Baron Shibu

Baron Shibu was a Baron of the Black Boar Clan of minor inlfuence. He quickly rose through the ranks of the Clan to gain his Barony, but either lacked the ambition or the ability to amount to more therafter.

In the Year 701 Shibu was born the second son to a minor noble of House Nil, himself third son of a Border prefect. He would have led a life of Duty and Obediance, becoming an artisan or scholar if the Kami favored him with Talent or Learnings, a warrior otherwise.

Upon reaching the age of 19, he exalted as a Dragonblood of the Earth aspect, like his honored grandfather, the Prefect. As his grandfather took interest, his life was instantly thrown on a new, more formidable, path. He was sent to Kenshu Dojo to learn the arts of the Steel Devil style, much like his honored grandfather had before him.

Shibu returned home 4 years later, having seen his wife and family a scant few times during his stay at the Dojo. He was met with the news that his wife, a fine wife for a minor noble, was deemed unfit for a warrior of his status and potential. She had been sent home to her family, and he was to never see her again. The children would be raised by the Prefect's household, until it was determined if they were kissed by the Kami as their father and grandfather. The dutiful and diligent son that Shibu had been when he married had died when he exalted. His power, his training, the wealth he was offered had all forged Shibu into an ambitious, arrogant and entitled warrior.

Shibu grew into an able warrior, but he was not born to command. His arrogance and temper made him a poor leader. Nonetheless, as the years went by, he made ennough of a reputation for hmself that he came into the command of a garrison of Bronze Magistrates on the Border. It was an easy ennough assignment, one where he would see minimal action, and thus minimal risks.

But in Year 739, the Mantis Wars errupted, and he was redeployed. His skills as a warrior could not mask his lack of leadership skills, nor could his arrogance and boisterous demeanor hide his cowardice. At the height of a pitched battle, Shibu chose to have his men retreat, abandoning the field and leaving troops of Lion and First House samourai to fight on their own, and ultimately die on their ennemies' blades.

Shibu was found, quickly captured and brought before Grand Marshall Tao. The Grand Marshall refused him seppuku; the defeat Shibu had incurred was a costly one and Shibu was to be made an example of.

En route to the capital of Unagi, Shibu was freed by his children Ray and Gunn. The three of them fled to the wilderness so familiar to the Void Monkey and hid for a time. The were all officialy cast out of their Clan and stripped of ranks and holdings, to be shunned and Invisible. Nil Shibu, fierce warrior, was no more. In his place, there was only Shibu, outcast.

Shibu was a warrior still, and an exalted one at that. So were his children, all three of them, though of less training and lacking discipline. Once Gamo, the youngest son, had fled Kenshu Dojo and joined with his father and siblings, the four of them made their way to the far reaches of the Void Monkey Lands and settled into thievery and banditry. They soon attracted the attention of the local would-be Baron of the Black Boar, and they made short work of each of them.

Shibu became Baron of the Black Boar, by the sheer lack of opposition, in Year 743.

He would be the local Baron until his death at the hands of a Gold Magistrate in Year 759.