The State of the Empire, Week 7

An Account of Divine Empress’ Subjects’ Activities during this Time of War

 

by Shawn Carman

 

The Third Week of the Month of the Hare, year 1172

My Empress,

This week has seen a sudden shift in the activities of your most loyal subjects, one predicated by a threat of enormous magnitude that arose completely without warning. Had it not been for the swift intervention of several of your clans, it is possible that the Empire might not have survived to resist the Destroyers’ seemingly inexorable advance.

The situation began with a dire warning delivered by the Master of Air, Isawa Mitsuko, to the commanders of the southern front. The previous incident of a spirit portal, which you will recall I discussed in a previous missive, was a symptom of a greater ill plaguing the Empire. For all that an unexpected portal to Toshigoku could ravage the landscape, the mindless violence that the Realm of Slaughter would visit upon your people might well be nothing compared to the cunning, malevolent intent of the Realm of the Hungry Dead.

It seems that after the closure of the previous portal, Mitsuko’s force of Inquisitors remained in the area communing with the spirits in an attempt to determine if there was further threat. They then collaborated with the Scorpion among the Yogo family about various matters that I am sure were both arcane and esoteric. The conclusions derived from this collaboration apparently alarmed the Master of Air sufficiently that she proceeded directly to meet with your generals Akodo Shigetoshi, Hida Benjiro, and Utaku Yu-Pan. Her information must have been extremely compelling to convince those celebrated lords to part with even a portion of the forces at their command, for as you are well aware, the war against the Destroyers goes poorly.

At the direction of Mitsuko and her Inquisitors, a joint force including the cavalry of the Ikoma Wardens, the magistrates among Lady Doji’s Eyes, and the keen perception of the Shinjo Scouts, traveled to the location that the Phoenix anticipated the portal was preparing to open. It was their hope to secure the location and enact a ritual that would prevent the event from taking place. Unfortunately, while the Phoenix were extremely accurate in their assessment of the situation and the location involved, their timing was inaccurate; the portal had already opened by the time the forces arrived.

I do not have to tell you, Divine One, that the spirits which occupy Gaki-do are of the most terrible sort. In some ways, I find them even more horrible than the oni of Jigoku, for while an oni commits evil simply by its very nature, the creatures of Gaki-do were, in many cases, once human. That a samurai could be so compelled to return to murder and feed upon his comrades is a thing more terrible than I wish to dwell upon. Sufficed to say that the thought of more than a legion of these spirits spilling forth onto the plains of Rokugan, hungry for the lifeblood of the living, gives me tremendous pause. The herald who provided the firsthand account assures me that it is a sight he will remember until the day of his death. I have spoke with the young man, and I believe in this he is quite correct.

The portal opened near a village, where the good people who serve you had the terrible misfortune of being the only prey in the gaki’s immediate vicinity. Many samurai lost their lives attempting to prevent your village from being overrun by the gaki, and perhaps to little avail. The Inquisitors augmented the abilities of their brothers-in-arms among the Crane, Lion, and Unicorn, enough so that they could face the gaki in battle, but it was a difficult process. Many of the Inquisitors were engrossed in attempting to seal the portal while the bushi held the spirits at bay. At last it was determined that the portal cold not be sealed until something crossed over into the spirit realm; why this is, is a matter beyond my understanding, I fear. From what I am told, a Unicorn samurai attached to the Shinjo Scouts, a man named Moto Kang, personally drove a number of fleeing peasants into the portal in order to make its closure possible. I am certain that these men would have, if given the chance, willingly sacrificed themselves in order to save their families and their village. I am unsure if they choice was theirs, however. Ultimately that is of little consequence. The important matter is that the portal was indeed closed, albeit at tremendous cost.

News of this occurrence is not all that I must speak to you of, I fear. In a previous report I made mention of the Son of Fire and the tremendous Wyrm upon which he rides. This diabolical pairing is apparently nearly an army until themselves, and one that is a grave concern for the defenders in the north. A recent push by the Son of Fire has moved the front southward as the Empire’s defenders have had no choice but to fall back before him or be destroyed and leave an opening in the northern defenses. What happened next is somewhat indistinct, but from what I am able to determine based on multiple accounts, a force of Crab and warrior monks arrived from a side pass and attacked the Wyrm, providing opportunity for the Dragon and Phoenix defenders to withdraw. It seems that a force of Crab headed by Hida Sozen and the Amoro’s Legion were approached by sohei monks from a sect called the Order of Venom, a group some have claimed has been excommunicated from the Brotherhood. Regardless, the leader of the order apparently managed to convince Sozen of the threat in the north, and Sozen agreed (reluctantly, I am told) to allow the sohei to guide them through the mountains to reach the battle. It seems that the monks are suspiciously familiar with navigating the mountains. Had they not lent their assistance, however, it is likely that the Wyrm would have wrought untold destruction in the north. With the assistance of the Crab and the monks, the battle was held to a standstill. I am yet awaiting a new report, which is now overdue, and I fear the outcome of the battle.  The last word I have was that the herald attached to the Crab, a particularly brash young woman, I fear, convinced a warrior of the Crab clan, one Hida Kaoru, that the monks were not what they appeared, and sought to discover the truth of their origins. The two confronted one of the monks’ attendants, a madman named Udo, and believe that they have discovered evidence that the monks are among the ranks of the so-called Spider Clan. What the outcome of this discovery may be, I do not yet know. I hope to hear soon.

Beyond these two significant events, the battles proceed as they have. That this level of death and destruction across the Empire might become commonplace, that we might become jaded to such calamity, is a grave concern of mine, for what would such mean for the well-being of your people? Another instance of an oni erupting from the southern ranks and breaking free to the northern regions took place this past week. I must believe that these occurrences are engineered by the Destroyers in order to sow as much discord and chaos as possible. They cost the enemy nothing, after all, and by their nature require forces to be diverted from the front to deal with the issue. On this occasion it was the paired prowess of the Mirumoto Elite Guard and Mukami’s Legion who halted the beasts, two dozen strong creatures, each the size of a villager’s home, rampaged along the plains until they were brought down. As a herd, they could not easily be deterred. I am told that a monk of unparalleled athleticism, Togashi Nakaharu, leapt among them like a bird flitting from one perch to the next, which caused them to lash out at one another in an attempt to strike the monk down. With their progress halted and the beasts confused, one of the Mantis shugenja, Moshi Takako, unleashed a storm’s fury in their midst, scattering them and making them much easier prey for the Dragon and Mantis forces to pick off one at a time.

Finally, Empress, it is my great relief to end this message with a bit of good news. After weeks of relentless effort and labor, it seems that the effects of the plague in the Scorpion lands, at least, have begun to abate somewhat. This reprieve is no doubt the result of the unimaginable efforts put forth by the Clan of Secrets to ruthlessly crush any and all outbreaks they can find. Even this week, the Bayushi Elite Guard once again placed themselves in harm’s way in order to eradicate a threat of contamination. The losses among the Scorpion units have been substantial, but their work appears to be having the desired effect, and for that we should all commend them for their sacrifice. I know that I, for one, will never again look on the sons of Bayushi with disdain, for during this difficult time they have earned my respect and admiration one hundred times over.

Ever your servant,

Miya Shoin

Imperial Herald