Akura Malice

art by Jazzy Kandra

Akura Malice is the Matriarch of the Akura clan. She is one of seven Monarchs, which is the highest rank in Cradle. See Monarch factions.

## Rank, Realm, Vassals

Akura Malice is the Matriarch and Monarch of the Akura clan. She presides over one of seven Monarch factions. Her lands and vassals cover slightly more than half of Ashwind continent — the western half, including the Blackflame Empire and the Seishen Kingdom, as well as Min Shuei‘s Frozen Blade School, the Rising Earth sect, and Sky’s Edge, etc. etc. The main control hub of the Labyrinth is in her territory, also, in Sacred Valley, but her influence there is only as a gatekeeper. No tresspassing.

* see also Ashwind History

### Emblem: Three Stars

Akura Malice rules with her strongest sacred artsists at her back, her son Akura Fury, a Herald, and Fury’s daughter Akura Charity, a Sage.

> The Akura family emblem glowed at the center. One large star and two small stars, all over three mountains. The stars and the mountains glowed purple. The star on the left represented Charity. Fury was the star on the right, and Malice the largest star in the center. The one that rose over them all. (Uncrowned ch 6)
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## Malice’s Age

Monarchs do not age, nor do Heralds and Sages. Archlords do age, but only very slowly. Malice has been through all these advancement ranks, so she looks young and beautiful. However, she is about five centuries old, and was alive to see the Dread Wars, but she wasn’t yet a Monarch at that point.

>  “Akura Malice had not been a Monarch during the Dread Wars, but she had seen the memories of others.” (Reaper, ch 1).
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 This implies she was alive at that time, but not yet a Monarch. The Dread Wars occurred more than 500 years ago. The Dreadgod War left a power vacuum when ten Monarchs died, which Malice apparently filled, as did Reigan Shen.

## Childhood and Young Adulthood

* Malice was named for the trait her family wanted to promote in her —- malice towards her enemies —- because in infancy she lost almost her entire family to an attack

>  Everyone in the Akura family is named after a virtue. Even Malice. When Malice was born, the Akura family was a tiny band of humans in a vicious wilderness. They were destroyed by a rival when she was only days old, their members dispersed. She was named for the quality of ruthlessness, spite, focused hatred that her parents hoped would guide her to avenge them. (Wintersteel ch 26)
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* She manifested the Shadow Icon as a Sage, and uses her Authority to try to read the future, as the Shadow Icon is one of the icons with the most affinity for reading fate. (see Sages and Icons)

## Her Children

Akura Malice is not known for her kindly, motherly nature. She has many children and habitually gives birth to more. She has a child every 4 or so years. However, only the children who inherit enough of her power are her true children. She ignores and abandons the "weak" ones. She chooses her consorts from people with talents or Bloodline Abilities she values, but the father usually has no contact with the child.

### Acknowledged Progeny

Malice acknowledges children exceptionally talented in the Sacred Arts:

* Her son Akura Fury is a Herald. He was born before Malice advanced to the epitome of skill.
	+ See List of Heralds
* Her teenage daughter and heir is a child prodigy, Akura Mercy
* Her son, Mercy's younger brother, is Akura Pride.
* Her granddaughter, Fury's daughter, is Akura Charity, a Sage. See Sages and Icons list.
* Her gatekeeper / security chief is a shrewd old man, Akura Justice, an Archlord. (Not sure how he's related to Malice but he’s distant cousin to Charity)

## Appearance

"She was beautiful, with a full figure and the poise of a queen. She wore a rich, black dress of silken fabric hung with a web of delicate silver chains, as though she had been draped in the world's most expensive spiderweb. Each of those chains bore fat amethysts, which flashed in the light streaming from above. One silver chain wrapped around her forehead, holding the largest amethyst over her eyes. Her hair flowed down to the small of her back, darker even than the night surrounding her. It hardly looked like it was made from real strands, but from liquid smoke or boiling shadow. Her hair billowed behind her, twisting and curling with a mind of its own. Her skin was pale, her lips painted black. At least, Mercy had always assumed it was paint. And her eyes blazed with pure, endless purple light. [...] Her nails had been painted the same purple as their bloodline armor... or maybe they had crystallized that way."

## Path & Sacred Arts

Shadows, shadows, and more shadows. She manifested the Shadow Icon as a Sage. Her Path is Eternal Night

>  Path: Eternal Night. Though she is famous for the creation of the Path of Seven Pages, Malice herself has no Book. She is the practitioner of a pure shadow Path with an emphasis on Forger and Ruler techniques, and she sees her madra as a perfect blend of power and utility. However, her dissatisfaction with her own Path led her to create an idealized version: her Book of Eternal Night. (Wintersteel ch 26)
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All Akura Paths, to current knowledge, are of the shadow aspect. However, they can have others as well.

Several premier Akura-family heirs follow the Path of Seven Pages in the Book of Eternal Night. This is the ideal Path, created by Malice herself, even though she herself doesn’t follow it. Branch families follow other shadow Paths.

Malice created the Akura bloodline ability, a unique genetic legacy composed of madra that enables expanding purple crystal armor, with amethyst crystallized eyes , which is related to eye color trait — all of Malice's blood descendants have purple eyes.

## Abilities

* Hear her name spoken anywhere in the continent.
* Forge a giant version of the Akura Armor, a Bloodline Abilities. The armor grows until equal in size to a Dreadgod
* Reverse a person from near-death, rebuild lifelines, etc
* Touch the Way and use it to travel
* In her shadow space she vaguely sees possible future events, reading fate, manifesting her Shadow Icon (see Sages and Icons)
* During her battle with Seshethkunaaz she launched a technique that summoned thousands of screaming skulls of shadow (Wintersteel)

## Akura Territory

* Akura Malice has control over the entire western half of the Ashwind Continent. The dragon monarch Seshethkunaaz controls the entire Eastern half of the continent. They are deadly enemies.
* Akura homeland is on the southern half of western Ashwind continent, but Malice controls the entire western side, through vassals.

### Map

This map is not official or canonical, but it gives an idea of the Ashwind continent a d surrounding oceans. It was posted on Reddit by Winter-Steel, who also created it.

### Akura Homeland / Cities

* Akura training and testing grounds is the Night Wheel Valley (see Underlord, book 6)
* Akura kingdom capital city is Moongrave (see Uncrowned, book 7) ".. .the city of Moongrave. From the outside, the Akura capital had looked less like a city and more like a fortress for evil giants. Remnants out of a nightmare guarded its black and spiked walls. Their physical manifestations were so detailed and solid that he almost mistook them for twisted sacred beasts. He hadn’t been able to see the end of the city’s walls, which stretched all the way into the horizon. Dark towers rose from behind the walls, and the cloudy sky crackled with purple lightning. The spiritual weight reminded him of the Night Wheel Valley, as though if he opened his perception too wide he would be blinded. From the inside, Moongrave gave off a different impression. It seemed as though everything inside had been designed by an artist, like a dark paradise. Carefully cultivated rows of glowing blue, white, and pink flowers flanked gardens of black trees that sheltered flickering, shadowy shapes. Remnants and sacred birds flew through the sky, often carrying passengers or pulling floating carriages." (Uncrowned

### Akura Vassal States

Pledging allegiance to Monarch Akura Malice:

* Seishen Kingdom — located on Blackflame empire’s southern border
* Blackflame Empire
* Frozen Blade School -- Home to Min Shuei, the Winter Sage (Uncrowned)
* Rising Earth Sect / Temple of Rising Earth - (Uncrowned)
* Sky's Edge -- Wintersteel mining community due west of Sacred Valley (See book 8 Wintersteel)
* Various small communities, sacred schools, and islands scattered about

#### Forbidden Land

Sacred Valley is on the western half of the Ashwind Continent, which is Akura territory, but the inhabitants do not serve Akura Malice, send tribute, or even know of her. She merely keeps outsiders away, keeps the Labyrinth hub off limits and forbidden.