Shahismael

The Shahismael was the Asp Leader of the Bloodland Wars.
== Bloodland Wars ==
The Shahismael was a brilliant and quick-witted Naga who innately understood tactics and leadership. He had the strength and charisma to pull the entire Asp Bloodline under his command. The Naga Empire was composed by Five Kingdoms, each formed by a different Naga Bloodlines and ruled by one Lord. The Shahismael wanted his own bloodline race to win over the others. Enemies of the Empire, p. 89 During the Bloodland Wars his kingdom subjugated the peaceful Greensnake Bloodline, and attacked the Cobra kingdom. Way of the Naga, p. 28 
=== Defeat ===
The Qatol, one of the Shahismael's most powerful underlings, realized that he could hear the screams of their enemies through the Akasha, and drew the forces of the Cobra and the Constrictor to his side. Creatures of Rokugan: Third Edition, p. 18 The Shahadet, the Shahismael's first lietutenant, horrified by his Lord's madness, killed him during battle, plunging his weapon into the Shahismael's back. Rulebook story (Forgotten Legacy), by Shawn Carman and Rusty Priske The Cobra decided his soul would be severed from the Akasha, so he would never reincarnate. 
=== Severed from the Akasha ===
The Naga Vedic contained the soul of the Shahismael at the deepest reach of the Akasha, chained to the souls of those he enslaved. The Shahismael struggled to find a way to spread his madness through the Akasha. If they would succeed he would lose his identity, but the entire Naga race would be filled with his bloodlust. Way of the Naga, p. 29
=== Aftermath ===
The Shahismael spurred the actions that led to the formation of Naga civilization as a cohesive whole. Until his war, each Naga bloodline only thought of the welfare of its own. The Shahismael's cruelty united all others against him, and the Naga Empire was born. 
== The Dark Naga ==
When the Thunder Dragon fell to the mortal realm in 1173, the Shahismael awakened and emerged from a Black Pearl, powerful and terrible beyond all imagining. Its power over the akasha was absolute. Siege: Heart of Darkness (Rulebook story) From within the Black Pearl emerged a creature who represented all that was sinister and inhuman. The thing had no name, but its soul was the soul of the Shahismael himself. Casting aside his former identity, the creature simply referred to himself as the Dark Naga. Imperial Histories 2, pp. 284-285 All who had been cast out from the Akasha, all returned to the Akasha by the power of the hatched being. The abominations joined him of their own free will, because the Dark Naga could restore their ability to feel the one mind. They began a war against the Emerald Empire in 1198, the War of Serpents, and the Imperial Governor of the Colonies was one of their first victims. The Hand of the Empress, by Shawn Carman
== See also ==
* The Shahismael/Meta
Category:Naga Leaders