Shiro Tagachi

Shiro Tagachi was the bodyguard of Emperor Angsiyan, the 27th Emperor of Cantha. 200 years before the present day, he killed the very Emperor he was sworn to protect at the Harvest Festival in Kaoya Zun Temple, and in return was slain for his betrayal. His death wail triggered the Jade Wind that swept the land, petrified the Echovald Forest and turned the Jade Sea into solid jade.

In the Factions campaing, his spirit has returned to wreak havoc and threaten the entire Canthan continent.

Shiro's Life
Shiro was a powerful warrior in life. One day, he was told by a Fortune Teller that he would be destinned to greatness. He ignored the Fortune Teller as a rambling fool until soon after, the Emperor promoted him to his personal Bodyguard.

Convinced the Fortune Teller was truly gifted, he returned to her to listen to more of her words. This time however, she warned him that the Emperor was planning to kill him. She told him that he would have to make a choice at that moment, it was to be either Shiro or the Emperor.

At the Harvest Festival, the Emperor told the guards to allow Shiro and a few others to enter with him into the Temple. This was unprecedented and against the Emperor's early instructions. Shiro remembered the words of the Fortune Teller and was convinced that the Emperor was setting a trap for him. When the Emperor bowed his head down to pray for the blessings of the goddess Dwayna. Shiro came up behind him and slew him in cold blood in that holy place. He had made his choice, and as the powers of the slain Emperor surged into him, he was finally given over to evil.

The champions of Cantha who were present at the ceremony rushed to avenge their Emperor, but Shiro was without match in the use of the blade. The fight was entirely one-sided, and soon only two warriors remained to challenge Shiro: the Luxon champion Archemorus, and the Kurzick champion Viktor. Even they did not have the power to stop Shiro by themselves.

The tide of the battle was turned by the assassin Vizu, who shadow stepped behind Shiro, and before Shiro even noticed it, she had crippled and disarmed him. The Kurzick and Luxon champions then attacked Shiro with his own blades, the very blades that slew the Emperor.

In his final living moments, overcome with pain, rage and and malice, Shiro let out a terrible cry that caused a Jade Wind to sweep across the lands of Cantha, petrifying the forest and turning the sea into pure jade.

It is not yet known whether the Emperor had actually planned to kill him or whether Shiro was manipulated by the mysterious Fortune Teller into slaying the Emperor.

After Death
It is revealed in the Factions Campaign storyline that Shiro has become an Envoy, a shepherd of the souls of the dead who leads them to the Mists. It is possible that by slaying the Emperor and absorbing his power, Shiro took the emperor's divine gifts and priviliges. However, unlike other Envoys, he does not guide the newly dead to the Mists, but rather binds them in the material realm as constructs to serve him in a nefarious plot.

Shiro returns in his spirit form to the land of Cantha, leaving a trail of Afflicted and Shiro'ken bound spirits in his wake. With the players hot on his trail, Shiro gradually comes closer to his unannounced goal. He manages to capture Emperor Kisu and hold him hostage in his own palace desiring to return to the mortal realm and break his original curse, which is only possible by doing the same deed that cursed him in the first place &mdash; spilling the blood of the imperial line.

Master Togo and Brother Mhenlo lead the players through Raisu Palace and rush to save the Emperor. They arrive just in time, but when Master Togo approached the throne Shiro surprises everyone by knocking him down and abducting him to the Imperial Sanctum before anyone can re-act. There, Shiro reveals that he sensed Master Togo was also of the divine imperial blood line, he slays Togo and breaks his curse to return to the mortal realm.

Mhenlo leads the players on a quest for revenge, aided by several of the NPCs who have participated in the Factions Campaign, including the dragon Kuunavang herself. They find and kill Shiro, and the adepts of the Oracle Suun seal his mortal form in jade. Shiro then finally dies a normal death, and his spirit comes into the keeping of the Envoys who have a special place in the Underworld planned for Shiro.

By returning to human form, Shiro made his own defeat possible as he was mortal again and no longer an Envoy.

Location

 * Kaineng City
 * Sunjiang District mission.
 * Imperial Sanctum mission.

Skills Used

 * Battle Scars
 * Echoing Banishment
 * Meditation of the Reaper
 * Impossible Odds
 * Riposting Shadows

Trivia

 * Shiro's Blades (Seen above) can be aquired as a weapon at the end of the PvE campaign.