~ The Year 759 ~


Month of the Hare, 759: Chaos engulfs the Empire as a result of the Steel Chrysanthemum's murder of the Emperor and the uprising of his Toshigoku spirits. The largest concentration of slaughter spirits is camped outside of Morikage Toshi, and the at the Steel Chrysanthemum's command, they rise up and move through the city and castle, murdering everyone they find. The members of the court flee as best they can, many of them traveling westward to Toshi no Omoidoso as the spirit army of the Steel Chrysanthemum follows close on their heels.

The defenders of Toshi no Omoidoso find themselves overwhelmed by refugees forced forward by the Steel Chrysanthemum in an attempt to overwhelm the city's housing and food stores. Realizing his plan, Shimizu Kendo orders the gates closed, trapping thousands of refugees outside the city walls. The southern pass leading south to Otosan Uchi is collapsed by the city's residents, cutting off the short route to the capital and forcing the Steel Chrysanthemum to find an alternate route.

Hoping for some means to slow the advancing spirits, Isawa Miwako casts her own soul into the Dragonlands, where she meets with the Rain Dragon, an aspect of the Water Dragon. She pleads with the dragon to intervene, accepting the cost that it warns will come with its assistance. She awakens to find a powerful thunderstorm breaking over the area, flooding fields and buoying the water kami. Unfortunately, the week-long rainstorm comes at the cost of Miwako's heightened connection to those same water kami, making their voices quieter in her ears.

Realizing that the nearby port is still open, Doji Suiminko, the Imperial Advisor, secretly hypnotizes a number of ronin bushi and sends them south to sabotage the ships docked in the nearby port. When Toshi no Omoidoso's refugees are led to the port in the hopes of escaping via boat, they find the ships scuttled and many of the buildings smoking from internal fires. The samurai leading the refugees blame the Steel Chrysanthemum for the port's destruction and turn westward, leading the refugees to Nikesake.

The forces of the Steel Chrysanthemum follow suit, passing around the barricaded Toshi no Omoidoso as they travel westward. Though his general, Matsu Kassenko, suggests that they move around Nikesake in order to reach Otosan Uchi before the Imperial Legions can mobilize, the Steel Chrysanthemum is incensed to learn that Nikesake - which he had ordered burned to the ground centuries earlier - had been rebuilt. He demands that they lay siege to the city, wasting nearly a week unsuccessfully trying to capture the city.

A small group of samurai led by the Kitsu Izumi succeed in slipping away from the city and traveling to Kyuden Asako, where they fight past an army of disembodied spirits to reach the Toshigo Portal at its center. Akodo Kinuko sacrifices herself holding off the spirits, buying time for Izumi to close the portal once and for all. The Mirror of Sorrows is sucked into the closing portal, as are Seppun Chiyo and Ikoma Homura, leaving only Matsu Tani and Bayushi Setsuna to carry the unconscious daimyo back to Nikesake.

Kassenko eventually succeeds in convincing the Steel Chrysanthemum to move on, but the delay has cost them greatly. The Imperial Legion meets the Steel Chrysanthemum's army just west of the Emerald Champion's castle. The ensuing battle is devastating for both sides, and in the chaos, the Steel Chrysanthemum escapes with a small group of retainers, still set upon reaching Otosan Uchi. The spirit army flounders in his absence, and though Matsu Kassenko is able to hold much of them together in a coherent fighting force, the Imperial Legions eventually achieve victory. Kassenko is killed, and the remaining spirits scatter, their morale broken. The Ikoma declare it to be the War of Returned Spirits.

The Imperial Legion manages to rescue a number of prisoners from the ranks of Kassenko's forces, including Matsu Tani, daughter of the former Matsu daimyo, and Bayushi Yuuto, the Scorpion Champion. Yuuto in particular is in poor shape, having been repeatedly tortured by the Steel Chrysanthemum for information on the Lion, the Imperial Legions, and the Empress.

The Steel Chrysanthemum arrives in West Hub Village and travels to the capital via a secret underground passage, intending to retrieve the Ancestral Sword of the Hantei along the way. He is hampered by Seppun guards, and though his retainers defeat the Imperials, Seppun Horonigai escapes with the Ancestral Sword. Annoyed, the Steel Chrysanthemum continues onward to the palace, where Imperials sympathetic to his cause lead him to the room of the Imperial Heir, just moments before the Empress arrives.

The Steel Chrysanthemum demands that she abdicate the throne and acknowledge him as rightful Emperor of Rokugan, lest he execute the heir and end her claim to the throne. To his surprise, Hantei Tokiyo draws her sword and cuts the former Emperor in half, letting him fall to the ground with her child in his grasp. The Imperial Heir is safely recovered from the dead Hantei's arms, and Tokiyo orders the Seppun to execute those who helped him reach the palace.

Meanwhile, Miya messengers carry proclamations across the Empire from Seppun Kato. The messages contain words of mourning for his brother, condemnations against the Steel Chrysanthemum, and accusations that the Empress's child - the supposed Imperial Heir - is the son of a Lion samurai, not the Emperor.

Far to the west, oblivious to the chaos in the eastern Empire, the scattered samurai of the Unicorn Clan (many of them former Fox) break ground on a number of traditional castles, notably Shiro Shinjo, Shiro Ide, and Shiro Iuchi. The Unicorn from across the sands complain about permanent structures, claiming that their yurts and tents work just fine, but the former Fox samurai simply ignore their complaints and push forward, desperate for some degree of normalcy in their new, terrible lives.



Month of the Dragon, 759: After learning that the Daidoji daimyo was speaking openly of supporting the Steel Chrysanthemum, the Empress formally strips the entire Daidoji family of their name and decrees that the all of its members be cast out from the Crane. Doji Suiminko, the Imperial Advisor, cautions against such a brash move and is stripped of her position. A day later, the Empress similarly strips Ichiro Wattana of her position of Imperial Chancellor and replaces her with Ikoma Sozoshi. Though initially intending to name a Lion to the position of Imperial Advisor, the Empress accepts Sozoshi's advice and gives the position to Yogo Sukima, younger sister of the Emperor and the Empress' sister-in-law, in the hopes of solidifying both Scorpion and Otomo support behind her regime.

After Sukima informs the Empress of the proclamations sent out by Seppun Kato claiming that the the heir is illegitimate, the Empress decrees him to be an enemy of the throne and sends a group of Emerald Magistrates to Ryoko Owari to place him under arrest.

Meanwhile, Seppun Kato and Bayushi Rumiko are married in a rushed ceremony in Ryoko Owari. Their marriage is small but well-attended by various courtiers who chose to remain in Ryoko Owari for the spring, and at its conclusion, Seppun Kato joins the family of his bride and becomes Bayushi Kato.

Further to the north, the thawing snow and ice clears the mountain passes, unleashing a horde of Yobanjin barbarians upon the lands of the Phoenix, Dragon, and Badger. The Badger manage to force the Yobanjin back after a great deal of hard fighting, but the Dragon and Phoenix are overwhelmed and lose ground to the barbarians.

The lands of the Lion are similarly overwhelmed with battle as the scattered remnants of the Steel Chrysanthemum's army rampage across the countryside, cutting down everyone and everything in their path, heimin, samurai, and wild animal alike. The Lion military hunts down the enraged slaughter spirits with the assistance of various Clan samurai who helped defend their holdings at Toshi no Omoidoso and Nikesake, but as the battles drag on, the surviving spirits seem to develop a more tactical approach to combat at Toshigoku's influence over them slowly dissipates.

During one particular battle, a Dragon samurai, Togashi Tsukimi, loses her arm to a spirit's blade. The disfigurement comes as little surprise to Tsukimi, who had received a prosthetic arm from her Champion just a month earlier. The jade hand fuses to Tsukimi's left arm as soon as she touches it to the stump, leaving her with a faintly glowing (and fully functioning) hand of living jade.

At the end of the month, the Emerald Magistrates sent to arrest Seppun Kato return to Otosan Uchi with his wife, Bayushi Rumiko, who claims that she could not turn him over, on account of him traveling to Kyuden Bayushi to more fully immerse himself in the culture of his new Clan. The Empress is quite unhappy with her obstinate courtesy and claims of ignorance, but she decides that punishing the sister of the Scorpion Champion would only erode the already tenuous support of the Clan of Shadows. Rumiko is commanded to turn over her husband as soon as he makes himself known.

While in Otosan Uchi, Rumiko meets with Hida Kame, who had traveled north to fight the Steel Chrysanthemum, only to arrive after the fighting was finished. The two women speak privately about the state of the Empire and their dislike for the Empress and eventually come to a clandestine agreement. Rumiko returns to Toshi Ranbo, while Hida Kame gathers her bushi and takes a detour west toward Kyuden Bayushi as she returns home.



Month of the Serpent, 759: As the month begins, the Empress names Togashi Myo-en, a dedicated supporter of her rule and a hero of early battles against the Steel Chrysanthemum, the daimyo of the Crow Clan and tasks her with removing the influence of other spirits realms within Ningen-do. Shocked and overwhelmed by the appointment, Myo-en - now Karasu Myo-en - is quickly set upon by Otomo courtiers eager to help her set up her new Minor Clan.

Word of the Daidoji's fate reaches the Crane at roughly this time, sparking outrage and protests up and down the coast. Daidoji Hebiko is outraged to learn that the Empress has stripper her family of its name and refuses to swear fealty to another family. Instead, she casts aside her Clan and becomes a ronin, and over half of the Daidoji follow her into the life of a waveman, leaving the Crane's military crippled. Doji Etsuo meets with Hebiko as she and her new ronin order, the Talons, in an attempt to convince her to stay, but Hebiko claims that were she to remain among the Crane, her future actions would only shame the Clan she loves. Saddened but understanding, Etsuo steps aside and watches as a small army of ronin march out of Shiro Daidoji to seek revenge on the Empress.

The Yobanjin attacking the northern border of the Empire spill southward, led by a tattooed warlord. His elite troops ride large lizards that maneuver quickly across the rocky terrain, and some are marked with crude tattoos of flying lizards on their chests, which seemingly allow them to exhale blasts of searing flame. One of the older Mirumoto sensei fighting against the yobanjin manages to catch sight of the warlord and recognize him at Togashi Wasureta, a former monk who was most often seen at the side of Togashi Shutaro, the former Dragon Champion. How the monk ended up among the Yobanjin, or why he now leads them against his own people, is unknown.

As the last of the largest groups of slaughter spirits is broken by the Lion military, they split into smaller units to begin systematically searching the countryside to eliminate the smaller pockets of survivors. A few of these patrols encounter large, armored monsters resembling bipedal bulls, but they do not survive long enough to report such discoveries to their commanders.

In a bit of brighter news, the monk Kodoma returns to the lands of the Hare with a great many valuable scrolls given to him by the Phoenix. He donates them to the shrine of Reichin, Fortune of Heroes, allowing visitors - and the nearby Hare - to benefit from their wisdom.

The Crane receive a somewhat bittersweet victory in the mid-month as Kakita Megumi claims victory at the Topaz Championship, defeating all other competitors by a large margin. Though quite the skilled duelist, she eschews the typical offers at a position among the Emerald Magistrates in order to take a position as yojimbo to Doji Sakae, wife of the Crane Champion.

Near the end of the month, Hida Kame arrives at Kyuden Bayushi and requests and audience with Bayushi Yuuto. The Scorpion Champion is still recovering from the injuries he suffered at the hands of the Steel Chrysanthemum, but in the interest of keeping good relations with their southern neighbor, he meets with the Crab Champion. The meeting goes disastrously wrong, however, as Hida Kame takes offense to Yuuto's words and cuts him down in what the Crab call an "impromptu duel" and what the Scorpion call "cold blooded murder." The Crab wage a fighting retreat from Kyuden Bayushi, escaping before the castle's defenders can be placed on full alert.

As they realize what has happened, the Scorpion harry the retreating Crab, who retreat quickly to the south, staying one step ahead of the surprised and still-mobilizing Scorpion. Just as the Scorpion catch up with the Crab at the border between their Clans, a letter arrives from Bayushi Rumiko, who has assumed control of the Scorpion in the wake of her brother's death. Rumiko claims that her brother was killed in an "honorable duel" and chides the actions of her generals for attacking an "honored guest" in their home. As way of apology, the letter grants the Crab control of the southern portion of their lands, an apology that Hide Kame readily accepts. The Scorpion generals begrudgingly march their forces back to Kyuden Bayushi, grumbling about their new "Champion" the entire time.



Month of the Horse, 759: More missives from Bayushi Kato make their way across the Empire, casting her dissolution of the Daidoji as an act of unjustified vengeance against the Crane and demanding that she step down and appoint his older brother, Otomo Hiro, as regent. The Otomo - who grow more and more distant from the throne with each Lion samurai the Empress appoints to Imperial positions - attempt to suggest that it may be wise to take Hiro has her husband, thus cementing the validity of her claim and tying her back to the Imperial bloodline. After consulting with the Imperial Advisor, the Empress has Hiro taken from his room at the palace and beheaded in the streets alongside Daidoji Tetsuko, a particularly vocal supporter of the Steel Chrysanthemum who refused to give up her family name. The Empress then commands the weakened Imperial Legions to march into Scorpion lands to search for Kato.

The execution of Otomo Hiro is the final tipping point for the Crane, who begin to openly speak out against the Empress, against the wishes of their Champion. The loudest voices within Kyuden Doji are quickly silenced by Asahina Yuko, who butchers most of the protesting courtiers and their yojimbo, transforming the normally peaceful and serene court into a slaughterhouse. She is eventually arrested and scheduled to be executed, but one of the Empress's Lion agents delivers a pardon absolving her of any guilt in "defending the Empress from slander." In reaction to the pardon, Doji Etsuo arranges for Yuko to marry a Moto samurai and sends her westward to Unicorn lands, where she will presumably be less trouble.

The Yobanjin armies continue their southern push into the Empire, conquering a few nothern Phoenix villages, though the main thrust of their assault is focused on Dragon lands. To the surprise of the Dragon, the Yobanjin manage to reach Kyuden Togashi, prompting the tattooed monks within to descend from their monastery castle to battle against the barbarians and their riding lizards. Togashi Motaro watches the battle from an upper window but refuses to give orders or join in the fighting, forcing the confused monks to defend their home as best they can. After a few days of fighting, the gaijin are forced to retreat to more defensible positions.

The Yobanjin within Phoenix lands, meanwhile, are slowly pushed back by the Avalanche Guard and Legion of Stone. The Phoenix Champion, Shiba Esai, begrudingly leaves the battle and travels to Kyuden Isawa, where he meets Isawa Kunoku, a noted sage, in the hopes that she might know some weakness or motivation of the Yobanjin that they might exploit to claim victory. Kunoku agrees to assist him and returns to the front lines with Shiba Esai and a small procession of heimin carrying a small library's worth of scrolls and historical documents.

Another battle ensues at the Kitsu Tombs when large, heavily armored bull-monsters appear out of thin air and begin ripping apart the ancient tombs of the Lion's most revered ancestors. Nearly overwhelmed by their might, Kitsu Izumi uses her knowledge of Toshigoku to call upon the spirits of the Lion trapped in that realm, forming a legion of spirit soldiers that fight back against the Tsuno. In the aftermath, she begins teaching the new technique to her acolytes in the hopes of using the damned spirits of the Lion for some measure of good.

Meanwhile, the Naga known as the Hisilage quietly helps a few small groups of Naga travel to Sparrow lands to assist the Order of Harmonius Work. The snake people are a surprise to the Sparrow, who keep a wide distance from the seeming monsters and the monks that welcome them.

The month ends with the still-recovering Imperial Legion marching into Scorpion lands to search for Bayushi Kato. Rumiko, his wife and the Champion of the Scorpion, protests their presence and demands that they leave her lands. The Imperial Legion refuses and continues spreading out through Scorpion lands, breaking into the houses of samurai and heimin alike as they search for the Empress' brother-in-law. Rather than let them continue, Rumiko orders the Scorpion military to march against the Imperial Legions. The scattered Imperial Legions are caught off guard by the Scorpion, who launch multiple attacks on the same night and inflict heavy damage on the Legion.



Month of the Goat, 759: As word reaches the Empress of the Scorpion's resistance and the failure of the Imperial Legions, she orders the Lion to march south, reinforce the Legions, and find Bayushi Kato at any cost. Akodo Misaki travels to Otosan Uchi to protest the order, claiming that such an action will lead to chaos across the Empire, and is, in return, asked who the Empress can command after Misaki commits kanshi in protest. The Lion Champion stares at the Empress in equal parts surprise and anger, then bows and claims that she was merely offering her counsel, not refusing the order. She departs the capital with her fists balled in rage, pens a letter to Bayushi Rumiko warning her about the Empress' orders and the army of Lion samurai that she will soon be leading south against the Scorpion, pleading with her to turn over Kato before it is too late.

The Crab, meanwhile, push their planned march against the Shadowlands back another year in order to consolidate their newly acquired holdings in the north. The Crab march northward, informing the frustrated and tired peasantry that they are now their masters. As they begin to repair broken fortifications left over from the War of Crossed Pincers, they are approached by Imperial Legion forces demanding access to their lands so that they can search for Bayushi Kato. The Crab point out that the Empress' orders were to search Scorpion lands, and thus they have no right to search what are clearly Crab lands. While a few of these encounters end peacefully with their the Crab allowing a search or the Legion backing down, most erupt into violence as neither the Crab officers nor the Lion officers of the Legion are willing to back down.

Amidst the violence and conflict, Hida Kame receives a letter from Kuni Bakari, informing her in terms none too polite that he will be assuming control of the Kuni family, since she has neglected to appoint anyone competent to the position. The letter claims that she can march out to the Kuni Wastes to take his head if she has a problem with it, but warns her that she had damned well better have a replacement ready to go and standing by her side if she does so. Kame, for her part, is quite amused by the letter and officially recognizes his promotion.

The Crane Champion travels to Otosan Uchi and, after calling in some favors, manages to obtain an audience with the Empress. He reveals that, despite what her advisors have been telling her, her support among the Clans is tenuous at best. Though initially skeptical of such claims, both the Otomo and the Imperial Advisor confirm his assessment. After a great deal of debate and frustration, the Empress finally agrees to bow to tradition and agrees that the Imperial Heir will take a Crane wife when he comes to age. Doji Etsuo bows to her wisdom and sets about making preparations and plans for meetings with the parents of potential candidates, effectively giving the Crane access to the Imperial Court and a voice in the Empress' ear.

The Phoenix continue their fight against the Yobanjin, capturing as many as possible so that they can be turned over to Isawa Kunoku for interrogation and study. After weeks of work, she finally discovers that each of the Yobanjin have been tattooed with mystical designs. The most notable are the dragon tattoos that let their bearer breathe fire, but even the lowliest barbarian bears strange swirling designs that seem to hold some unknown power. At the request of the Shiba Champion, she calls upon the void, tracing the lines of power from one tattoo to the next, a network of power radiating out from a single figure that glowed like the sun on her mind. Straining against the strange magic, she attempts to sever the connect but instead ends up causing the Yobanjin warlord to suffer a massive stroke, sending him into a seizure as confusion ripples through the ranks of the Yobanjin. With a few rushed words of congratulations, Shiba Esai leaves the stunned Kunoku behind and leads the Avalanche Guard and Legion of Stone into a charge that all but obliterates the disorganized Yobanjin.

Further west in the lands of the Dragon, the Tattooed monks feel a wave of nausea and blinding headaches wash over them, but the effect in mild compared to the pain inflicted upon the enemy. Not understanding the reasoning behind the nausea but unwilling to let an opportunity be squandered, the Togashi and their unaffected Mirumoto brethren push forward, dealing heavy losses to the Yobanjin and slaying their twitching, incapacitated warlord. A number of the riding lizards are captured and turned over to the Agasha family, who are enthralled with the creatures and immediately begin trying to tame them.

In the aftermath of the war - which the Ikoma dub the "War of Barbarian's Folly," Shiba Esai asks Isawa Kunoku to assume the title of Master of the Void. Though she believes herself undeserving of the title, she realizes that the Phoenix need leadership in these increasingly unstable times and accepts the position. As she travels back to Kyuden Isawa, however, she finds that the spirit of Wasureta, the barbarian, is bound to her own through some strange quirk of the severance ritual. Wasureta is arguably just as upset about this situation as Kunoku herself, and her first act upon returning is to begin researching how to sever the connection and set Wasureta's spirit free.

The Phoenix have a smaller victory a bit later in the month as Isawa Hachi manages to clear away a portion of the collapsed path south of Nikesake. The path had been collapsed to deny the Steel Chrysanthemum access to the capital, and the Lion had simply assumed that it could not be reopened. They are quite surprised to learn of Hachi's progress, and soon he is bothered by numerous requests for him to take a Lion bride and marry into the Lion so that they might properly reward him for his great deeds.

The Crow Clan settles in its new home, taking up residence in the abandoned castle of the Fox Clan. With the portal to Toshigoku found within Kyuden Asako having been closed, the Crow set up their home around the next most stable portal in the Empire: the Chikushudo portal at the heart of the Kitsune Mori. Though their numbers are small, Karasu Myo-en, her Otomo advisors, and a handful of ronin who pledged themselves to her cause set up and begin restoring the buildings so that they might begin their great work.



Month of the Monkey, 759: The Lion march south to Scorpion lands to reinforce the Imperial Legions, only to find themselves engaged in a war with not only the Scorpion, but also the Crab, who have come to the defense of the Scorpion in a move that Akodo Misaki had not predicted. As the month progresses, the Lion find themselves losing more and more ground to the two Clans, and Akodo Misaki is noticeably torn between following the orders of the Empress and fully committing her forces to what she knows will be a war of attrition. Instead, she buys time for the Imperial Legions to reform and join her forces, then falls back to Beiden Pass... only to discover that the pass has been seized by an army of ronin that had somehow gone without being noticed up to that point.

Trapped between the forces of the former Daidoji one one end and the Scorpion and Crab on the other, Misaki orders her army to attack the ronin in Beiden Pass. The rear of her army is savaged by Scorpion and Crab alike, but the ronin fall back as she expected. What she did not expect was that they had trapped the pass and positioned archers overhead, turning it into a killing field. The Lion lose over eighty percent of their forces in a single day, and the wounded survivors that stumble out the northern end of Beiden Pass are in now shape to fight. A boulder falls on Misaki's leg during the chaotic retreat, and in order to save her life, her officers are forced to amputate it and drag her to safety as arrows rain down on them from above.

As the Dragon recover from the battle with the Yobanjin, Togashi Iko returns to Kyuden Togashi. She requests a meeting with Togashi Motaro, her hand darting to her blade as he comes within range, the product of the Kolat programming in her mind. Motaro stares at her, watching as she fights with herself, frozen a split-second away from cutting him in half. Eventually she manages to resist the all-consuming urge and collapses at Motaro's feet, exhausted and in tears. She confesses that she is a member of the Kolat and that she had been working against the Dragon, and that Doji Suiminko is one of the Masters of the conspiracy against the Empire. She talks for an hour, fighting against the mental blocks in her mind that cause her to be unable to recall the names of many of her fellow conspirators. When she finishes her confession, she looks up at Motaro, hoping for forgiveness. Instead, he grabs her by the throat, lifts her up, carries her outside, and throws her off the mountain, all without saying a word.

In the Imperial City, the Naga known as The Shakanar spends the better part of two weeks patiently waiting for an appointment with the Empress. His appointments are rescheduled time and again by the Otomo, but the Naga accepts each one with patience, never quite getting the hint. Eventually, the Otomo grant him an audience simply to get him out of the way. The Empress is initially distrusting toward the Shakanar, but his proposition for closer relations between the Empire and the Naga offers her a chance at a stable ally in the increasingly chaotic southern provinces, and she grants him the position of Naga Envoy, a wholy new position among her court.

In Phoenix lands, the Asako family begins the long process of trying to make Kyuden Asako livable once again. The influence of Toshigoku is fortunately less enduring than that of Jigoku, and the purification rituals of the priests is generally a success. As they begin recalling the Asako back to their home, however, the leaders of the family realize that many of the Henshin have simply disappeared, along with some of their personal scrolls. Though the Phoenix as a whole consider the matter strange, the elders of the Henshin meet privately to discuss what might be happening to the members of their order.

Much further south, Hiruma Kazuma grows increasingly frustrated that his plans for to destroy the Shadowlands have been delayed for a few hundred acres of farmland. The Bloodsword at his side whispers quietly in the back of his mind, stoking the flames of his hatred. When he visits the Hundred Eyes Tribe of Nezumi to inform them of the delay, they chitter their disappointment and claim that even Kazuma's powerful name cannot hold the various tribes together for very long. The lands they have been told to inhabit while waiting are light in food, and their warriors are growing restless.

As the Chieftan chitters on, Kazuma grows increasingly annoyed until he lashes out without thinking, cutting down the Cheftain in a single slash. Th eother Nezumi screech in surprise and call him a traitor and try to fight back. Kazuma defends himself and orders his troops to fight back, killing the entirety of the Hundred Eyes' leadership. Horrified at his actions, he travels to the tempory warrens of the Hundred Eyes, intending to tell them what he did and accept their punishment. The Bloodsword whispers in his mind as he travels, though, telling him that he will never has his revenge on the Shadowlands if he confesses to the rats. In the end, he tells the Hundred Eyes that the Chieftan and his cohorts were killed by a demonic assassin, riling up the Nezumi, who nominate him as honorary chieftain.



Month of the Rooster, 759: Hida Kame returns to Kyuden Bayushi to meet with the Scorpion Champion and celebrate their victory over the Lion. Rumiko thanks the Crab for their assistance in the battle, and Kame pressures her to provide resources to help the Crab with their upcoming march on the Shadowlands. Rumiko protests, only for Kame to remind her that she killed Yuuto at her request, and that would she reveal it, the Scorpion would quickly turn on her. Rumiko counters by reminding Kame that the Empire would learn she was a murderer if she did that, to which Kame replies by saying that she doesn't particularly care. Backed into an awkward position, Rumiko graciously offers to give the Crab the entirety of the Scorpion Clan's jade reserves for their upcoming march on the Shadowlands and agrees to let her firstborn child be trained by the Crab. Kame happily agrees and leaves Rumiko behind to hyperventilate in private.

A few days after the Crab depart, a new problem arises: namely, that many of the dead Lion samurai are not staying dead. The area around Beiden pass is infested with undead samurai, but rather than clean them out, Rumiko sends a small unit of bushi north to keep them from wandering south. So long as Beiden Pass is occupied by the undead, she wagers, the Empress will be unable to easily march any more armies south into Scorpion lands.

Meanwhile, Asako Tamaki draws upon years of research on the Mirror of Sorrow and Toshigoku and forges Gyakusatsu, an awakened blade with the ability to cut through the barrier between Ningen-do and Toshigoku. She travels to Kyuden Isawa and presents the blade to Isawa Kunoku, who is horrified that anyone would willingly craft such an item. She orders the blade locked within the vaults of the Isawa and orders Tamaki to cease the creation of any such nemurai in the future.

On the same day, a fire erupts in the Imperial Menagerie, resulting in the death of dozens of strange and exotic animals. The Imperial Peacock survives but is found plucked of all of his feathers, but the strangest casualties are the corpses of numerous tortoises found scattered throughout the burnt ruins, despite only a single tortoise having been housed within.

While speaking with some Otomo about potential spouses for the Imperial Heir, Doji Etsuo is ambushed by the Empress, who demands to know why the Lion Clan was attacked by Crane forces. Etsuo promises her that the Crane have not attacked the Lion and points toward his Clan's peacekeeping efforts in Nikesake as proof of his good intentions toward the Lion. The Empress claims that it was the Daidoji remnants that attacked, and Etsuo regrettably reminds her that he cannot be responsible for the actions of ronin that might have once been Crane. She glares at him in silence and then storms out, leaving Etsuo to excuse himself from the conversation, leaving his assistant to carry on without him.

Upon returning to Kyuden Doji, Etsuo arranges for a large amount of rice to be sent to the Scorpion in memory of Bayushi Yuuto and to please his wife. The rice is sent quietly, but with his full support... and with a concealed letter pledging to support Seppun Kato in his future activities.

Near the end of the month, a group of Seppun guards attempt to kidnap the Imperial Heir but are caught by a different group of Seppun. A swift battle ensues and the would-be kidnappers are killed. After a brief discussion, the bodies are quietly disposed of and the noised is attributed to "training maneuvers," ensuring that the Empress never learns just how close she came to losing her child to glassy-eyed usurpers.

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Credulous at best
Your desire to believe in
Angels in the hearts of men