TALES OF RUNETERRA: IONIAN
SHEN THE EYE OF TWILIGHT
An enigma to the spirit realm, and the human world, Shen did not belong to those two worlds. Although born to one of the most distinguished families in the northern Navori region, his father's role as the Eye of Twilight governs the destiny of the Kinkou Order.
As the grandson of Great Master Kusho, he was immersed in the culture of the order, and the core of his teachings he understood as well as the Ionian sunset. He understood the necessity of Pruning Trees, the determination of Exploring the Sun, but above all, he learned the policy of Looking at the stars. He meditated and studied it throughout his childhood, and is considered an example for his teachers.
His closest friend, the only one who was able to match him in training, was the young priest Zed. They grew up together like brothers, often telling each other about their personal hopes and dreams. Shen was able to contact Zed to see a new point of view on any matter, and the two of them were considered Kinkou's most promising students.
As their skills develop, Kusho gives them dangerous missions, including hunting down the Golden Demon that terrorizes Zhyun province. Their quest takes years, but Shen remains committed to uncovering countless brutal murders. When they finally managed to catch the “iblis”, it turns out that he is Khada Jhin, a performer from the traveling theater. Instead of accepting the execution, Great Master Kusho ordered the criminal to be imprisoned.
Although he and Zed thought the killer deserved a heavier sentence, Shen accepted his father's decision. She tries to accept the Eye of Twilight decision, and feels the hatred Zed feels.
Even when the threat of Noxus disturbs the peace of the First Lands, Shen still supports the budding Kusho. But when Zed leaves Kinkou to fight, Shen remains inside the temple walls.
Many provinces were controlled by the enemy. Shen, however, continued to strive to maintain Ionian spiritual harmony. Until one day, when he was away from home, he felt an imbalance within Kinkou Order— rushed back, he met the people who managed to survive the bloody coup. From them, he learned that Zed had trained his own priests, and controlled the temple.
Worst news, Shen's father had been killed by the man he once considered a brother.
Resisting his anger, he led the remnants of Kinkou into the mountains. Shen took his father's Spirit Blade, and the title of Eye of Twilight. His role was not to take revenge, but to rebuild the order. Following his main rule, he began recruiting and training people, in hopes of restoring the power of the order.
One priest seemed to have limitless potential. Shen taught the girl, Akali Jhomen Tethi, to master the art of disappearing and infiltration. His mother, Mayym, fights alongside Kusho as the Fist of Shadow, and it seems that his daughter will follow the same path. However, Shen felt compelled to hold him back whenever Akali wanted to strike back at her human enemy.
When Noxus finally withdrew, many Ionians celebrated the victory of their resistance. Others, like Shen, had to face the consequences of war—he kept up his duty, though from within he fought his hatred of Zed, and doubted his own ability to lead. The years of conflict had a heavy burden on the First Lands, and Shen was unsure whether rebuilding Kinkou could restore that balance.
Even as Akali finally became the new Fist of Shadow, she felt it start to drift apart. Until one day, he announced to leave and leave the order.
Shen meditated, looked at the stars, and understood Akali had to find her own way.
Sometimes, among the unseen struggles in the spirit realm, Shen still considered the values of his beliefs. He never lets his emotions stop to keep the tradition going, but the question keeps coming: for what time does one man walk in two worlds, before one destructive act in another?.
...THE REAL BALANCE...
"I'm not dreaming. They really are spirit.” Said a fisherman who looked puzzled after two days stranded on his ship that was smashed to pieces. He told me that his ship had been destroyed by something as big as a house and as fast as the wind.
Shen while listening to the story made a thought accompanied by an investigation.
“Show where the incident happened,” Shen said.
The fisherman took him to a bay where many workers were trying to repair his ship. Shen knelt down to look for something that might help him. The incision in the piece of wood looks like a scratch, a scratch that is so deep.
"How many people died?" tanyakanya.
"Everyone but me... Six" answered the fisherman.
Finally, on the edge of the broken hull, he found something. A fine hair. Most people would ignore that, they would not have expected that something that had destroyed the ship would leave something behind. But Shen had seen that before. Shen finally realized what he was facing. The hair faded after Shen touched it.
"It's the Devil" Shen told the fisherman. "You may have passed his domain."
The fisherman nodded. These spirits can blend in with everything they want. Especially in Ionia, where the distance between the two is not very visible. These two worlds never stopped relating to each other. Like oil on water.
As the eye of twilight, it was Shen's job to be in the middle of it, and make sure everything went in balance. To ordinary humans, Shen was a ghost, one that could disappear at any time and appear in a place many miles away. For spirits, he is a human being, with flesh and bones that should not be able to explore the spirit world.
He knelt down and examined the corpse he found. The man was split in two, just below the ribs. Not many people's bodies were left clinging to it.
"You don't have to worry. I will find the monster before nightfall,” said a voice whispering from behind.
Shen turned to look at the saint sent from a temple. Some of his aides stood around him, carrying all sorts of mystical trinkets as well as oil. They began a cleansing ritual to eradicate any spiritual disturbance there. The saint then looked at Shen, as if to tell him something.
"Can we count on you, sir?" ask the man to Shen.
"This balance will recover again" Shen said with a reassuring nod.
They then parted ways and Shen continued to follow in the footsteps of that fine hair. He was thinking about the price that this monster had to pay for having killed so many people. Shen recalled his father's words: "The most difficult thing is to find a point of balance in everything." Of course, neutral, was the center of power that could balance this world.
Everything is a job of someone. To that end, Shen carried two swords on his back. One was an Ionian steel sword capable of splitting people into two in a single sabetage, and the other was a pure sword with mysterious energy. Shen used to use it when it came to dealing with spirits. All he got from the hereditary legacy. There were already countless enemy casualties that he had taken out over the years, and it would continue like that.
Until finally, Shen came to a quiet inn where he could concentrate away from the crowd. On a sand dune, Shen saw the spirit figure of the monster. The creature seemed to be resting, looking enlarged after sucking the soul that he killed. Shen then hurriedly approached her carefully. He could see the monster's ribs were enormous, but with regular breathing. Until he was close to her, Shen took out his magic sword and was ready for action.
Suddenly a pitiful voice appeared in his hand. His voice was loudly shrill, crying loudly, and was created by the air itself. This voice sounded very friendly, but Shen had yet to remember it. He heard it again. Again, and again. Eventually, the voice turned into a scream. This is the cry of a dying spirit. Shen's eyes darted back towards the spirit he was after, now he began to rise from his sleep. Shen while looking at him started grabbing one sword on his back, focusing on his Ki energy. A moment Shen was lost leaving the creature.
A moment later, Shen reappeared at the location of the destroyed ship earlier. Everything looks smoldering with black liquid evaporating into the air plus a very pungent smell.
Shen counted the puddles of liquid that disappeared, every remnant of the spirit simply disappeared. His concentration was then broken when the saint who had previously come now approached him accompanied by his attendants. One of them held a rope of silver tied to the spirit and kept it from leaving. Like a man who is strangled by a rope.
"You want to throw this one away?" the saint asked Shen casually as if he was offering a bowl of soup at dinner.
Shen looked at him sharply, sharper than his gaze to the great spirit he had encountered earlier. His eyes were upon the saint and his servant.
"I'm sorry for this, Your Majesty," he said. He placed his magic sword back into its sheath and pulled the steel sword instead. Shen would never have thought of finally using it in that day.
***