Kujawa

Kujawa was an Imaskari human artificer and later emperor of Anok-Imaskar, reigning from to . Some sources, such as the biographer Awagi Nukichi, referred to him as Joon Tsao Choo, and conflated him with the later Emperor Tan Chin.Ronin Challenge makes several references to Joon Tsao Choo, but the biography by Awagi Nukichi on page 67 is clearly that of the already-established Tan Chin, retelling his fall at Kuo Meilan and appending a disaster striking Tempat Larang (presumably the volcano in the same book) a few years afterward. While Joon Tsao Choo could have been Tan Chin completely, The Grand History of the Realms later retconned this, inventing the much-earlier Anok-Imaskar, placing the settlement and destruction of Tempat Larang within its time, Kujawa's death 170 years later, and Tan Chin's empire centuries after that, with Tan Chin defeated by Chih Shih as normal. Thus, in-universe, Awagi's story appears to be a mistaken conflation of the falls of both empires and emperors and it's not clear what it might say about Kujawa and Anok-Imaskar, and who killed Kujawa. This article selects references to Joon Tsao Choo and an otherwise-unnamed ancient emperor in Ronin Challenge and assumes they apply to Kujawa where they suit the history of Anok-Imaskar.
==Possessions==
Kujawa carried one of the False Imaskarcana, namely Dhonas's Shroud.
==History==
The western Imaskar Empire collapsed in , but the eastern provinces of Khati and Katakoro emerged relatively unscathed. Thus, within a year, Kujawa claimed the Dragon Throne in the Khati city of Thakos (the former capital of Upper Imaskar). With that, he declared himself Emperor and founded a new realm, Anok-Imaskar.
Anok-Imaskar was prosperous and quickly spread east, north, and south across Kara-Tur. Eventually, circa , Kujawa decided to found a second capital city to better govern the new southern lands his nation had claimed. The new capital was called Tempat Larang. The emperor ordered the great Larang Highway be built along existing frontier outposts into the Shao Mountains. Many great magical scrolls and artifacts were traded from Tempat Larang to the empire during his regin.
 
Unfortunately, the nearby volcano Mount Bakos erupted in , covering Tempat Larang in ash and lava, and the city had to be evacuated. Over the following decades, the empire's southwestern lands were also abandoned. According to later accounts, the emperor thought this disaster was an omen from the gods, and hence abandoned his plans for the south, even erasing them from official records. Thus only vague legends of Tempat Larang survived.
Kujawa repeated the history of his former peers in Imaskar when he died fighting the celestial dragon T'ien Lung in . His death caused the empire to collapse.The Grand History of the Realms page 33 says Kujawa died in combat with "the celestial dragon T'ien Lung". However, a "t'ien lung" is a generic type of oriental dragon with a name meaning "celestial dragon"; this name may be in error. Ronin Challenge tells that the Immortal Nung Chiang opposed the empire's expansion into Tempat Larang, even triggering the Mount Tengkorak eruption. Furthermore, Nung Chiang manifests as a t'ien lung in the module, and is mentioned to also appear as a spirit dragon. While it is possible that Nung Chiang is T'ien Lung, no source confirms that Nung Chiang killed any emperor. Page 33 of The Grand History of the Realms also notes that Chan Cheng was the first of the Nine Immortals, suggesting Nung Chiang wasn't an Immortal previously.
==Appendix==
===Notes===
===References===
Category:Humans
Category:Imaskari
Category:Artificers
Category:Emperors and empresses
Category:Rulers
Category:Inhabitants of Imaskar
Category:Inhabitants of East Faerûn
Category:Inhabitants of Faerûn
Category:Inhabitants of Anok-Imaskar
Category:Inhabitants of Ra-Khati
Category:Inhabitants of the Hordelands
Category:Inhabitants of Kara-Tur
Category:Inhabitants of Toril
Category:Inhabitants