| abstract | - Full name Class Nationality First appearanceThe White Gryphon Noyoki, which means "no one," was the name taken by the renegade half-brother of the Haighlei Emperor Shalaman, king of the Kmbata Empire. He was the son of King Ibram's third consort, a good woman who all believed would have been ashamed at how her son turned out. He was young when he was found to have both Mage-Gift and the Gift of Fetching. He was immediately sent to the temple to join the ranks of the priest-mages. He was only a few months away from completing his training when he was discovered in some sort of indiscretion. Noyoki claimed he was caught cheating, but it was likely worse than that. He was rejected from the priesthood, sentenced to having his Gifts stripped out, then to be sent home in disgrace. He was actually in a room with a senior priest about to carry out the sentence when the initial surge of the Cataclysm hit the Haighlei Empire. The magical surge in power actually killed the priest before he could burn out Noyoki's Gifts. Always a clever man, Noyoki pretended to the sickness common to those so sentenced. With the way magic was going haywire, no one could check that the sentence had actually been carried out. Believing him to be harmless, the priesthood sent Noyoki home. A few months later, when he was no longer watched so closely, Noyoki slipped away. He went to the Dakola District, the poor quarter of Khimbata, the capital city of the Kmbata Empire. He was looking for a thief to partner with. He was eventually approached by Kanshin, who gave him rooms in his home. They worked together for eight or nine years, becoming very wealthy. Kanshin dealt with the jewels and artifacts, Noyoki with the papers and documents. On occasion, when Kanshin could find no other way into a targeted room, Noyoki would Fetch him in. All went well until Noyoki brought Hadanelith home and installed him in a guest room. The madman was the piece Noyoki needed to put a plan into action that would grant him vengeance before culminating in the assassination of Shalaman and his own ascension to the Lion Throne. Noyoki chose the targets. He and Kanshin got Hadanelith into the correct rooms, and then Hadanelith tortured and killed the selected victim, leaving evidence to implicate either Skandranon or Amberdrake in the murders. Eventually, the group was caught. Kechara shrieked in Noyoki's mind, knocking him out. He was turned over to the Haighlei priest-mages. His sentence was to have his mind peeled away layer by layer, thus giving up all his secrets, but leaving only an empty shell behind. That shell would live out the rest of its days housed with the shells of Kanshin and Hadanelith in a public place, to serve as examples of the ultimate penalty for their reign of terror.
|
