Jade Regent

This page contains spoilers for the following products: The entire Jade Regent Pathfinder Adventure Path, particularly The Empty Throne.
You can disable this banner in your personal preferences.

Soto Takahiro

(Person)

Titles

Jade Regent

Alignment

Lawful evil

Ancestry/Species

Hungerseed

Class

Samurai 15

Gender

Male

Homeland

Kasai, Minkai, Tian Xia

Companion(s)

Renshii Meida

Images of Soto Takahiro

Source: The Empty Throne, pg(s). 54

For other meanings of "Jade Regent", please see Jade Regent (disambiguation).

The Jade Regent was an illegitimate usurper of Minkai's Jade Throne who was removed from rule in 7211 IC.

Appearance

The Jade Regent cut a tall, imposing figure, standing almost seven feet tall and wearing an o-yoroi of imperial rule made from jade. Unlike most cambions, he appeared mostly human.

History

Soto Takahiro was born as the cambion grandson of Anamurumon, a would-be Minkaian usurper-turned-wind yai oni. Anamurumon trained the boy from birth to usurp the Jade Throne in his place (which he could no longer achieve after his transformation into an oni), starting with secretly poisoning his mother in childbirth so Takahiro would have no other family member to bond with other than himself.

At a young age, Takahiro joined a samurai order devoted to the protection of the Higashiyama clan, and became the bodyguard of Shigure, the youngest child of the then-emperor. Shigure grew close to Takahiro and considered him more of a brother than his actual siblings. Takahiro would intentionally throw their sparring matches, while Shigure in turn completed Takahiro's history and culture homework, both duping their instructors that they had mastered their lessons.

When the oracle Renshii Meida, the descendant of a clan that once served Anamurumon during his human life, offered her services to the Higashiyama family, she was seduced by Takahiro and became his lover. During this time, Anamurumon secretly arranged the deaths of Shigure's older siblings, leaving Shigure as the heir. When Shigure rose to the throne, he named Takahiro his bodyguard and Meida his advisor.

A week into the new emperor's reign, Takahiro and Meida convinced him that there would soon be an attempt on his life. He agreed to hide in the Imperial Shrine, a magical island on which only those with imperial blood and their chosen guardians could set foot. Takahiro further convinced Shigure to grant him the Higashiyama Seal and name him the regent of Minkai so he could lead the country in Shigure's absence, but as soon as that was done, Takahiro killed Shigure and threw his corpse into the Well of Demons. Returning to the mainland, Takahiro proclaimed himself the Jade Regent and selected Anamurumon as his advisor, who had his oni minions spread stories that the emperor had gone into hiding while the threat to his life remained.

Due to the lack of divine mandate that Shizuru originally granted to the five Minkaian imperial families, the Jade Throne did not accept Takahiro as emperor as long as a legitimate heir was still alive. His short reign ushered in an age of unrivalled excess, debauchery, and unrest until he was overthrown in 7211 IC by Amatatsu Ameiko, then known as Ameiko Kaijitsu, the throne's last legitimate heir who subsequently claimed the throne for herself.

References

For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.