Godking

The Godking is, or was, the leader of the Jin race. His name is unknown, and he has never been seen inside of Starmourn. All we know of him are from the Departed - the Jin who fled the Godking and now reside in Starmourn. He was elevated from mere leader to Godking via a bargain with the Ishvana. After his elevation, and at the bidding of the Ishvana, he began slaughtering hundreds of millions of Jin, in order to explore whether the release of the huge amount of death energy associated with the Jin could help the Ishvana reach Willspace.

The Godking's Duel

There is an ancient story passed down by Ir-Vothiam masters, of a conversation that supposedly took place in the far-off Jin home system Ijzala between the Godking as a young student, and his mentor, Kivatha Amati Barek – a man of immense meditative and spiritual accomplishment.

The young Godking had accidentally insulted a high-ranking officer, who had challenged him to a fight to the death and so he sought out the Kivatha for spiritual guidance. The Kivatha told him earnestly that he had little chance of surviving the encounter, but that he could ensure an honorable death by treating the combat as he would the formal ceremony of the Bread Ritual.

"Compose your mind," said the Kivatha, meticulously weighing out flour, water and salt into a bowl, "pay no attention to the petty chatterings and fears of death in your head, just focus on the ingredients."

He pointed to the flour, reiterating the symbolism of the Bread Ritual, "The body," he said, before pouring in the water, "the physical world, ever changing and fluid," then he finally sprinkled in a large pinch of salt, "and other people, who give the whole thing flavor." He smiles warmly at the young Godking, bringing the ingredients together as he had done a thousand times before, kneading it into a pliable dough. "Then grasp the sword straightforwardly; with the same practiced and confident precision and concentration of mind you would use to knead dough - that's you putting your spirit into the thing right there." He picked up the bread, eyes sparkling with amusement, "Does it look like me?" The young Godking grinned with amusement and shook his head. Frowning, the old Jin peered at it, "Ah, well, perhaps likeness isn't my finest skill. But it is me, nonetheless." Then all at once he tossed the flattened dough into a red hot pan. The Godking gasped and the Kivatha chuckled, "Don't worry, boy, these are the trials we all must go through in life to reach the ultimate goal." He turned the puffed up bread over on the skillet, toasting it to a crisp before placing it on a saucer and handing it to his young mentee. The Godking looked at him curiously, "You want me to eat it?" "Don't hesitate boy. What is bread for, if not for eating? Get it down you." The Godking picked up the hot little round of bread and ate it, as instructed. His old mentor smiled sagely, nodding.

"Very good. When the time comes you should not hesitate. Do not have fear or think of it as anything more than what it is in the moment. Step forward, with no thought of the consequence, and strike your opponent down in one blow!" - From 'Tales of the Godking' by Haiz Kavathrik 911 A.E.

The Godking is then said to have prepared himself accordingly, abandoning all fear of death, and when the morning of the duel arrived the high-ranking officer, encountering the total poise and fearlessness of his opponent, was so shaken that he promptly begged forgiveness and called off the fight.