Lun Kuai
An assassin-scholar of the First Age, Lun Kuai led a small cadre of sages, warriors, and saboteurs responsible for protecting Creation from the depredations of the Yozis and their servants. His wife, the Lunar exalt Allat, acted as his lieutenant and chief strategist; together, they headed The Wardens of the Green Sun to hunt escaped demons, deal with those sorcerers who broke the laws that governed their use and servitude, and infiltrate and eliminate any infernalist cults that sprang up. His enemies gave him the name Sleeps Between Breaths, for in his prime he worked with a relentless and indefatigable tenacity in hunting down those who had been given over to his justice.
As with all the Solars, Lun Kuai’s succumbing to the Great Curse began with small things: overlooking minor infractions committed by friends, sending underlings to take care of matters he should have dealt with personally, and delaying duties in favor of his personal whims. Over time, however, his hubris grew, and with it his crimes. He began to accept bribes from Exalts, mortals, and even Malfeans, turning a blind eye to perversions and atrocities which at one time would have instantly brought full weight of his wrath upon them.
When the usurpation began, Allat had already gone into the Wyld with many of her people, unwilling to watch what was happening to her husband and unable to convince him of the danger with which he was faced. Like many of the Night Caste, Lun Kuai spent years fighting a war of attrition with the Dragonblooded and Sidereals, moving throughout Creation to locations where he had previously set up safe houses and supply stores. Eventually, however, he began to understand that it was only a matter of time before he fell into his enemies’ hands. As more and more Solars fell, more resources were dedicated to eliminating each individual that remained, and his escapes became increasingly narrow.
In a final moment of lucidity, Lun Kuai journeyed into the Wyld to see Allat one last time. They spoke alone for some time, only the tips of their fingers touching as they sat across from one another. When he departed, he left his lover most of the treasures that remained to him, including his twin Orichalcum javelins. He took with him only few small artifacts, and a thin bracelet made up of a braid of white-blonde hair from Allat’s head and two iridescent crane feathers.
For nine years, Lun Kuai virtually disappeared from Creation. When he showed himself again, the retribution from his enemies was immediate and uncompromising. A horde of second-circle demons, summoned and bound by the Sidereals from among his previous victims, fell upon him. The battle raged for days, but in the end Lun Kuai was pulled down and his body torn to pieces by the remaining devils. When their masters stepped in to remove Lun Kuai's belongings, they found to their consternation that everything but a few scraps of clothing had disappeared. They questioned the demons on this to no avail, and eventually dropped the search, declaring the items too inconsequential to be truly dangerous. Fearful of the Solar's power even in death, the Dragonblooded gave Lun Kuai full rites to appease his ghost and interred his remains in a tomb in the forests of the far East.
Lun Kuai has been reborn in the Second Age as Leaf Shakes the Wind.
