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Taro Ofuchi
Taro
Profile
Status: Dead
Age: 50 (at time of death)
Race: Human
Ethnicity: Ryuugumi
Gender: Male
Class: Black Shaman
Nation: Grandbell
Faction:
Era: Second Age
"Hiroshi Hayabusa, former apprentice. I have given a prophecy concerning you, and these mad fools who have given you aid. We will meet again at my Citadel on Ryuugumi, and on that day, you shall die. I have seen it in the stars--it is inevitable. Think on this, and be dismayed! As for you, who have aided my enemy--I have no prophecy for your doom, but I assure you, it will be by my hand. You will never know when it will happen, but it will happen. I want you to wake up every day, wondering, 'Will today be the day?'. I have Krystallopyr. You cannot resist me."
—Taro Ofuchi to the Fellowship of Miletos

Taro Ofuchi was a Black Shaman who tried to take over Grandbell in the Ofuchi Usurpation but got his ass whooped by a samurai named Hiroshi Hayabusa in the Second Age. He was one of the most prominent members of the Ofuchi Clan, and his actions caused a friction between his descendants, eventually leading to the Ofuchi and Redeemer lines.

Biography[]

Early Years[]

"Taro Ofuchi killed the rightful Emperor and now sits as Emperor in Edo. This is why I fled Ryuugumi. Being Emperor prevents Ofuchi from coming and taking the blade in person."
Hiroshi Hayabusa to Raistlin II

Not much was known about the origins of Taro Ofuchi. He just appeared in Grandbell one day and somehow got involved in the court's politics. It was around this time he also got acquainted with a lich named Drishnek who became his servant. However, unbeknownst to Taro, Drishnek had his own plans and saw helping Taro as a means to promote the cause of Death.

Taro eventually rose into the position of a close advisor of King Derek of Grandbell. He soon used Derek's weaknesses for his own gain and manipulated events to gather followers, including ninja, and murdered Emperor Seiji of Grandbell's Ryuugumi province, thus becoming the new head of Ryuugumi and effectively the de facto power in Grandbell, after which he began his tyrannical rule from the province's capital Edo.

Taro cast a spell of Divine Wind which blocked off the island province from the rest of Grandbell, thus making sure outsiders wouldn't be able to enter the Imperial palace without him knowing about it. His spells were so powerful, fueled by the unholy magic which Drishnek had taught him, that he eventually caused King Derek's death via sorcery, thus destabilizing Grandbell and prevent an alliance of other provinces from coming to Ryuugumi's aid.

Ofuchi Usurpation[]

"Quite the little chase we had, ne, Prentice? But Megumi came through for me in the end, though her usefulness was at an end thereafter."
"You bastard! You'll not mention that name again."
"Oh, I agree. The time for talk...is at an end. This is it, Prentice. This is the final countdown."
"Yes, for you."
—Taro and Hiroshi Hayabusa

Taro had used mind control to enslave several Ryuugumians, including Hiroshi Hayabusa. During that time, Hiroshi had served as the Black Shaman's apprentice. When Taro deposed and killed Emperor Seiji, his attention was diverted enough to allow Hiroshi to break free. Hiroshi stole Krystallopyr, the most valuable of Taro's possessions, and fled the Black Shaman's tower.

Taro hired a group of bold bounty hunters to hunt down Krystallopyr and to kill Takeshi Seito, the only person who had claim for the throne of Edo. However, Taro never intended to keep his end of the bargain and instructed his servant Drishnek to kill the mercenaries once they were of no more use to him.

Hiroshi met up with Leon Alcibiates and what would be known as the Fellowship of Miletos during his journeys and resolved to slay Taro and end his reign. Leon and the fellowship decided to help him out. Along the way, Hiroshi's true love, Megumi Nakamura, turned out to be mindcontrolled by Taro and stole Krystallopyr. Taro rewarded his unwilling servant Megumi by killing her and teleporting her body to the heroes' camp while leaving Hiroshi with a prophecy that Hiroshi would die by his hand.

Death[]

"It's not over yet! There's power in paradox!"
"What? Impossible!"
"I was ready, too."
"What, pýr?"
"Not...quite. Shiropýr!"
—Hiroshi Hayabusa and Taro

Hiroshi Hayabusa eventually confronted Taro Ofuchi in the shamanic tower while the fellowship faced Drishnek and Taro's servants. Master and former apprentice had a fierce duel, and Taro, being the more experienced one, nearly won. However, Hiroshi decided to turn the tide of the battle by using Krystallopyr to cast Shiropyr, the most devastating shamanic spell. The spell took the lives of both Hiroshi and Taro in a bright flash of light, and Hiroshi's actions ended up fulfilling the conditions of the First Law of the Andain. Once the light faded, Hiroshi Hayabusa and Taro Ofuchi were no more.

Legacy[]

"He'd been taught from birth that Taro Ofuchi had been an evil usurper, but he was well aware that victors wrote history, and from reading between the lines of the history books, he'd been able to reconstruct events. Taro had brought stability to Grandbell, but the gaijin had cast him down because he was of Ryuugumi, the predecessors of the Yamato. His scapegrace nephew, Nobuhiro Ofuchi, took the name of Hiro Redeemer and fought on the side of the King Lysander, who presided over the destruction of the world. The Explosion, surely, had been the punishment of the gods sent against Grandbell for their blasphemy in murdering Taro Ofuchi. Why else had the entire City of Valhalla--with Lysander and his Champion Despard Silverbranch--been incinerated in the greatest fireball of the Explosion, barring Ground Zero itself?"
—Takeshi Ofuchi about Taro

The Ofuchi clan would live on after Taro's death and have many influential people. On the one hand, members of one of the Ofuchi lines such as Takeshi Ofuchi would become Emperors of Yamato after the ethnic cleansing of Grandbell in the aftermath of the Explosion made many Ryuugumi head for the new islands that had formed in the east. The line of Nobuhiro Ofuchi, on the other hand, stayed behind as Grandbell became Remon and continued referring to themselves as Redeemers with the sole exception of the power-hungry and corrupted Hideyoshi Ofuchi who would become a prominent figure by the time of the Great War. One of Nobuhiro's heroic descendants, Miyuki Ofuchi, eventually succeeded in redeeming the Ofuchi name during the Great War by aiding the Grand Alliance and defeating her treacherous brother Hideyoshi.

Although people had always been taught that Taro Ofuchi had been an evil usurper, his descendant Takeshi Ofuchi saw things differently. Takeshi claimed that victors had written history and thus altered the truth. Takeshi believed that Taro had brought stability to Grandbell, but the outsiders had cast Taro down because he was of Ryuugumi, the predecessors of the Yamatians.

Taro's scapegrace nephew, Nobuhiro Ofuchi, had taken the name of Hiro Redeemer and fought on the side of the King Lysander Trathiel, who had presided over the destruction of the world. Takeshi believed that the Explosion that ended the Arawn Losstarot War had been the punishment of the gods sent against Grandbell for their blasphemy in murdering Taro Ofuchi.

The Black Shaman's teachings would live on in a tome he had written, the Book of Ofuchi, which had several dangerous black shamanic spells on its pages. The tome would eventually end up in the possession of Wolfsbane and Geraden Aurelac and would cause lots of damage in the Second Great War.

Aliases and Nicknames[]

Black Shaman
Taro's nickname and profession.

Appearance[]

A middle-aged, bony mage.

Personality and Traits[]

A cruel and manipulative bastard.

Powers and Abilities[]

Taro was a very powerful shaman and could cast many destructive spells. His powers were amplified whenever he used Krystallopyr but even his dark arts had their limits when they faced the true power of Krystallopyr.

Relationships[]

Drishnek[]

Drishnek posed as a loyal servant of Taro Ofuchi. The mage was intelligent, so the lich had to act carefully when he was around him. However, Ofuchi was just another fool to be used for Drishnek, but he let the mage imagine that he was in control of Drishnek and not vice versa. The partnership between the two came to an end when Hiroshi Hayabusa eventually killed Ofuchi, and Hiroshi's friends defeated Drishnek.

Hiroshi Hayabusa[]

Taro used Hiroshi as his slave until Hiroshi broke free. Since then Taro received a prophetic vision in which he would reclaim Krystallopyr from Hiroshi and kill him. He saw Hiroshi as a mere worm compared to him, but this arrogance proved to be his undoing when Hiroshi killed both of them.

Megumi Nakamura[]

Megumi was a mere pawn in Taro's mind. He only used her to get back Krystallopyr, after which he coldly murdered her and let her die in Hiroshi's arms while taunting them.

See also[]

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