Mupa

Mupa is a legendary event character villain.

Character Biography

The Legend

"Wicked snakes bit her through and through. She wears her soul on her countenance.

One midnight dreary, her silhouette crossed the palaces gates. Prince M'hul greeted her and entreated her with his knife. She became smoke and then a serpent as large as a room, She stalked, to seal sweet princess Yun's fate. It was Prince M'hul who nearly lost his life and met his doom.

She and Sagu have become kindred in their wickedness. They share the same black heart that is only quickened, to see the end of Yuri, and his family that cast them out."

- Dream Weaver Orb

Mupa Beckons

As with any kingdom, during any era, there is always a tale of love. And like any love story, there is always a tale of unrequited love. What better place to start the chronicles of King Yuri's reign than recounting this very tale..

Some say she was stunning, others disagree, but regardless of her visage, Mupa had the enchanting air of power about her. One might speculate it was this power that caught the heart and soul of King Yuri's brother, a mage named Sagu. Utterly devoted to her, despite the signs of wickedness that the citizens were beginning to notice, Sagu was willing to follow her to the ends of the earth.

Perhaps jealousy, perhaps pure spite, might have been the motive behind Mupa's dark scheme, but no one can know her intentions for fact. During the black night of a new moon, the enchantress infiltrated the palace gates, in search of Prince Mhul's betrothed, the gentle Princess Yun. M'hul accosted her before she got too far, defending himself with his knife when she suddenly vanished into a cloud of smoke to glide past, unseen, into the Princess' quarters.

The wisps of smoke roiling into solid form, she became a giant snake before the sleeping Princess, ready to strike. M'hul burst in, startling Yun and the serpent Mupa, and Mupa struck him a fierce blow, nearly taking his life. Fighting valorously, despite his wounds, the Prince managed to win the battle; the witch slithering off as M'hul went to comfort the frightened Yun.

The following day, upon hearing of the terrible assault, King Yuri declared to the kingdom that Mupa was a witch and was immediately banished from the kingdom for her attempt upon Princess Yun's, and Prince Mhul's lives.

In an utter rage for the woman he loved, Sagu cursed his brother, all those of Yuri's family, and the entire kingdom of Koguryo. His heart broken, he fled the kingdom in search of Mupa, embittered and blinded by his darkening heart.

It would be several years before either were heard from again. During this time of peace for the kingdom, Sagu's heart grew colder, and he learned much from Mupa in the dark arts. As their bitter hatred consumed their spirits, the two plotted their revenge, which would indeed come to pass.

Mupa's Curse

Reunited in their evil, Mupa had come to the aid of Sagu, threatening King Yuri with a curse upon Koguryo. In her letter, she would not state just what this terrible curse should be, but referred to an old poem .

Mupa demanded 1,000,000 coins of gold in ransom to lift this curse. Yuri sent word to Prince M'hul, who was fighting off would-be invaders from the West. No more was said about the curse at the time, though an offer of 50,000 gold coins was said to go to any who might remove the curse without giving in to the evil witch.

King Yuri would not stand for any more traitors like he saw during Sagu's invasion and declared that any citizens who shouted support for Sagu or Mupa would be branded as treasonous and banished from the kingdom.

His battle victorious, the prince received his father's urgent message, informing him of Mupa's threat. Upon his journey home, M'hul sought out the lagoon of the Sea Nymph, recalling old tales from his father of the mystical woman and her wisdom. He showed her the copy of the strange old poem and immediately, the nymph recognized it and said she might be able to unbind the curse. The stones were the key. It was part of a curse that had been used once, long ago. Someone's wickedness would cause them to turn into a creature that expressed that wickedness. The creature's heart, though, was made of stone. The nymph, eager to assist the son of old Yuri, said that she would come if these stones were recovered from the creatures to lift the curse.

The day came that Mupa kept her word, casting the curse of her threats upon the merchants of the kingdom. Suni, Beard, Walsuk - all of them, were cursed. Trapping their souls, Mupa summoned each into the Vale, the curse transforming them into monstrous violet wyrms, viciously attacking any mortal who set foot upon the bloodied land of the Vale. As the dragons attacked, Mupa pressed on with her violent bursts of fire, determined that the citizens would not save their merchants' souls. Each time she was thought dead, the trickery of her dark magic ressurected her into new life, stronger than ever.

Still, the Kogurians fought on, despite the slaughter and bloodshed. Through courage or plain madness, citizens charged forward and recovered the stone hearts, one by one, and saved each merchants' soul. It was only then that Mupa realized she could not win. Her curse had been broken. Humiliated and seething with anger, she fled the victorious cries of battle, leaving the kingdom, disgraced, for the second time.

Mupa's Forest

Though she had always bordered on madness, living in exile after the War of the Hearts, it was after Sagu's death in the Shattering that Mupa went truly insane. At first an embittered but powerful sorceress, for ten years after Sagu's death she merely wandered the woods and the mountains, staying perfectly hidden and lost in introverted madness. In her moments of clarity, she studied and learned the dark energy of the Shattering, taking particular interest in the vile trees which had grown in Kugnae and Buya during that dark event. Around the 30th year of Yuri's reign, Mupa managed to regain what little functional sanity she had previously possessed and began scheming anew. Her mind again returned to revenge against King Yuri and his allies, for both her exile and now the death of Sagu. Formidable and untold magics brewed within her, new powers unleashed by fury.

Around the 31st year of Yuri's reign, Mupa began planting the seeds of her revenge. Her plan, though complicated, was formidable: she would grow the same kind of vile trees which had nearly overrun the kingdoms during the Shattering. However, not even Mupa's formidable magic could create such a forest, for she did not possess the limitless energy of the DarkStaff. Always pragmatic in her evil, she instead lurked as a serpent to carve out dark tunnels beneath the earth of Kugnae, so that her dark seeds might incubate for a long period of time, feeding off the earth. When her forest was ready, her trees would launch upward from the earth, swallowing Koguryo's capital in a forest of horrors.

For fifty years Mupa lived in silent exile as she fed her seeds, diligently waiting for their incubation to be complete, kept along by the knowledge that as Koguryo grew, beneath it slept a destiny of destruction.

In the 73rd year of Yuri, Mupa's routine was disrupted by the arrival of another witch: Yieta, who had fled Koguryo and her allies in disgraceful exile. Yieta too cursed of wishing revenge against Prince Mhul, and thus, although her magical ability was quite limited, Mupa took her on as an apprentice, presuming she would be useful.

Only three lurkers-in-exile in the forests have ever been stealthy enough to see the elusive Triiofa: the hermit Thane, Mupa, and Yieta. Yieta aided Mupa in the final growth cycle of her sinister saplings, by helping to enslave the Triiofa to cut down the trees to make room for their foul undergrowth. Not only would this clear room for the growth of the vile vines, but, in the case of the Tree of Reflections, provide the saplings with their final burst of energy to bring them to maturity.

But there had been unexpected deviations from the plan. The Triiofa chieftains had been freed by the energy surrounding the Great Tree when they cut it down, and Yieta, unable to capture them, had gotten captured herself. Mupa was not pleased...

...and so, though Mupa had rescued Yieta from the captivity, it was Yieta who seemed terrified, for she had outed her master and compromised her 50-year revenge. No longer lurking in the shadows, Mupa attacked the community and the people of Koguryo.

As Mupa terrorized the citizens of the Kingdoms, sometimes refraining from violence to merely boast of her plan, Prince Mhul urged his citizens to go about their daily business as usual, even going so far as to hold the weekly Tribunal. Unable to resist this temptation, Mupa slew the Kogurian guards and attacked Koguryo's tribunal with Yieta in an attempt to kill Prince Mhul and the Primogens of Koguryo. However, the kingdom rushed to defend their prince, and a stalemate seemed at hand, until the enigmatic swordsman Fei, who had visited Koguryo from Han for Yuri's Ball, arrived. Fei surprised Mupa and beat her magic back with powerful sword techniques, drawing the battle to an unlikely close: Mupa and Yieta hastily retreated.

Meanwhile, the Haggard Witch, who regarded Mupa as a powerful threat, had sought about a way to free the Triiofa and weaken Mupa's magic forest. As adorable and harmless saplings began to sprout and wander the caverns beneath Koguryo, many wondered if the creatures inside were actually benign. However, no doubts were left as to their connection to Mupa when they grew, quite quickly, into monstrous and violent trees. The final stage of their evolution, it was discovered, was a massive influx of power feeding off of the heart of the Tree of Reflections.

However, the Haggard Witch had figured out how to counteract Mupa's spells. The final growth of the Dark Forest to the surface of Koguryo was not complete, and thus the vile trees were vulnerable. Mupa's Dark Forest, comprised of fearsome tree-beasts like the Okunamu, Sonamu, Nurumnamu, and Ponnamu, was not yet fully developed, and the valiant heroes of the community moved in, axes and swords drawn, to cut the vile growth down and collect the remnants that would be vital to restoring the Tree of Reflections. With help of the potion the Haggard Witch had devised, Mupa's spell over the Triiofa was also broken, freeing the sentries of the real forest. Soon the mighty Beol, strongest of the evil trees, had fallen and shattered.

Not long after the decimation of the evil forest, furious dialogue echoed through the streets of Koguryo. Yieta turned on her mistress, Mupa, boasting of her own potential, and attempted to flee her former teacher.

For a day it seemed that Yieta might very well have evaded Mupa's wrath. However, just when Yieta thought she had escaped, Mupa cornered her. Incensed by Yieta's treachery and burned by her incompetence, Mupa promised Yieta the merciful gift of eternal life - then turned the wretched painter into a tree near the East Gate of Koguryo, creeping along a ledge on a hill.

Mupa Flees Again

Satisfied by her victory against Yieta, Mupa turned her attention to the stunned spectators and townspeople of Koguryo. A bloodbath seemed inevitable... until the Haggard Witch sailed in, repelling Mupa's spells with a beacon of light. The Haggard Witch easily bested the foul sorceress, as Mupa had poured her energy into the Dark Forest which was no more; the final blow to Yieta had drained what little power Mupa had remaining. Knowing she was, at least at the moment, outmatched and vulnerable, Mupa retreated to bide her time and let her power grow anew.

With Mupa gone, the Haggard Witch used the potion the community had helped her brew, and planted the Heart of Reflections back into the ground to revive the Tree of Reflections! As a final display of her magic, she then waved her staff once more, and the fallen trees of the Kingdoms of the Winds began to sprout and grow once more, at an amazing speed. She then departed, eager to resume her mushroom-hunting activities.

The Triiofa also returned to the again-lush forests of the world, to quietly hide in the shadows and ensure the safety and health of the forest. And somewhere, Mupa silently builds her strength anew, so she might again seek revenge on those who have defied her.

And, in the moonlit night, not far from the slender Tree of Reflections which reaches for its former glory, the bizarre contortions of another, less pleasant tree twist within the crags of a cliff, as that which was once Yieta lives out its days in suspended agony.