Liu Kang "Shokan"

Rise and Fall of Liu Kang 

My name was Liu Kang. I was born as most tieflings are, left to die in the streets of Luskan.

No master trained me, no powerful being came out of nowhere to give me strength. I did that myself. The city was my training ground, the rooftops, the streets, bandits, thieves, commoners. I stole from them. I killed others. 

My actions raised the attention of the clerics of Bane, who found me and made me an offer. An offer that to this day, I regret accepting. I was conscripted into their ranks, not as a priest, not as a warrior, but as a covert agent. Infiltration, assassination, deception, those where my skills. I served them for years. 

Bane was dead, or as dead as a god can be. The church was trying to bring him back, no easy task. Many deeds needed to be done, some of which, were mine to do. 

There was a cleric… Tarja. She was charged with the Mace of Bane, the god’s weapon. Not as dangerous as it sounds, for the weapon had no power to speak of, at least compared to the power of a god. The plan was to travel with a small group of adventurers, attempting to fulfill the Lord of Hatred’s request: a ritual, which would restore power to his weapon, allowing him to return to godhood. A small group, with irrelevant people, would go unnoticed, passing as simple travelers looking for fame and glory. I was assigned to protect Tarja and assist her in anyways possible. And so I did. 

I forced myself into the group, claiming to be there to keep them safe, feeding them false information, making them do what I wanted. They were too trusting… too good. They lacked the will to act. That’s what I told myself. That they were weak. 

Our plans were carried out to perfection. The blood of a Grand Cleric of Cyric, Bane’s mortal enemy, was needed and later obtained. So where all the other elements. Not important to my story. The ritual was successful and Bane returned to godhood. I was blessed with power beyond my imagination, longevity and riches. The adventurers that I manipulated were left alive, something I did not consider a good idea at the time. 

Many years passed. I carried on doing Bane’s will, seeking his enemies and striking them down, living my life for him. My life… was his. My will… was his. My mind… was his. My soul was his. 

Something began to stir inside of me, something I had never felt before. I then came to realize it was sadness, loneliness. I was a puppet, never made my own choices… except for that first one… the one that changed my life. 

My vast resources gave me the chance of escaping without raising too much attention, not until they realized I was actually gone for good. “He must be on a mission” they would think. I was, but not one of theirs. 

I journeyed across the land of Faerun with no set destiny, avoiding major cities, hiding. I came across a monastery, built on the slopes of the Sunset Mountains. The Monks of the Dancing Shadow lived there, peacefully, dedicated exclusively to train and hone their skills in martial arts… and in passing by unnoticed. With nowhere to go, no place to call home, I knocked on their door. At first, they didn’t trust me, but that was to be expected, I would not have trusted myself either. 

After some time spent among the monks, they began to embrace me as a student, and so I learnt their ways. Shadows and martial arts became my tools. 

Occasionally, I would venture outside the Monastery to meditate, into the wilderness. By mere coincidence, or fate, I stepped in loose soil and fell through a pit. There was a room, old and ruined, but clearly part of something bigger. Whatever it was, I did a quick search of the place, and found an amulet, an obsidian stone, with a leather strap. Having no idea what it was, I placed it on my neck and immediately felt like I was being pulled down to the ground. A voice in my head spoke: “I’ve been waiting for you”. The soul trapped in this amulet is a fallen paladin of Torm, imprisoned by a wizard ages ago. Our goals aligned: he wished to walk the path of the righteous again, redeem his past deeds, just as I do. I accepted to travel with him, deciding at that moment to leave the monastery and venture into the world, to help the unfortunate and strike down those that would do evil. 

I changed my name to Shokan. I made a vow never to use swords again and teach the way of the Monk wherever I could. And so I came to Baldur’s Gate, and heard of a new keep in the hills in need of population, a perfect place to open a martial arts school. I also learned that the bard Galanodel would be playing there, a member of the party I betrayed so many years ago. I expected it to be an unfriendly reunion. 

This is my story. I do not expect forgiveness. I only wish to redeem my past actions and rid this world of the evil I helped unleash… starting with her… Tarja… she needs to die, she needs to pay for what happened. If I must give up my life for it, so be it. If I must do it alone, so be it. 

Shokan Kensaku.