in love, despite his marriage to the empress.
When the affair was discovered the empress had Yuki killed and her heart cut out as a sign to her husband. Koto was furious and, before the eyes of the entire court, vowed revenge against the empress. He then disabled all of the magical wards around the City of the Sun Dragon and teleported away.
To facilitate his revenge, he fled to the sea, where he believed the emperor would never find him. In a forgotten ruin in the inky depths, he found the perfect instrument of his vengeance: an Ashen Shard.
He determined that he would be able to use the shard to raise an army of the dead and slay the empress with it. His mind, further warped by the shard, developed a plan to use the city of Mir'assen as that army. He based that plan on the historical accounts of the necromancer Mortis the Ashen. He would use a plague to lay the population low and raise them as his army. He moved to the nearby city of Calamand to perform his experiments.
He was quickly caught by the authorities and brought before one of the merchant princes, who intended to use him as a weapon against his rivals. Koto refused, unwilling to be caught up in another's plan. He was then thrown in prison.
He attempted escape almost immediately, and nearly succeeded. He used a nail he kept for his research to alter the wards on his cell, allowing him to use necromantic magic. He then jammed the nail into the throat of one of the guards, stole the key, and raised the body as a distraction.
His efforts were nearly successful, but he was recaptured. His cell was then re-equipped with a full array of chains, much stronger warding, and a constant watch. It was clear his escaping days were done.
Then the recently formed Cake Squad were arrested for murder and a series of misunderstandings. Their arrival allowed for a breakout that quickly turned into a riot when one of their number, the ranger Hoon released all prisoners, including Koto.
Now free, he set his plan into motion right away. It was subtle at first, manifesting as a simple cough, but in a matter of days the bodies started piling up. In only a matter of weeks the dead rose in Mir'assen.
Pandemonium ensued as the citizens were killed, only swelling his army. In an effort to stop him, the Cake Squad tracked him to his sanctuary, a former dragon's den. Even raising the spirits of the dead dragons was not enough to prevent his death at the adventurers' hands.

Alignment

Lawful Evil

Species

Half-elf

Circumstances of Death

Killed in battle

Birthplace

Kokyoto

Gender

Male

Eyes

Brown

Hair

Black

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Pale with blue stripes

Height

5 ft 7 in

Weight

160 lbs