Crab | Crane | Dragon | Lion | Monks | Phoenix | Naga | Scorpion | Shadowlands | Toturi | Unicorn | Yoritomo |
Other Clan Letters: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11
Glory to the legions!
Our efforts have succeeded beyond our wildest dreams! The Citadel of the Hiruma is at last firmly in the hands of the Crab, and the Lion stand beside us in victory. Now the Horde has been driven from the field, scattered like a foul mist. The armies of the Lion stand on the wall, side by side with our warriors, comrades-at-arms.
Yet there is something strange going on in the ranks of the Horde, a hesitancy or weakness greater than any since the day the Dark One fell. The undead Moto ride their freakish beasts on the hills of the Kuni Wastes, turning away from our armies as though afraid to come to battle. Perhaps they fear our combined might. More likely there is something darker in the Shadowlands, gathering them beyond our sight.
The drums call to us. Soon we will march under blue and gold mon. The greatest army Rokugan has ever seen will drive into the Shadowlands and break the armies of the Fallen Kami forever. I have heard that they gather at the lost Troll City, determined to march north once their numbers have grown.
We must not fail. We have O-Ushi's spirit. We cannot fail. We have the Lion's battle-guile. We will not fail, not because of mortal humanity or destiny, but because the children of Kisada-sama stand once more at our side.
It is true, my doshi. We have heard his voice over the fields of the northern forests. The spirit of Hida Sukune walks once more beside us, breaking the silence to bring us joyful news. The armies will march north one final time to gather out true Champion. Not even death could separate the Master from his promise to the Emperor, and the spirit of his brother Sukune will lead him through Jigoku to our side.
Then, before our united strength, the Shadowlands will fall at last.
We march south at dawn.
We command with strength of mind, strength of body, strength of duty. We accept that no one else can do what we must.
We are the Crab. We are nothing else.
Hida Tsuru
Crab Horsemaster
My lords,
Danger threatens from all sides, and our division only weakens our ability to withstand the war. I send this letter to all the daimyos of the Crane, and I leave the destiny of our clan in your hands. For too long we have fought; for too long we have dared to call ourselves better than our path.
Our way is bushido. It is no other.
My sword stands for the Crane: all Crane, all samurai beneath Lady Doji's banner. We are the only clan who can claim a united blood. Save only the Asahina, we are descended from one Kami: the Lady, and the Lord Kakita who stood by her side. Would he be proud of our fall?
My Lord Uji, Champion Kuwanan-sama, I have met with the samurai of all of the families of our clan. Of then, the Crane who inhabit a small island to the northwest of Shiro no Doji speak the loudest, and their words hold the most reason: "There is no greater enemy to be destroyed, no greater threat, than our own pride." I ask that the armies of the Crane step past that pride and see our future. The courtiers are assemble to bring peace. It is our way.
We will meet on the fields we have bloodied, the four families of the Crane, and we will discuss the future. And when that is done, we will bury our feet in the earth, set aside the wrongs of the past, and unite to destroy this shadow. We will forge a new wakizashi from the shattered shards of the past, a weapon that will rise by our Champion's sword and bear the weight of all of the honor of the Crane.
It will stand in the great hall of the Kakita Academy, and it will remind us of the price of honor.
Two men, both ronin, passed through Kakita Palace on their way to the Shadowlands. They spoke of Jigoku, and of a darkness that destroys the very souls of the dead. Our ancestors, Uji, have been slaughtered by the hundreds.
That is why your grandfather no longer guides you.
I demand the right to lead an army of our own, unified with purpose and the wisdom of bushido, and fight the shadow that has gathered at the ancient Troll City. Our ancestors scream, destroyed by the nameless shadow. Our past is being erased; our honored dead remain in this world, unable to cross the river to peace. If we do not step forward and defend them, then the darkness that has captured Jigoku will spread and our Empire will be destroyed. I beg you both:
Fight by my side.
Kakita Kaiten
Hero of the Crane
Although she cannot hear us, I know that Hitomi would be proud.
We served with honor as she fought the Shadow before the others knew the danger it posed. We stood beside her, aiding her as she guided us forward into honor. Though some reviled our path, decried our Lady and our choice, we knew its worth. We stood firm.
Ours is a true honor, not dirtied by ignorant scorn nor swayed by those who cannot claim to understand.
Hitomi turned to me as she left for her final battle and gave me these words to pass to you: "Each path that is true is dangerous. If there is no one to bar your way, no challenge to overcome, then you know that the choice is honorless. To you who have stood beside me I owe more than my own life. I owe you the future." With that, she stepped into the heavens, and we turned to rebuild what had been lost.
A monk, one of Hoshi's, asked me what our struggle had gained, and I pointed to the dark heavens above. Where the moon does not shine and Onnotangu does not look down in scorn on his children's children, there we stand. And we are ready.
I know that Hitomi will challenge Onnotangu.
If she wins, it will be because we have given her strength.
If she is victorious and the Moon is destroyed, then Onnotangu's evil will be purged, and only his shadow will remain. Without the strength of a god, the Shadow can be defeated. It will have only two weapons to fight us -- Adorai and Shosuro. And we have captured a Thunder once before.
Before she climbed to the Refuge of the Three Sisters, Hitomi met with a woman I do not know. Her flesh was covered with tattoos like feathers, shimmering around her eyes and down her shoulders: the mark of Shinsei's crow. The Lady of the Dragons stepped forth and touched the woman's heart, then her belly. "Hoshi?" she asked, and there was no answer.
"His name will be Togashi," Hitomi smiled. I know not what she meant.
We are the New Way. We are the light of truth.
We are the vision of the future.
We will know she is returning when the Moon falls from the sky.
Mirumoto Uso
Captain,
Many enemies surround us, and only through courage and resolve can the
Lion survive. I know that you see darkness. I know that your heart seeks the truth of
bushido even as it is attacked by fear. Stand beside me, brother,
and we will fight as one. Remember Akodo One-Eye's wisdom, and fill your heart with steel.
Battles ravage our Empire as surely as the locusts destroy Crane fields. Our steel is
needed - no, our steel is begged.
In the halls of the Kitsu, Toju whispers into the darkness. He hisses warnings, claiming that the ancestors we revere have gone mad with pain. I see the truth in his eyes, behind the veil of pain. Prayers for guidance are answered with screams of annihilation.
Somewhere, in some shadowed place in the accursed south, their souls are dying.
My samurai speak of dreams, of unknown places covered in filth and darkness. They mutter of a bloody hand crushing our honored dead, drawing their life into nothingness. There is only one way we can fight these horrors: we must unite the Lion despite all that has transpired, and strike first against the thing that destroys our ancestors' souls.
Toju says there is one place upon this earth where Jigoku stands close beside our homeland. It is a place of shadow , a dark spot within the wastes of the Shadowlands. Already, Tsanuri has given orders that we will march beside Crab legions, aiming our spear directly into the heart of the evil. If we are going to save the souls of our ancestors, then we must join their fight. Whatever this thing is that silences the voices of the dead, we must crush it beneath our feet and drive it into darkness.
Watch for the ONI, who even now threaten our provinces to the north. They rampage and destroy with no guidance; their hatred consumes them. I am told that one among them bears Okura's name.
With our forces stretched so thinly here, I cannot issue detailed orders. You must seize the opportunities that present themselves and uphold the honor of the Lion Clan.I know I can trust you to make the right decisions.
Kitsu Motso
Rikugunshokan General
What is more fragile than peace?
We thought that peace would return once our struggle with the Dragon Clan ended. Once Hitomi had fled the field and the Dragon lands were freed, we though that we would go back to the New Tao and meditate upon its enlightened mysteries for the next thousand years.
We were wrong.
The temple on the flanks of the Mountain of the Seven Thunders, one of the greatest and most holy shrines of those who went to fight against Fu Leng, was sacked and burned this month past. Our fragile peace was crushed. Strangest of all, the brothers within fought to the death in defense of the temple, swords and naginata in their hands when they died. What could a simple temple have contained that bandits would want and monks would die to defend?
Most of all, who would dare to approach that place with hatred in their hearts, and who would steal the cloak that bore the Thunder Shosuro-sama's body to her pyre? It seems we are much changed in this age of man.
With the Emperor's accusations against Lady Osugi, the New Tao has fallen under suspicion. If the words we study are false, only one man can tell us the truth. We must go to Toturi I and find out what was truly said to Shinsei's heir. If he cannot remember Shinsei's words and give us the True Tao, I fear for the coming age. If he dies before he writes the truth, we are lost. Protect Toturi, brothers. Beseech him to return that which fate has stolen. Only with Toturi's word can we survive the next age. Remember this above all else: without the Tao, we are as nothing.
Perhaps this is why Toshimoko left. He spoke to me the night before he vanished over the cliffs of Otosan Uchi. He spoke of falsehoods too great to bear, and if the sacrifice of life for knowledge. Toshimoko, at last I understand. It was not the Emperor you were searching for.
Takao
Keeper of Fire
We sorrow and rejoice.
There is a new name in the soul of the People.
Search the Akasha yourself, and find the truth of it. The Shashakar brought the Child of the Pale, the greatest black pearl born in the belly of the ocean. He has stolen the lost remains of the bearer of the Bright Hand. With his dying breath, he who was Shashakar crushed the pearl, scattering it over the fallen body. With that and a prayer to the Bright Eye and the Pale, he gave his soul rest.
All mourn the Shashakar, he who will never return.
All hail the Yakamo, now reborn eternally from the Akasha. Feel his thoughts, for they are strange. With his kinship, his soul among ours, we are made whole. We can bring understanding to the humans, and we can know their ways as we know our own.
The Yakamo has told us of the Crab and of our assault on the Shadow in
the Mountains. We must return to the
Crab and finish what we have begun. We understand this, now. The Yakamo will show them why
we turned our
backs, and where the true Foul lies.
With the death of Shashakar, the Constrictor priests have gathered, searching for the path of stars. They took the Balash, rode his mind, and became one with his soul, and they have heard it anew. It whispered in the shadows of Morikage:"Goju." Now he calls himself Goju-Adorai. This name has echoed down through the dreams of the Naga. This one, this ancient Foul, has become the heart of the Shadow.
The Constrictors are certain he lives on, guiding the Shadow still. Will the Shosuro free and our failure in the Dragon Mountains, the Goju has the power to erase names and faces. With the strength of the dark South, he can destroy the past itself.Soon the past will have no memory.
Eshru
Jakla of the People
My cousins,
It is my hope that this message will reach you at Isawa Kyuden. Our runners report that
the palace is under siege, and though you bear the brunt of the Mantis attacks, there is
more news.
Shiba Tetsu's forces have dispersed into the forests and will ensure that the Mantis occupation will be a costly one. Shiba Gensui is rushing to bring our veteran forces to your side. They both believe that the Alliance's supply lines must run through a single secret port, or the Mantis could not land with such stealth. Only the Scorpion know such hidden paths. Only Bayushi traitors and murderers could have shown Yoritomo's people the way to bleed our lands dry. The souls of our clan lie dead in Scorpion hands, as surely as they stain Mantis blades.
We must cut those lines, or more Phoenix will die.
But with the news of the Scorpion's return comes even more hidden lore: Asako Togama has sent word on his search for the truth behind the "ninja myths." The Agasha turn their libraries over for our use, opening their hidden vaults toward discerning this threat. Our champion, Tsukune, sends word that she has seen one of these "creatures"; it was no being of flesh and bone, but one of blood and shadow.
Togama-san has spent much time in the Agasha libraries, uniting our wisdom with theirs. He claims the Scorpion Clan may have once had another house, a house that descended into shadow and was lost. These samurai, known as the Goju, erased nearly all records of their existence. Togama believes that the "ninja" are the descendents of these Goju, twisted by the presence of a Living Darkness into insanity.
And worse, Togama believes that the first of them -- the first Goju -- still lives.
The Unicorn have said much the same. Only crystal will harm them; only the light of the Sun herself can drive them away; they are creatures of Onnotangu himself.
Lastly, with my success in the Trials, the Elemental Council now has four masters. Naka Kuro is convinced we must find a Master of Water, and he speaks wearily. I fear the Great One will not live to see the summer return. None of our students shows the gift, but Kuro is certain that one will arise. Some suggest that when the siege lifts, Tsukune-sama should present herself to the council and confirm the Kami's oath. Despite the claims of the Shiba, only when the Council of Masters is restored and leading the clan will the Phoenix reclaim their lost glories.
Isawa Hochiu, Master of Fire
Yokuan,
You must abandon your mission. There are new matters of even greater
importance. Three great battles have been
fought on Rokugan's soul: one in Unicorn lands, one deep below the belt of the Kaiu Wall,
and the third on the plains of the Isawa Castle - plains that now run red with Phoenix
blood.
My son has betrayed me. Aramasu has revealed everything to Yoritomo: agents' names, secret routes, stolen records. Already our spies in the Islands of Spice and Silk have been purged. We cannot afford this distraction. He must be destroyed.
The Goju have revealed themselves. Their madness has taken root in the forests of Morikage. The other clans refuse to see the threat, so the Scorpion must do what we always have. Send Nishiko, and as many others as can be spared, to hunt wherever she finds them. Let the other clans see our strength and know that we have returned at the side of a Kami, the creator of our Empire. They will not dare to turn us aside, knowing that Shinjo stands with us.
One thing more. Now that Shosuro has been released from Togashi's
cunning trap, she will be free to come back to
us. When she does, she will seek to turn us to her Shadow, to claim each house, each name,
every memory.
If she succeeds, there will be no more Bayushi, no Shosuro, no Soshi or Yogo. We will become Nothing, as empty aswinter snow.
Trust that the Lady has a plan to end the Shadow's path as simply as a
short blade through the heart. We must be
prepared. The Lady will remind Bayushi's daughter where her true loyalties should lie.
It falls to you, Yokuan, to perform the impossible task:
Find Shosuro.
Bring her home.
Aramoro
I have seen her, and the Burning Words shine in the sky with the light of purpose!
We have defeated the Unicorn armies and soon will destroy the Crab who dare to march into our sacred lands! The time is now!
She has come, our general, bearing the fire of destiny. Our triumph is certain. Following the Bloodspeaker's word, she came forth on her tremendous grey steed, stepping into the pillar of fire with sword in hand.
I heard Shahai's voice whisper, as the other maiden paused, "For your mother's soul," she said and the Otaku nodded. She whispered once, then fell silent. Then, as it seemed she would turn back, she lifted her head again and stepped into the fire, calling her mother's name.
She has accepted the great destiny hidden in the Burning Words, the
unbeating heart of every true Moto warrior filled with pride. Let the Call go forth to all
of our Dark kin: the time has come when the Moto will be united once more, when the Clan
of the Unicorn will stand together and the Moto will find peace.
"A general will come, bloodied and torn, bearing an empty mon.
With this coming, the Shadowlands shall rise once more,
and even the Land of the Dead will fear our passing."
When the armies turned to go, Shahai's body lay bloodied at the foot of the Word's last flames. Even in anguish, the Bloodspeaker was laughing.
Kamoko does not eat; she does not sleep or pause. She is driven. Mortal bodies have their limits and I am concerned that our new general may grind herself to dust long before our war is done. Her eagerness for the battle quenches weariness, destroy's appetite. Soon the Taint will fill her with its strength, and she will never feel mortal weakness again. She will be a fine general to our people.
Our armies are gathered at Volturnum, awaiting her command. With the
closing of the Gate, Adorai has fulfilled his
promises. Each of the living Moto will join us the moment their hearts cease to beat, no
matter where they fall.
Let there be one Moto, the True Moto, forevermore.
Loyalty, here, is eternal.
Moto Sada
I thought I saw the Emperor today
Someone claimed he was mad, I think
That is not true! The gulls are screaming. We are all forgetting things. Why should he be different?
Not the Son of Heaven anymore. Are they gulls? They are not gulls. Ravens.
I can see the whole city, all of Otosan Uchi, from my window. That is not right. The city was once larger...was...
Is?
All of the world is like this--or is this all of the world?
Where are the streets I walked as a child? There is a man who speaks to the Emperor. The walls whisper. They move; the Shadows move. They call him Goju. I have a wife?
I grow weary of these shadows. I hear the Emperor scream. There are armies at the gates. Will my shadow grow tired of casting me?
The faces of the Imperial statues started to drift away...yesterday?
Last month? Running my hands over the Emperor's faces, I feel only smooth stone.
Which Hantei was this?
Where is my wife?
A man I can't see touched the stones. He whispered, "Grandfather?" Was he speaking to the stones? Where is the Hantei?
Sotorii. Sotorii's brother?
Did he have a brother? The Emperor had no other wives.
The concubines?
Hantei.
I can't remember his face.
We are--we are dying , from the inside out.
My kinsfolk,
There has been an awful battle. Many have fallen. Many more with they had. More undead rise around us - among us - by the day.
I was there, in the Shadowlands, when Kamoko-sama came. The legions of
the Fallen Moto split apart, allowing Kamoko to pass with sickening cheers and howls of
triumph. On the rotting bog before the gates of the Volturnum, a column of flame blackened
by dark words swirled. Riding beside Kamoko I saw Shahai, the traitor, and I saw the
soul of Kamoko's mother.
The battle-maiden went into the fire without a word, and the thousands of undead fell silent. In the flames, I could see as Kamoko whispered to herself, doubting her decision. Then she raised her head and faced death as proudly as Otaku herself. "Mother forgive me," she said, then no more. May the spirits of the ancestors, driven through Adorai's gate and torn apart by the Shadow, forgive us all. Kamoko may have dealt with the Bloodspeakers to save her mother's soul from the Shadow, but she has lost her own.
Even in defeat, she was a true Unicorn. When she emerged from the flames, Shahai smiled at her with poisonous glee. "If I must give my life for the Unicorn," Kamoko shouted, slicing open the traitor's belly with her mother's sword, "then so will you."
As the Bloodspeaker's life dripped out onto the marsh, the Motos' roaring began again, louder than before, christened by blood, dedicated with Kamoko's soul.
The Otaku have no daimyo now.
Even now the Fallen Moto march, Kamoko in their vanguard. Though Kamoko has not fallen to the Taint, how long can she stand the hunger? The weariness and thirst? Prepare yourselves for war, my people. The final struggle for the souls of the Moto has come, but I cannot be with you. Only I can defeat Yori before he open's Fu Leng's pit once more.I leave your destiny in the hands of our glorious Kami.
I will never see the Iuchi Plains again.
Iuchi Karasu
To the warriors of the Alliance,
Stand ready to march once more.
We have defeated the Phoenix, but we have not destroyed them. Order has been brought to the unaligned territories of the north. The Wasp hold Kyuden Asako; Kyuden Isawa will soon fall. The once-Phoenix lands now feed our armies. A few holdouts remain in Kyuden Isawa, but the Mantis have split those gates before.This time we leave them in ruins.
All will remember the courage of the Wasp daimyo, my loyal lieutenant. Tsuruchi-san gave his life for the Emperor's freedom. Clearly, Toturi I was a hostage to the Phoenix. The Crane, their allies, seek to command the Fox clan from our side. We need no more proof. These two degenerate clans will die to the last member. They have insulted our honor, dared to claim rights that are not theirs.
They have struck the first blow. Ours will be the last.
We recognize the efforts of the Scorpion Aramasu. Let all know that
Aramasu is my adopted son, a Scorpion no more. Let those who doubt know that his knowledge
guided us safely to the gates of Kyuden Isawa, where we
pierced the coastal patrols. Now he has placed the keys of the Isawa stronghold in my
hand.
Aramasu's agents have tricks that will keep the Scorpion far too preoccupied to trouble us. Their strength is now the Alliance's strength. Already they have tried to disrupt the lawful peace we have brought to these empty provinces. We will not tolerate their treacherous ways or hear their deceitful promises.
The Emperor is weak. The Empire is crumbling.
Shinjo herself has commanded that I come before her bearing the mon of our clan. The time is near; the Throne is all but empty.
Who knows what the Kami will ask of us?
Yoritomo
Champion of the Mantis Clan
Thanks to Charles Pierson (http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Dungeon/6999/l5rmain.htm) and all the other clan archivists for posting their letters for all to read.