Yatagarasu

Utsuho atop the Temple of the Yellow Sun

The Yatagarasu is the avatar of the sun god worshipped in the Kufmal Pantheon. This avatar takes the form of Utsuho Reiuji, a Hell Raven that currently resides at the very top of the Temple of the Yellow Sun in Kufmal City.

Utsuho does not remember much before the day she stumbled across the Empire of Kufmal. This has lent creedence to the Yellow Sun Temple priests' theory that she was sent specifically to the empire. She told the priests that she was drawn by some unconscious force as she flew in the night.

Utsuho was first discovered by the junior priest Ukuntu, who noticed a silhouette flying around the temple at night. It was on 3/3/2022 that he caught Utsuho inside the temple's roof comb, eating dango he had left there by accident. He then began taking care of and befriending Utsuho. He soon recognized her powers as a vessel of the Kami of the Sun, but kept her a secret over the uncertainty of whether the head priest Yatasu would find her existence blasphemous or not. His cover was almost blown after discarded bags from Ringo's dango shop kept falling from the roof comb when Utsuho took a liking to the food. Utsuho was a bit dim-witted, but sincere. The aforementioned first days were chronicled in several letters sent back and forth between the two priests:

I saw it again last night! The winged creature's terrifying form appeared silhouetted by the moon, shining down on the roof of the temple. I'm telling you it's being drawn here!
I want to see it face to face. Call me a madman, but this could be everything we've been leading up to. Allow me to set up bait for it. I accidentally left out my last piece of dango from Seiran's last week, and I noticed it was gone the next day. What if it likes them? Please give me a chance, your holiness!
Your loyal disciple,
-Priest Ukuntu
I still don't know why you are going on about this bird creature. We worship the power of the sun, the Yatagarasu is simply its avatar in the scriptures. If you keep bugging me with this tangent, I will have to reprimand you.
Do I even need to mention that your dango could have been eaten by any other animal? I know I wouldn't have, I choose to eat the superior dango over at Ringo's. If you wish to waste your stipend, go ahead.
May the Sun guide you,
-Head Priest Yatasu
Disregard my last correspondence. My winged creature hypothesis was certainly incorrect and it totally does not love to eat all my dango.
On an unrelated note, I am working on fixing some damage inside
the roof comb of the temple. It is very dirty in there, so please stay away from it while I am cleaning. Ignore any odd sounds coming from the room since I will have a... trusted friend helping the repair. Also ignore any holes in the walls, even if they look melted. I’m testing a new ritual of sorts, and I’ll repair any damage personally.
Your loyal disciple,
-Priest Ukuntu
Whatever repairs you are doing in the roof comb, please hurry them up. There are some odd sounds that don't really sound like construction in there. Also, please clean up after yourself. I am glad you like Ringo's now, but that is no excuse for used
dango bags being strewn around the temple. Also, is that "friend" you mentioned a contractor? You know we normally have to escort any non-clergy into off-limits areas. Don't make me get involved, things here are busy enough here already now that the Metro connects here.
May the Sun guide you,
-Head Priest Yatasu

However, around that time, someone else had stumbled across Utsuho's existance. The agent of Bruhmethius' governor Shathenaten, named Hunter Hardy, was visiting the pyramid to take notes about monumental architecture during their city's building boom. It was then when he noticed Ukuntu sneaking food into the roof comb. He went back over the next several nights to sneak and investigate before discovering Utsuho taking flight under the cover of darkness. Returning to Shathenaten, he informed him that she could be the legendary sun avatar.

Being a studier of the occult, Shathenaten organized a plan to capture the Hell Raven, converting a chamber in his newly built Pyramid of Shathenaten into an enchanted prison chamber that could not only contain Utsuho's power, but theoretically harness it into a power he could wield as a weapon. On the night of 4/17/2022, Hunter kidnapped Utsuho by luring her out of the temple and using enchanted netting to entrap her. This was only barely achieved however, and Utsuho's naivete was the main reason she did not break free. The Bunbunmaru Kufmal Gazette reported something being stolen from the temple, but details were not known. Utsuho was taken via ship to Bruhmethius and imprisoned inside the completed pyramid.

Utsuho's unfortunate circumstances would put her in the center of the April Uprising. When the pyramid was besieged by the Kufmalian Army on 4/9/2022, Shathenaten rigged a crude mechanism to harness Utsuho's power into a laser weapon. Shortly after, the Emperor led the charge into the pyramid. This excerpt written by the gazette's head reporter, Aya Shameimaru, details the events of that day:

*Victory for the Empire!*

*This is an extra long edition of the paper for you today. My wings are shaking with the aftermath of what has happened today as I write.*

*The dawn of this morning was broken with a hole blown into the side of the pyramid, with several squads of marines storming it alongside the barricaded main entrance. The Emperor led the charge on the breach, utilizing flaming enchanted weapons to sow discord among insurgent ranks in the cramped building. My assistant Hatate Himekaidou followed alongside the troops entering the building while I kept watch on the exterior from above. Hatate reported that as the temple was cleared out, a hidden room in the basement dungeon revealed the captured missing Master Architect Illotep, almost starved to death in isolation. The Emperor’s charge led them upstairs to a large chamber entrance up a flight of stairs, where they regrouped for a breach. Six members of the elite Ivory Vines marine squad stacked on the doorsteps. As soon as they opened the door, a beam of energy vaporized them instantly. Taken aback, the Emperor yelled for me to open up an entrance on the side of the chamber as a distraction to avoid a futile frontal assault.*

*There I was, lugging a stack of explosives to the wall of the pyramid, soldiers stacking up on me as I lit the fuse and flew off. At that moment, hell broke loose. A hole was blasted in the wall, another one of those beams emanating from the temple interior. A two pronged assault began, and Hatate and I could not believe our eyes at what we saw. This chamber held a massive vat of lava, inside a prison of iron bars. Strange equipment on either side of this birdcage appeared to be siphoning energy from its captor, whom I assumed to be a crow tengu like myself, but I was mistaken. Suspended from the cell roof was a hell raven, a species I had only thought to be a legend. But this was no ordinary corvid, she was the Yatagarasu the priest warned of. The energy being siphoned from her unconscious form was being channeled into what I can only describe as an artificial sun, firing off deadly beams. At the controls was none other than the corrupt governor Shathenaten himself, surrounded by his most elite guards. The battle was fierce, and I had to use all my unmatched speed to avoid the deadly blasts and direct them away from our soldiers.*

*Recently, I asked the Emperor what was going through his head during the assault, and he told me this: “I could have shot an arrow straight at that rotten excuse for a governor’s face. However, the look of pain on that caged goddess’s face, and the destruction it wrought, made it clear what I had to do.” The Emperor’s flaming arrow flew straight toward one of the two pillars that were draining the hell raven’s power. It hit the crystal apparatus on point, exploding one of the pillars and shutting off the whole mechanism. The look on Shathenaten’s face was unforgettable as the caged bird opened her eyes and turned, and what could only describe as a long barrel appeared on her right arm. She pointed it at the bars in front of her, and blasted a beam of her own that melted the bars to molten iron. The bright red eye on her shirt glowed with power as she swooped through the gap. She looked me in the eyes for a moment as she flapped her wings and scanned the chamber, the maelstrom of battle continuing below the two of us. Her gaze stopped as she fixated on the governor, a look of rage filling the girl’s face. She raised the barrel attached to her arm, and charged up a blast that vaporized the guardsmen protecting the traitor as he jumped out of the way, his last troops held the line as the coward scampered out of the fresh hole in the wall, the Emperor and his cohorts cutting down those who refused to surrender. And like that, it was over. I am sad to report that soldiers on the perimeter saw the governor throw something at the ground, and quite literally disappear in a puff of smoke, likely a dark magic we have yet to hear of. While a search was put into action, those of us who survived the assault took a moment to rest. The surrendered insurgents were marched to the old pyramid’s dungeon while we regrouped outside. It was there where I saw the hell raven again, seeming dazed and confused. That was until she noticed a face in the crowd, and flew down to tackle the Sun Temple priest Ukuntu in a hug. I will make a follow up interview going more into this, but apparently this girl is the hidden god of the temple itself, who was a secret to all but the priest until she was kidnapped by one of Shathenaten’s agents following his visit to the temple a fortnight ago.*

*In the meantime, the ruins of Shathenaten’s pyramid have been condemned as unholy, after inscriptions on the walls proclaimed the petty former governor as a god-king who would crush Kufmal with his light. As for the architect Illotep, he will be provided imperial housing as he is brought back to health.*

*The Emperor has a lot of cleaning up to do here, and my staff and I will follow the aftermath as we rebuild. Glory to Kufmal!*

*-Aya Shameimaru reporting*

* After the battle, Aya conducted an interview inside the local KFP Fast Food restaurant with Utsuho and Ukuntu about the aftermath. It is described below:

*Yatagarasu Interview!*

*It has been two days since the climactic battle in the pyramid of Shathenaten. In that time, those who fought in that battle have been recovering from their experience. There is one uplifting story from this battle that deserves more attention, the reuniting of two friends. Inside the KFP in Bruhmethius, I’ve sat down with the Kufmal sun temple Priest Ukuntu. Alongside him is his friend, the Yatagarasu herself. This hell raven goes by the name Utsuho Reiuji, and Ukuntu has kept her a secret for over a month now. I’m here to find out why.*

*[Aya]: How did you two first meet?*

*[Ukuntu]: Apparently, the light the temple produced had attracted her for a while. It was me accidentally leaving some dango out that got her to stay a while.*

*[Aya]: Oh really? Which restaurant was it?*

*[Utsuho]: I tried both, I ended up liking Ringo’s better.*

*[Aya]: Well that opinion certainly won't cause any controversy! Anyways, why did you keep her existence a secret?*

*[Ukuntu]: To be honest, it was nervousness. We never knew the Yatagarasu had a physical form, and I didn’t want the head priest to think I was pulling a trick. I guess that’s silly of me, but Okuu here didn’t seem to be the most presentable since she didn’t know anything about our culture-*

*[Aya]: Okuu? Is that a nickname?*

*[Utsuho]: For me, yes! I liked the sound of it! I call him Uku as well.*

*[Aya]: I see. Now, I am going to ask something a bit personal, is that okay, Utsuho? I want you to describe what happened to you the night of your kidnapping.*

*[Utsuho]: I can. I am not scared anymore… (She takes a deep breath). It began with a blast, some magical restraints stopping me from breaking out of the clutches of the men that barged in. It all happened fast, I remember a boat, a cart, and I blacked out. I awoke in that awful machine, held in place by chains and beams of light. Then that Shat guy came in, taunting me, ranting about how he would use me to wipe out everyone who stood against him. I called him a Shatstain, like the nickname Uku and I overheard visitors call him by during his visit last month. He got mad, and the next thing I know, it was the worst pain I had ever felt. Then, it was darkness, like a sleep I couldn’t wake from. Then, there was so much pain, dull explosions and sounds without sights to match them. So much pain… (Utsuho pauses for a moment as Ukuntu wipes her face). But then, I woke up. I felt the pain lifted, the restraints gone. I saw the fighting, and I broke free. I saw you up there, Aya, and I was glad that I had more birds of a feather to help. Then I saw that man, the one who hurt me. All the pain built up, and it was only instinct after that. Everything else was a blur until I burst free of those walls, and saw Uku again. I was just glad that there were people that wanted me to be safe. (Utsuho gives Ukuntu a bear-gripped hug).*

*[Ukuntu]: I felt bad for not going in there with the soldiers, but I am not built for combat. I warned the Emperor that Shathenaten would likely try to do something with Okuu. I guess it paid off. It’s too bad that he used her power to hurt so many people in the fighting.*

*[Aya]: Well, at least it’s over. What remains to be known is what will you two plan to do now that your deity has a physical form?*

*[Ukuntu]: I just got a letter from the head priest saying he’ll accept anything Okuu needs, so I don’t see why she wouldn’t live in the temple now. No need for secrets, and she can be free to fly around and learn about our people. Eventually, you may even run the temple and manage worshippers!*

*[Aya]: How do you like the sound of that, Utsuho?*

*[Utsuho]: Me… talking to that many visitors? Ehhh… sounds difficult… (She is visibly nervous)*

*[Ukuntu]: We’ll make sure you can do it. You’re the Yatagarasu after all. Us priests are here to help. (Utsuho begins eating the food that’s been brought to the table by a KFP employee)*

*[Aya]: Well I’ll leave you all to your meal, you’ve earned it after all that’s happened!*

*So, that concluded our interview with the Yatagarasu. We at the Bunbunmaru are excited to see how the reunited temple will develop!*

*-Aya Shameimaru reporting*

Following the end of the uprising, Utsuho moved back into the Temple of the Yellow Sun and began to receive a flood of pilgrimers and worshippers. IT is a role she has reluctantly fulfulled, assisted by the temple priests, especially her most trusted friend Ukuntu. She is now the religious center of the practice of Yellowism and the broader Kufmal Pantheon. As of late 2023, at Yatasu's request, Utsuho and Ukuntu made an expedition to gain faith and followers in the Solvada Province, welcomed by the province's governor, Ricarius.