Amati

Emperor Amati Tlakrinzin (later)/ Kunopil (childhood) (a.k.a. The First Blade)

Amati was the most skilled and accomplished assassin in history, a rogue of immense ambition that used their skills to climb to the top and establish the first Empire of All Suneka. They were not an administrator, or even a traditional conqueror, but rather preferred to terrorize and hijack existing leadership structures. This unstable model of power was their ultimate doom, and their successor- the Ghost Emperor Yezok- is generally better remembered than Amati. 
In terms of legacies, Amati is remembered somewhat unkindly. They are remembered by many histories as a usurper. They are often attributed "secret" qualities in retrospect to "explain" their accomplishments: a secret lineage, a secret patron, a secret identity even. These historical revisions have also made them more palatable to certain groups as a symbol of hidden greatness and manifested destiny. But most histories 'balance' these revisions by adding or emphasizing Amati's negative traits, making them a foil for the proper Emperor Yezok. This is part of the Sunekan narrative of experimentation, the story that governments had to go through predestined imperfect phases to properly realize the true divine system. 
As a person, Amati was deeply unpleasant. They enjoyed the control violence gave them over others, and courted a wide range of sycophants that constantly orbited them. They killed as much for sport as for power, reveling in the terror they visited upon those who once thought they were untouchable. Whenever Amati grew too genuinely emotionally close, they either lashed out or worked to establish some sort of dominance over them. Perhaps Amati wouldn't be that upset at their legacy, as long as people still remembered them. 
As for if Amati's soul, they have worked to keep themselves sentient and active in Paradise. It is unknown if they have succeeded in their goal, though their legacy remains. For in death, they worked to recruit others like them that felt uncomfortable with the lack of hierarchy in the afterlife: and worked to undermine other's comfort in death and recruit unwitting new souls to trick and torment however they could (not physically, but mentally, though a regime of lies and self-inflicted emotional trauma). This group, known as the Truthtellers, continues being a menace in Paradise - telling any who will listen that Paradise is actually a test that they are failing, and that suffering will find them any minute. They often target/recruit traumatized refugees from Purgatory, dragging out the newcomers trauma while also weaponizing their ruthlessness. While the Lunar Pantheon and other groups have tried to disrupt and destroy the Truthtellers, the cult has evolved and adapted to every new method of suppression- and since they cannot be removed from Paradise or contained in any one area, they continue being a scourge. 
None have seen Amati's soul in a few centuries, though. Many hope that they have finally found rest, that they can trouble the innocent no longer.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Early Kunonek Life

Amati was born in early 461 ME by a member of the Blades of Tonikora, a Sunekan holy order unique to the First Empire of Gwalan. The Blades, based out of the now-ruined town of Kunotet, were a group formed in the late 390s ME as elite assassins for the empire, an alternative to messy military interventions and conquest. Its original members were handpicked young warriors of the Kunokek people: a subgroup of Sunekans known for their disciplined warrior elites that was largely wiped from the Sunekan heartlands by the time Amati was born. While the Kunokek were in the same cultural group, each group of Kunokek was culturally distinct from the others- so when the Empire shoved members of wildly varying Kunokek bands into the same group, what resulted was a completely new culture that was constantly in flux. And as the decades went by generations went by, the group's traditions of discipline turned into a ruthless culture of physical violence. This was encouraged and molded by their imperial handlers, who were thrilled at the increasing efficiency.
Amati was born into this grim and punishing environment and quickly began adapting at a young age. Children of the Blades were expected to be stoic, to withstand pain, to be cunning, and to read emotions and awareness in adults. Amati learned quickly that the world hurt, and that they were better than those who reacted when they were hurt. And within the strict disciplined hierarchy, Amati fought for popularity and respect from the other children. At a young age, Amati and the other at the top of their class would practice sneaking from the cult compound- often to talk with (and bully) the outside children. Amati was the most successful at this game, but took it too far when they broke a town child's arm in a fight at age 12. No matter what they did, the handlers and parents of the cult could not entirely break Amati's spiteful spirit- and so they decided to give Amati a 'test' that would either force Amati to 'grow up' and obey or die in the attempt: they would send Amati on their first mission.
Just before their 13th birthday, Amati took their first life on command. They returned from the mission victorious, never aware that it was a punishment to begin with. The mission did teach them critical lessons, though: to hold their emotions close, to use their child-status to manipulate adults, to project the right appearance on command. Amati was "fixed". And they were fast-tracked within the organization, their natural talents pushed to their extreme. From 13 to 22, they advanced within the Blades, reaching promotion after promotion. Victory did soften them in a way, as they became far more personable and kind- though they also seemed to objectify people more as they took more life. 

Leaving The Blades

In 483, Imperial politics bled into the Blades. As candidates for succeeding the aging monarch competed within the Empire, different imperial cult handlers associated with these candidates fought for the position. Amati, secure in their position as one of the top assassins, ignored the potential danger of meddling and began flittering between the competing candidates. One of them, Totli of Ezokal, was Amati's favorite: they were personable, relaxed, and more willing to give the Blades some autonomy. Amati found their weakness distasteful but was intrigued by the possibilities of a less intense order- and offered to help Totli kill off the other candidates in exchange for a promotion to the upper echelons of the order.
While Amati pursued these other candidates, time suddenly ran out: imperial succession was suddenly re-ordered, and Totli was no longer a possibility. Amati was infuriated, and began toying with the idea of assassinating the heir to Gwalan. While the plot never approached fruition, Amati's friends passed their murder of one of the cult handling candidates to their superiors along with gossip of this new plot. Amati was forced to flee the cult, escaping Gwalan entirely to the West. Amati wandered the open plains of Kiota, taking jobs as a mercenary when possible. After a year of this, they wandered back South towards the realm of Tuzek, where they joined up with an adventurer-mercenary by the name of Yezok. Yezok was also an exile, heir to a small Northern kingdom and driven from their station by conquest. The talented young killers bonded, and traveled North together through Kiota to Tuweska and Gwalan to work as monster hunters. There, they met up with a Starspawn by the name of Matuyo the Monkey, and worked on-and-off for a period of about four years. 
After five years working as adventurers, the three were wealthy, skilled, and had accumulated a band of loyal warriors. While the others were content with this life, Yezok wanted to return to their kingdom. Amati pledged to help them retake their throne, and the band traveled back South and reinstalled Yezok as planned. The time from 483 to 488 was Amati's happiest: they had friends, they were secure. But after Yezok was reinstalled in their kingdom in 488, Amati began to revisit an old obsession: returning to the Blades. As Yezok grew more distant and the band became disparate, Amati devoted more time and mental capacity to returning home. Finally, in 489, they returned to Gwalan with Matuyo and killed the cult's imperial overseer. Amati took direct control of the cult, going so far as to murder the new emperor to consolidate control. 

The Descent/Ascent of Emperor Amati

Home was not good for Amati. They had never been incredibly emotionally stable, but now it was a rapid deterioration. They were increasingly paranoid and power hungry, seizing more and more direct control of Gwalan itself. At the end of 489, imperial troops attempted to disband the cult, but they took many of the Blades with them and headed to Tuzek, to join up with Yezok. Their old friend had a war of their own: Tuzek was in a great war of alliances, and Yezok's battlefield brilliance was rapidly pulling them upwards. When Amati arrived, they were embraced joyfully as a tool for Yezok's side- but Amati did not find the peace they so desired here. Still paranoid, they began to think that Yezok was manipulating them, planning something- or perhaps had always been manipulating them. While the two worked closely throughout the war, all attempts by Yezok to re-ignite their friendship only drove Amati further away. 
In 490, the war for Tuzek (known as the War of the Three Lions) ended in the great battle of Amzitlan. Amati and the Blades slaughtered enemy leaders and paved the way for Yezok's ascent, while Yezok themself won the battle on the field. But as the battle ended, Amati betrayed Yezok- believing that Yezok was planning to do the same once the war was decided. Yezok survived the attempt but slipped on a fallen Pangolin and fell off a bluff. The mixture of comedy and tragedy resurrected Yezok as a ghost, while Amati claimed the day for themselves. Seizing the throne directly, Amati crowned themselves emperor of Tuzek. 
But Tuzek was never enough- Amati's ascent began a war with Gwalan, and that war bled into many others. After 490, Amati began decades of rampaging across Suneka. They left most of the military matters to their subordinates and were very hands-off as a ruler, but, starting with Gwalan, they brough realm after realm to heel. In 492, they took the tropical land of Oteka to the South, famous for its engineering and unique aquatic-influenced culture, and restationed themselves there. Atupan fell in 493 due to economic pressures; Akatlan fell in 495; tribes, kingdoms, republics, all bowed. And at first, Amati seemed semi-interested in ruling: they attempted to create a united Sunekan identity by mass-copying and distributing the Written Customs of Mezcoco (the most comprehensive list of Sunekan cultural standards made thus far). But, by 500, they were effectively fighting their own government. They waged war on their ministers, their tributaries, their governors. All the while, the Blades began mass-training, having spread across the continent as a holy order. But the influx of assassins only worsened the intrigue when they came of age.
Amati tried to run an empire of enormous size as an assassin rather than as a lawmaker, and the result was as expected: ruinous for all involved. But they were always two steps ahead of being captured or killed, and as long as Amati lived the empires legitimacy somewhat held. This was perhaps intentional - Amati preferred the thrill of the hunt and of chaos to the orderly life of a leader. 
In 530, while Amati lounged in their palace in Oteka, fate finally found them. The ghost of Yezok, leading a swarm of ghosts from across Suneka, floated into the capital. Amati's assassins quickly realized that these ghosts could not be slain permanently. Victory was pointless against the dead. So, the already disloyal assassins joined the ghosts instead, hunting Amati in their own palace. Amati escaped, wounded, into the tropics. But the wound grew infected with blight, and, without medicine and afraid to approach anyone for aid, Amati died. 
Yezok, never satisfied with their vengeance, inherited their empire. Amati's fragile collection of tributaries was forged into a real empire under them, before they were exorcised.

Gender Identity

Initially chose to present male, took on imperial dual-gender later in life

Alignment

Neutral Evil

Current Location

Paradise

Species

Dryad

Life

461 ME 530 ME 69 years old

Birthplace

the now-destroyed town of Kunotet in the Southern Gwalan Valley

Eyes

Black

Hair

A mat of thin vines with thin violet flowers

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Deep Green

Height

5'4"

Weight

100 lbs

Aligned Organization

Suneka