Gyoku-ou

Were you looking for Gyokuyou?

Gyoku-ou (玉鶯 (ギョクオウ) , Gyokuou^?) was the son of Gyokuen and the older half-brother of Gyokuyou. He ruled over the Western Province in the absence of his father.

Appearance

Gyoku-ou is a bearded man in his 40s with predominantly Linese features and looks possibly ten years younger. According to Rikuson, other than his tanned skin, he does not look like a native of the western capital.^[2] Gyoku-ou resembles a warrior more than a merchant, being slim but muscular. He shares his biological father’s facial features and sturdy build.^[3]

Personality

Gyoku-ou perceived himself as a “hero”, who would realize his ambitions and lead the western capital to greater prosperity. He thus thrived in the spotlight, and actively stole credit from others’ actions. But ever since realizing that he was not Gyokuen’s true son, Gyoku-ou developed an inferiority complex. To remedy it, he decided to embody righteousness. He became convinced that everything he did was correct and ignored others’ opinions. This caused him to have tunnel vision, in not being able to see how his decisions were potentially harmful to the western capital. He also held his mother in high regard, so took revenge on the Yi Clan for the Windreader tribe.

Despite being the leader of a major trading hub, Gyoku-ou was extremely xenophobic. This stemmed from knowing that his biological father was a Shaohnese merchant, who owned his mother. As a result, Gyoku-ou defined himself as a pure-blooded Linese man and rejected his foreign heritage. He would carry his hatred onward to Gyokuen’s last concubine and child, as they shared his biological father's traits of red hair and green eyes.

Gyoku-ou was very popular among the citizens of the western capital, as well as farmers from the surrounding villages, due to his generosity in times of poor harvest. Though, this came with a cost: conscription to fight in Gyoku-ou’s planned war with Shaoh.

Abilities

Charisma: Gyoku-ou is very capable of gathering supporters and acting on their desires to convince them of his viewpoint, which he did to great effect during the revolt against the Yi clan and the locust plague aftermath.

Background

Gyoku-ou was conceived by Seibo, from the destroyed and enslaved Windreader tribe, and a Shaohnese merchant, who sexually assaulted her.^[3] When Seibo was pregnant, Gyokuen purchased and freed her. Though they had previously been engaged, Seibo refused to marry Gyokuen, but accepted when he promised to raise her son as his own.

Gyoku-ou grew up alongside Takubatsu as a milk brother, who was unknowingly his half-brother through the same Shaohnese father. He idolized both his parents and dreamed of bringing prosperity to the Western Capital. When Gyoku-ou was 15, a foreigner barged into his family’s mansion, claiming that Gyoku-ou was his son. This event led to him discovering that he was not truly Gyokuen’s son, and set the course for his insecurity and emnity against Shaoh.

At some point, he married a Linese woman, and had four children.

Gyoku-ou then sought to overthrow the Yi Clan, who had ruled since the founding of Li. He gained support among the enslaved former Windreaders, who held a grudge against the Yi clan, as well as those who despised the Yi clan’s matriarchy. From the slaves who worked in the coal mines, Gyoku-ou learned that the Yi clan had not been accurately reporting the amount of mined coal. He further learned that there was a young boy within the Yi clan, whom his father had met. During a time when tensions were high due to a poor harvest, Gyoku-ou sent a notice containing false allegations regarding the Yi clan using Gyokuen’s seal. Once he received the imperial court’s approval to destroy the Yi clan, Gyoku-ou gathered up a mob and surrounded the Yi clan residence, and eventually killed most of the members.

Though he was admonished by his father for his actions, Gyoku-ou was not punished. He later became the leader of the western capital when Gyokuen was summoned to the imperial capital. Gyoku-ou also sent an adopted daughter who resembled Gyokuyou to the imperial court, in an attempt to have her enter the Inner Court.^[4]

Gyoku-ou requested Jinshi to visit the western capital for an inspection. After a locust plague devastated the capital, he took credit for the distribution of food that Jinshi procured from the Central Province. In a meeting with Jinshi and Lakan, Gyoku-ou discussed his plans to invade Shaoh to capture their ports, which Jinshi refused to back.^[5]

To ease the anger against the imperial family by the citizens of the western capital, Gyoku-ou redirected the blame for the locust plague to Shaoh. He arranged for Jinshi to conduct a ritual to prevent further disaster. On the day of the ritual, Gyoku-ou rebuffed his siblings' demands to not start a war with Shaoh. Later in his office, he was approached by Takubatsu, who threatened to reveal his heritage if he did not give up on Shaoh. Gyoku-ou then killed Takubatsu, before getting stabbed in turn by Rikuson.

Gallery

References