HWE Yatagarasu

Name: Yatagarasu

Alias: Sanzuwu, Yangwu, Samjok-O, 'eight span crow', hell raven,  ☢CAUTION!!☢

Alignment: Chaotic Good - Chaotic Neutral (Nuclear Evil)

Rank: 1-3 Kaiju/Megafauna

Race: Yokai, Holy Bird

 

Size: *note there is currently only one Yatagarasu that is of maximum size in existence*

 

Length - 30 in to 30 meters long

Wingspan - 60 in to 60 meters

Weight - 4 lbs. to 2,000 tons

 

Powers:

 

Nuclear Fusion - Yatagarasu are a genus of Corvus that can manipulate the properties that create nuclear fusion, the same sort of phenomena that creates suns. Their three legs each serve a specific purpose for allowing the effect to manifest. One leg being degradation of matter, one leg being fusion of matter and the third leg being what amounts to a control rod that allows them to direct the energy as they see fit or hold it in stable spheres that commonly orbit around them. This allows Yatagarasu to both exert gravitation, fire intense beams of concentrated energy and hurl massive searing orbs down on whatever displeases them. They can also exert this power to spread light, heat and life to those in need of the sun's rays. There were once ten full sized Yatagarasu and their combined power could provide either endless prosperity and life or apocalyptic destruction. Most Yatagarasu today can only effect a single region.

 

Undead Bane - Yokai and other creatures that thrive on undeath, unlife or negative Enigma find Yatagarasu to be the absolute bane of their existence in that the energy the ravens give off wreck havoc with their bodies and undo the sort of necromatic bonds that keep them mobile. Needless to say most Yokai in the cat family hate Yatagarasu who can undo much of their schemes just by showing up. This is usually followed by the Yatagarasu incinerating every dead body in the area. Just to be sure.

 

The Cancer that is Literally Killing the Planet - Being that they create miniature suns Yatagarasu naturally produce excessive amounts of UV radiation. Casual contact with these creatures can quickly lead to a rash of every sort of cancer imaginable. This is why Yatagarasu prefer spending their time in the upper layers of atmosphere on the Toho Plane and only visit the Material Plane sparingly and on a set cycle. However, this same property also protects Yatagarasu from other radiation sources and allows them to effectively absorb it and leave the surrounding area without a speck of radiation. Theoretically a Yatagarasu could utterly clean up Chernobyl and the surrounding area within a year.

 

Disintegrating Beak and Talons - Yatagarasu exert so much heat and energy that their beak and talons turn most offending matter to ash upon contact should their ire be stoked.

 

Guiding Light of the Heavens - Yatagarasu are commonly ordered by their Ho-O superiors to provide guidance for those the Ho-O's favor. If a Yatagarasu appears before humans it's to be taken as a sign of the Phoenix Court's intervention. They also tend to appear after great battles in order to purify the area and lay the countless souls to rest via eradication of all bodies and filth. Such souls often find a more positive existence as something else, leading to the idea that Yatagarasu also bring rejuvenation and renewal. Areas purified by a Yatagarasu do grow back even more verdant and healthy than before.

 

Weaknesses:

 

Bird Brain - Yatagarasu are extremely intelligent...but have a terrible lack of wisdom and common sense. They have to be given firm direction by their superiors or they tend to go...overboard with their enthusiastic attempts to 'shine on' absolutely everything. Hence the infamous incident where all ten of the fully grown Yatagarasu came out at once and nearly incinerated the entire eastern hemisphere. This also makes duping a Yatagarasu fairly simple...if you live past their first course of action.

 

I Know a Lot About Grass~ - Yatagarasu LOVE two particular grasses native to the Toho Plane: Diri (ground sun) and Chungsheng (spring grow). These two grasses are heavily packed with Enigma and provide longevity to the extent that one ingesting it could be considered immortal. Yatagarasu use this grass as fuel for a majority of their abilities and the smoking vapors give them a high not unlike that of cannabis. As such, their superiors try to limit the amount of time Yatagarasu forage on these grasses. One can convince a Yatagarasu to do almost anything using these grasses as bargaining chips. It's also possible that a Yatagarasu could be convinced to trade some of this grass with a mortal in exchange for cannabis or similar intoxicants. Which is how knowledge of such grasses was made to mortals in the first place.

 

Projectiles - For all their power Yatagarasu can be shot by swift moving and highly penetrating projectiles. Something that for all intents and purposes functions like an 'arrow' will take them down. That said, it has to be something that flies fast enough and hard enough that it doesn't simply disintegrate before it can strike the nuclear raven. So an Enigma enhanced arrow would be more effective than a ballistic missile for instance.

 

----

Day 29: Holy Servitors

 

The next day was cold but bright. The sun causing vapors to rise from the moisture laden valleys and blanketing the Den in a soft mist. It was the kind of ethereal atmosphere that made Kaitheros most nostalgic of the creatures who served his allies. This was the sort of scenery that many a scroll and painting tried to depict as the presence of those servants many times caused the very environment to acknowledge their presence...sometimes with drastic consequences.

 

Ruki arrived with a small cart, loaded with supplies. Ink for the ink wells, new quills from freshly plucked and hunted fowl, fresh scrolls, a number of dried goods and of course a sizable bundle of kindling to feed the small wood burning stove that served as her little study's sole source of heat. Kaitheros caught the scent of a young man. He heard pleasant chatter before Ruki performed a small blessing for the young man's return to town who promptly waved as he left, noticeably with more spring in his step. Ruki carried the cart the rest of the way into his lair and toward her study, beginning to unload  the contents. Kaitheros grinned, he recognized that boy...

 

"So, I see you conned one of the villagers into bringing the supplies here." Kaitheros began slyly.

 

"I-It's not what you think! They insisted that someone should help pull the cart at least up to the shrine and Amaro-kun got browbeat into helping as he's not involved with any of the other preparations. I would have taken the cart the rest of the way but we got caught up in conversation and~"

 

"Not the most exciting of ventures but I suppose it will do...for a first date." He teased.

 

"It was not!"

 

"Really Ruki, you could at least have introduced him to me by now." The onyx theropod grinned wolfishly.

 

"So you can scare him half to death? Not likely! Besides, he gets enough badgering from the other boys." Ruki muttered absently.

 

"The village pariah hrmm? Well I suppose escorting you all the way to my lair must have made his day. And here I thought you would have gotten a little more exercise with gathering all those supplies."

 

"Hey, you're the one that said I can't do everything myself and stay intune with the city's needs and all that right? Consider this making use of the Omega and getting things done faster." Ruki huffed, eyeing his reaction.

 

"Oh ho, perhaps my lessons are sinking in then?"

 

"Except for the meditation, I still don't see what sitting in one spot thinking about nothing does for your spiritual health." Ruki replied while stacking the scrolls.

 

"For one someone that doesn't like 'work' you certainly find trouble staying still for too long."

 

"I guess I'm more of a 'hunter' than a monk." Ruki admitted.

 

"In either case, today we shall go over the servants of the holiest of creatures in the Toho Plane. The ones that actively seek to promote balance and prosperity to both the world and mankind."

 

"I get the feeling we covered a lot of those already. Which one did they serve again?"

 

"Holy Beasts serve the Quilin as the Quilin are 'The King of Beasts' so to speak. They however are the most distant when it comes to mankind. We will explain them soon enough but it should go without saying that Hakutaku, Baku, Otoroshi and Shisa all bow to a Quilin. Though Shisa as I've said earlier hold their loyalty to their specific masters of greater importance than their own lives. Something the Quilin find both foolish and admirable. But the servants I'll be discussing today will be of the other two, ones very much concerned with humanity and their influence on them. We'll start with the birds first."

 

"So...would Tengu~"

 

"No, Tengu are technically a sort of avian goblin of sorts. In any case, many various bird Yokai and even domestic birds owe their allegiance to Ho-O who are 'The King of Birds' much as Quilin are to holy beasts."

 

"So the Phoenix basically."

 

"Yes, I will get into more specific details on them soon but for now we'll discuss the court and company they keep. Among the simpler Yokai you might run into are Basan. A sort of rooster or cockerel that feeds on charred wood and embers and has a breathe like a visible flame. This flame gives off no heat and does not ignite anything of material nature. When seen by humans they vanish back into the Toho Plane as they prefer to go about their task without interfering too much with humans in any capacity. Rather their breath burns away impurities and foulness left behind by more malicious Yokai. You can think of Basans as a sort of 'cleanup crew' that come in after more powerful servants have already come through the area."

 

"Those sound pretty simple and nonthreatening, what else?"

 

"There are the Furari-Bi who are the souls of the improperly buried dead in the form of dog faced little fiery bird creatures. Unlike other such dead they are rarely malicious, simply lost as the rituals required to lay them fully to rest were not completed in the intervals that were necessary to ensure a total peaceful rest. The Ho-O took them in and they are now largely curriers and messengers though there is still a significant number of them that still wander aimlessly. They commonly congregate never riverbanks which makes them the most often go between when Ho-O and Dragons communicate with each other, which is often. Furari-Bi can defend themselves but they are largely harmless unless their demise was particularly humiliating, wrongful and violent."

 

"Awww, I 'd take them in to. They sound adorable. Kinda derpy but adorable."

 

"There is a certain 'dull charm' to them I suppose. There are many other countless varieties of bird Yokai that Ho-O call upon but there is one in particular that is a true Holy Bird like itself and that's the one I wish to focus on as they are the foremost of the Ho-O's servants and most dangerous by far."

 

"Some kind of super eagle or something?"

 

"A crow actually, the Yokai in question has many names but the one you'd perhaps be most familiar with is Yatagarasu. A large and often larger still three legged member of the raven family that is born knowing how to replicate a natural phenomenon that mankind wouldn't discover for itself until 1945."

 

"...It's a NUCLEAR CROW?!" Ruki exclaimed.

 

"In a basic sense yes but it's more than that. Yatagarasu do not just carry a nuclear arsenal, they ARE the nuclear arsenal. These corvids can actually create nuclear fusion using their three legs to manipulate and direct what amounts to miniature suns that orbit around them."

 

"So they really do carry suns...I think there was a baseball team or something named after them. I didn't think something like that would that powerful though."

 

"That's an understatement. Yatagarasu can grow to the size that matches mine and there were once ten such Yatagarasu."

 

"TEN?! Why would they even need that many?!"

 

"The question was asked many times but it carried an ironic and tragic echo when the 'Incident of Ten Suns' occurred."

 

"What happened?"

 

"On the continent, ie China, the Ho-O had a grandeur that made them much beloved by kingdoms under their care. The careful cycle and utilization of the ten Yatagarasu allowed the sort of prosperity one would only find in fairy tales. For Yatagarasu bring the power of the sun with all of its benefits...and dangers."

 

"Something went really wrong didn't it."

 

"Again, understatement. You see Yatagarasu while extremely intelligent are not the wisest creatures around. Matter of fact they can be incredibly foolish. One slight deviation in protocol or orders and their exuberant nature quickly goes to extremes that any sensible person would find utterly insane. So imagine what happens when a Ho-O orders a 'clean sweep for a day' and it is accidently delivered to every single one of the ten."

 

"Oh no..."

 

"Oh yes. The bird brains actually flew out all at once in their full glory and nearly incinerated the entire eastern hemisphere. For hours the world BURNED and would have been neigh unsalvageable if not for the quick alliance between an Enigma Sensitive archer and one of your ancestors. They had no choice but to systematically shoot down all but one of the ten."

 

"That actually worked? On nine giant solar crows that were as big as you?"

 

"Desperate measures were taken, the cost was high in every respect. The Ho-O have never lived it down and that one elder Yatagarasu that remains, the last of the ten, took to a more administrative role as penance for the colossal lapse in judgment. To this day, he is the only one of that size."

 

"So they nearly torched the whole planet...what were the advantages of having these things around if they could cause that much damage?"

 

"Well just like the sun, the aloof presence of a Yatagarasu is beneficial to all living things. Their fire is one that purifies and leaves the ash and soil rich and promotes growth. Furthermore, undead of all kinds and other malicious odes are outright obliterated in their presence. They are the bane of any Yokai that is or relies on the wrongful manipulation of the dead to achieve their ends or curse the land. The Yatagarasu is both a benefactor and a sword that can cleanse a land of foulness. When ordered they can sweep entire battlefields of the dead and rotten. This paves the way for their masters who will not visit regions so embroiled with chaos, carnage and corruption. The Yatagarasu were agents that made regions of the material plane habitable for the Ho-O."

 

"So the Yatagarasu is kinda like a bottle of bleach. It cleans things really good but you want don't want to use too much or it ruins your clothes." Ruki assessed.

 

"...Interesting analogy. Though for the most part the issue with Yatagarasu is their orders and their proximity. You wouldn't want to get too close to one for starters."

 

"What do they cause cancer?"

 

"Matter of fact they do. Yatagarasu expel such concentrated radiation that it would kill anyone who touched it that was not 'adapted' to channeling such energies. Yatagarasu can literally disintegrate those that challenge them or get close enough to physically strike them. They are extremely dangerous even when they don't wish to be."

 

"That kinda sucks for them..."

 

"They can also absorb radiation like nothing else I've seen among Yokai. Technically one of them could fly into one of Japan's....nuclear power plants and devour every last bit of radiation."

 

"So they really would clean up a lot of things. But they don't do that very often nowadays do they?"

 

"No, Yatagarasu are now often used as heralds and signs of the Ho-O's direct involvement in a situation. Usually to lead some important figure to where they are supposed to go or to obtain something they require. Few things wish to tangle with a Yatagarasu which makes them an solid option for managing situations that the Ho-O can't directly involve themselves in."

 

"Thero-Kun, why would an arrow work on a Yatagarasu in the first place? Wouldn't it burn up before it even got there?"

 

"Any normal arrow would. Any projectile that explodes, like a missile would detonate have the energy simple absorbed. But a blessed arrow that can be shot like a large sturdy hunting bow can fire a projectile that can move fast enough to reach the Yatagarasu before it is incinerated. And while a bullet might reach the Yatagarasu, it would not hold its shape. Something that small would warp from the heat and drip harmlessly off like molten rainwater."

 

"So am I to believe that a chance encounter with a Yatagarasu will be a good one for the most part?"

 

"For you it most likely would be. If one appears before you but does not attempt to mob your personal space, it likely has a message for you or is there to guide you on behalf of its master. If it's in the middle of a 'purge'...it would be to your best interest to evacuate and protect yourself as best you can. It is unlikely you would ever have to shoot down a Yatagarasu but if a large enough murder of them form..."

 

"It's good to be prepared?"

 

"Yes. If it's being unreasonable you can probably trick it."

 

"Throw shiny things at it?"

 

"No but it wouldn't surprise me. Rather Yatagarasu have a fixation on certain...hallucinogenic substances."

 

"I have to shake DRUGS at them?!"

 

"Not necessarily. You see, Yatagarasu love two particular types of Enigma rich grass from the Toho Plane. Diri (ground sun) and Chungsheng (spring grow). Yatagarasu use these grasses to fuel themselves but their ambient heat also smokes the grasses which produces a...rather heavy level of intoxication. Thus they aren't allowed to eat these grasses all the time. However if someone has some of these grasses on their person, they can barter with the Yatagarasu fairly easily."

 

"How and why would anyone have something like that? It probably smells terrible."

 

"Ah but those grasses were known as one of many things that gave mortals 'immortality'...or at least the closest one could get while staying human. One could feasibly convince a Yatagarasu to even exchange some of that grass for something similar...like cannabis."

 

"Hihihi, so *ahem* someone actually tried that?"

 

"It's how we know of the grasses today. It's not an end all cure all for mortality and if anyone consumed enough of it for a long period of time they might stop being human...but it certainly extends one's lifespan. But yes if you have some form of herb type intoxicant the Yatagarasu may trade favors with you."

 

"How do other Yokai not take advantage of that?"

 

"Most Yokai don't want to get within striking distance of a Yatagarasu to even try. It wasn't just humans that suffered when the ten suns rose at once. The Yokai population on the continent took a sharp drop when that happened. There is still plenty of fear and resentment over it even to this day. Many migrations of Yokai originally from China happened because of the ten suns."

 

"Wow, so a Yatagarasu is a big deal no matter what way you look at it."

 

"For better or worse. Though the other servants I wished to discuss are much less extreme but still beneficial to humans."

 

"Like what?"

 

"The servants of Dragons."       

 

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