The Name
Kuroryuu Genmu (黒龍幻霧)
| Character | Reading | Meaning | |-----------|---------|---------| | 黒 | kuro | Black | | 龍 | ryuu | Dragon | | 幻 | gen | Illusion / Phantom | | 霧 | mu | Fog / Mist |
The Black Dragon of Illusory Fog.
The name was born in ChatGPT conversations researching Japanese dragon mythology. Dozens of sessions exploring the Five Elemental Dragon Deities (五行, Gogyou), smoke-based powers, and the relationship between a ninja and an invisible companion. The name stuck because it captured everything: darkness, power, deception, mystery.
The Dragon in the Game
In Shadows and Shurikens, Kuroryuu is not just a companion. He is the stealth meter.
"This stealth meter is the dragon himself and his visibility status. He is only visible to you and invisible to all others — as long as his power permits."
Traditional stealth games use HUD elements — a flame icon, a light meter, an eye indicator. Shadows and Shurikens uses the dragon itself. When you're hidden, the dragon is calm and present. When you're detected, the dragon reacts. It's diegetic design: no pause menu, no HUD overlay, just the world telling you its state through the dragon.
And this dragon is a smoke dragon. No fire. Ever. His attacks, his abilities, his very body — all smoke. Niagara Fluids in Unreal Engine 5 render him as a living, shifting presence beside you.
The Seven Bosses
Kuroryuu is the last of his kind. His kin were wiped out by an ancient clan — the Kage Ryodan (Shadow Order) — who feared dragon magic. Each of the seven clan leaders holds a fragment of Kuroryuu's essence. Defeat a boss, recover a fragment, restore the dragon's power and memory.
"Each major boss holds a piece of the dragon's essence; killing them restores his power and memory."
This system emotionally reinforces the bond between player and dragon. You don't just level up. You heal your companion. You bring him back.
From Game to Platform
When it came time to name the AI orchestration platform, the choice was obvious. The dragon that had lived in design documents and ChatGPT conversations for years — the one whose visual identity was already painted across marketplace assets and game prototypes — became the name of the tool that orchestrates the agents building it all.
The Dragon Scribe PNGs from the FAB Marketplace? Same PNGs styling Kuroryuu's imperial theme in the desktop app:
themes/kuroryuu/backgrounds/dragon-header.png— 4-panel ink brush collagethemes/kuroryuu/backgrounds/dragon-parchment.png— Dual dragons on aged paperthemes/kuroryuu/backgrounds/shinobi-moon.png— Red moon silhouette
One dragon. One name. Across every product.
The Philosophy
"He's not just a sidekick or a summoned creature — he's the soul of the player, the physical embodiment of stealth, tension, and emotion."
That's what Kuroryuu is in the game. In the platform, he's something similar: the invisible presence orchestrating your agents, watching your teams, persisting your work. The dragon was always the plan.
Read the origin story or learn about the game itself.