Turn 15 Extended: Hours of Darkness, Hours of Light

[Michael]

Singular, so you have to identify which battle. That's the other end of the specturm, making it too powerful if it can impose a penalty on EVERY military action a Clan is taking in a turn.

Basically, you are pointing to an attacking army and saying "Go Home!", much like in the CCG. But here, the army can choose to ignore that decree for an honor loss.
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I like my coffee like I like my women. COVERED IN BEES! -Izzard

[Dr. Spank]

I agree with Joel. (shudder) I was under the impression that by holding the favor Mazumi could say the Lion will sit tight this turn, and that's what I did. I didn't say they couldn't attck the Phoenix, I didn't say they could attack a province, I said they can't attack anyone, anywhere, for any reason. This was my understanding. They could however defend themselves. Reading Michael's littel fiction Paul could argue that those 10 seppun intended to attack his 2000 samurai and fight them, but not take the povince.

Regardless the Lion are going to take Otomo, and take an honor hit. Paul welcome to the no honor club; population: everyone!

[Seppun Kuron]

For the first time in his life, the Great Khan feels trepidation before a battle.

He does not like it.

Even against the vast Shadowlands horde at Hiruma, he did not have the same sense of unease as he did now. His massive warhorse senses his feelings and twitches its head nervously. He does not fear for his life. No, even when not encased head-to-toe in the gaijin steel armor he wears, he would not have such a fear. He will meet death as he meets life, at a full charge, screaming at the top of his lungs.

But there are worse things than his death. Dishonor. Defeat. The deaths of his men. He looks out with paternal pride at the nearly one hundred thousand loyal and brave Unicorn warriors who had ridden into Mori province with him more than a month ago. They are spread in the broad double ring of the Circling Tiger formation, which maximizes their mobility and used their number to the greatest advantage.

Bolstered by the Dragon cavalry, he could not see the edge of his force.

But still, the trepidation. He has spoken with General Yama at length about the Gaijin. Especially about their supreme general, the one called Cardona. Of the dishonorable tricks and games that he played. But within Yama’s reports (and the Unicorn’s own intelligence) he had seen something more: a tactical mind. Perhaps not a mind on the level of Husaki, but one possessing a cunning unseen in Rokugan since the days of Bayushi Shoju.

Was he this Gaijin’s equal?

This battle was to be critical. Over the past hour he has been pelted by reports and missives. Yama’s offensive into Naka turned back by the Phoenix and a flank assault by the Gaijin. A freak brush fire occurring in the foothills to the northwest that had driven his army toward the coast. He honestly preferred this, as his cavalry lost much of their advantage in the rocky hills. But the coast meant the great Gaijin ships.

If the Unicorn and Dragon were driven from Mori, then the Gaijin’s hold on the northeastern provinces would be very difficult to break.

The great warhorns of the Unicorn howl from the eastern flank. One, two, three. With a roar, he spurs his horse forward; away from the sense of unease, away from the feelings uncertainty, into the fires of battle.

[Seppun Kuron]

“The Void is everywhere, and yet it is nowhere.

“It can be found in the silences between words, the space between breaths, the dark between the stars. It is within the iris of a newborn babe, the blackness in the center of a candle flame, and the white between the kanji on a scroll.

“To read the Void is to know the world, for in learning the shape of that which is not, you can in turn find the shape of that which is. To see the darkness is to find the light. To embrace the silence is to hear the truth. To experience the past is to know the future.”

Asoko Mazumi opened his eyes, and regards the three young shugenja who sit in rapt contemplation before him. He marvels again at how young they are, barely in their teens, fresh from their gempukku. But the constant warring that has plagued the Phoenix for more than a year has depleted the ranks of solider and Master alike.

But the shugenja have guided the Phoenix for thousands of years, since their Kami, Shiba, had deferred to Isawa’s leadership. War did not remove the need to train novices. It increased it.

He removes an orange silk cloth from a simple box of white beech.

“This hour’s lesson is over. Your task for today is to consider the box. Rather, to consider what was inside the box. Contemplate the void left by the departure of its contents, and divine the nature of used reside within it.”

Walking along the empty hallways, he wondered about his kinsman who were even now beginning a battle. The Gaijin, ever misunderstood by the other Clans, had come to fill a Void in Rokugan. They had their part to play in the tapestry that was unfolding, as did Anzai. The thought of her name left him unsettled. The harmonies that surrounded her future had become unstable. His certainty regarding her fate had begun to fracture.

Leavening them with this koan, he retires to his personal quarters within the small Naka tower that is now his home. The room itself is barren, containing only a sleeping palate and a tea set, refreshed every two hours by an unseen servant. Quietly, the young Phoenix Champion sits into a lotus position, and begins his own contemplation of the Void. Events in the south required his attention. And, depending on how Hideaki decided to play his hand, action.

[Seppun Kuron]

Shiro no Otomo is a sprawling city, growing out from the coastline like a web of jewels and lacquered wood. The Otomo have had millennia to suckle at the wealth of the Empire as it passed through their hands on the its way to Otosan Uchi, and then again when the Emperor ordered its expenditure for this or that purpose. In addition, the city is a lucrative trade hub, with several land and sea routes converging upon it. Its buildings are built of ornate wood, its roofs of sparkling tile, its streets of clean stone, its parks of exceptional beauty-

“It’s walls nearly non-existent,” says Kitsu Ryota in amazement, leading a team down one of the streets for the past hour. “Anyone could just stroll into this city. It’s nearly indefensible.”

“I guess those fat servants figured they have the Emperor’s shadow to hide in whenever they want,” replies Akodo Shichiro. The young man has his katana drawn, but he has been ordered to stay with the more experienced shugenja during the assault on the city.

Ryota’s brow furrows. “The Otomo have become weak. Not of body, but of mind and spirit. They seek power for power’s sake, money for money’s sake. They care nothing of honor and duty. If they did, then they wouldn’t be selling out the rest of the Empire to Mazumi for simpering complements and a few political favors.

A cry of alarm goes up from the forward scouts, one that quickly becomes a death gurgle as the men are expertly shot with arrows, each shaft finding a weak point in their armor. With a shout, Ryota orders his men into a tight defensive formation as six Emerald Legionaries round the corner, each drawing katana and wakazashi. Outnumbered more than 20 to 1, there were few Legion troops in the city, but Hideaki’s genius had forced them to break into small groups to try and stop the Lion’s advance.

“Hold!” cries Ryota to his men. Though he holds a scroll in his hand, he does not attack. “Noble defenders of the Empire,” he shouts. “I give you one chance to stand down. You do not fight to defend the Emperor or do his will. Kowtowing to petty bureaucrats is above honorable men such as you.”

“You know we cannot yield,” says their leader grimly.

“I would have been sorely disappointed if you did,” replies Ryota. He orders his unit forward, and magics crackle about him.

[Seppun Kuron]

“Come, mi amore, please!” pleads Luigi, casting furtive glances to the left and right to see if any of his guards saw him standing like a beggar outside his own command tent, minutes before battle.

“Stupdio!” snaps the voice from inside the tent, and he dodges to the left as a silver goblet comes flying out of the flap. He strangles the air in front of him, a gesture he has repeated several times over the past hour.

“Cara, cara, Ravenna, my love,” he continues. “You are my moon, my stars, my endless night. She was a candle to your bonfire, a lizard to your dragon, a snowflake to your blizzard! I was mad over loss of you! How many years? I was insane with grief, trapped in an agony of longing for the one perfect thing in my life. Without you, I was nothing, a wretched pig. In my madness, I sought to punish myself for the debased existence I lived without your radiant light to guide me. It was a vile act, a frenzy of masochistic abandon that drove me to it! I don’t even remember her name now, it is a whisper obliterated by the echoing symphony of your beauty!”

He looks at the tent hopefully, but there is no response. He scowls, and silently casts several obscene gestures at the tent and its inhabitant, until…

“Truly?” asks a soft voice.

Instantly, he returns to a pleading stance and expression. “Truly, my most exquisite darling!” His hand slides quickly into his vest, and comes up with a small vial that he sniffs. His eyes immediately begin to water as he puts it away. “I weep to see you so angry with me,” he sobs. “I am doomed if you do not help me. If you cannot tangle the webs and mind of the barbarian general, I stand no chance at defeating him!”

With a flourish, Ravenna Cardona steps from the tent. Her jet-black hair cascades over her shoulders. Her aristocratic features are beautiful, but cold. Her dark eyes narrow behind her black veil as she regards her husband.

“Very well,” she says. “Your tactics are cunning, dressing the workers and captured peasants as your finest warriors and using them as bait. But remember, only the powers of Sorte can guarantee success. I will tear at the tapestry of this ‘Tetsuko,’ and all of fate will conspire against him.”

Quickly, he kisses her gloved hand, mumbling praises. As she sweeps toward a waiting mount, Luigi calls his personal messenger over. “Tell Segundo the witch is finally ready,” he mutters. “Begin the attack as planned.”

[Seppun Kuron]

Otaku Tara grips the reins of her majestic warhorse tightly. She has been in minor skirmishes with western barbarians and small border disputes with the Dragon before the Collar, but this is by far the largest army of which she has ever been a part. The thundering hooves of the cavalry under her command seem to shake the heavens as they ride across the plain toward the Gaijin army charging out from the pass.

She grips the small statue of Kamaji, Forture of Messengers in her hand, and speaks her words clearly. “There are thousands of them. They come in a great mob, wearing the armor of those called the Muskateers, the black robes of the sorcerers, and the heavy armor of the Gaijin elite.”

“There is a lesser force attacking from the east as well,” echoes Tetsuko’s voice, emanating from the statue. Her Champion is staying at the center of the Unicorn and Dragon army, attempting to direct the massive force. “Wait. A mob? Describe their formation.”

She squints into the distance. “There isn’t one really. They are charging in one big mass.”

“It is a trick,” snaps Tetsuko. “It is what I expected. In all likelihood, the Gaijin have simply dressed peasants as their finest. Order your men to wheel about and return to face the eastern force.”

She does so, and to the clamor of warhorns, tens of thousands of Unicorn change direction in a single, well-coordinated move. Within a minute, she is riding hard to the east, ignoring the Gaijin’s trick.

After several minutes, Tetsuko’s voice again comes to her through the magic fetish. “Quickly! Return to your original course!”

“My Lord?” she says, confused.

“They expect us to assume trickery. Hence, they trickery itself will be a falsehood. The main force is the western one. I see it now! Quickly!”

It is only due to the speed and training of the Unicorn and their Dragon allies that Tara is able to, once again, quickly redirect her force towards the enemy that is almost on top of them. But sure enough, after an outer band of men that are obvious imposters, comes the tightly controlled Gaijin formations. Tara’s force is surprised, but thanks to Tetsuko, they avoid being ambushed by a rear attack.

[Seppun Kuron]

The threads of fate twist through Nether, a great conflux of lives, futures, and destinies. She was briefly awed by the congruence she found here, but quickly regained her composure. Such tangles were common at major battles, with so many men and so much in doubt. Quickly, she had danced along the labyrinth of threads, tasting briefly of each as she sought her target: death, death, triumph, despair, cowardice.

Finally, she had found the one she sought. His thread was broad and strong. It had fought her as she had sunk her talons into it, twisting and warping. After an hour, she had a new respect for its owner.

Finally, she comes out of the Sorte haze, exhausted. Her husband stands beside her, issuing orders in a crisp voice. The sight of him wielding such power, in such control, makes her flush with heat. Quickly, she turns away, fanning herself. It is always a game of power with him, and he need not see this weakness.

So she does not see where the barbarians came from.

Suddenly, command unit is a cacophony of noise: the crack of muskets, the cries of horses, the shouts of her men and the roars of the barbarians. She looks around in time to see one, dressed in leather lined with purple fur, charging her on horseback with a spear. Quickly, she reaches out with the last of her power, and his horse stumbles. He tumbles as the animal goes down, shrieking, and she leaps forward to cut his throat with shaking hands.

Panting, she looks up to see most of the men scattered or fighting the few barbarians still remaining. But Luigi is facing one of their number, a female warrior who has climbed down from her horse. She appears to be issuing some sort of challenge.

She stumbles forward to help him, but he gestures her back. Body still weakened from the use of her power, she would be little help anyway. The Unicorn warrior has her hand on her blade. Calmly, Luigi removes his hat, cravat, and cufflinks. While this delay seems to infuriate the Unicorn, she waits.

He reaches up and unclips his cape, then spins it around him in a flourish as he removes it. As the cape falls he has a pistol in his hand, and the report echoes across the field. But the Unicorn woman is quick, already dodging to the left, and the shot goes wide. His sabre is in his hand soon after, but she has already lunged forward and her emerald-edged blade sinks into his left shoulder, hissing in the wound.

Ravenna gasps as Luigi bellows in pain, blood flowing down his left arm. Suddenly, that arm snaps up with incredible speed. Her eyes go wide has he strikes the Unicorn woman across the face, halting her attack in a spray of crimson, then slams into her chest, knocking her several feet through the air to collapse on the ground, her blade falling from her hands. Where did he get such strength?

But as Luigi leaps at the fallen Unicorn woman, her left hand pulls the smaller sword from its sheathe. Ravenna cries out as her husband is impaled in the stomach. She screams for her men as she runs to him. Luigi staggers back, blood soaking his tunic, and collapses in her arms.

“Caro! Caro!” she sobs, the games between them momentarily forgotten. He is pale, very pale, but his eyes flutter and he looks up at her. Suddenly, there are footmen all around them, and the barbarian woman is forced to leap back to her horse and retreat.

[Seppun Kuron]

Yama is tired.

He has spent the past five days in a nearly constant march, leading the more than thirty thousand Dragon footmen that had moved to invade Naka but then returning back when outflanked by a much larger force. Now, after a forced march back to the Unicorn lines, he and his men had but an hour of rest before the battle was joined.

He expected the Gaijin to use trickery, and they had, but it seems Tetsuko was able to avoid the worst possible outcome. The battle was still young, the great force of Gaijin, Phoenix, Dragon, and Unicorn in the initial collision of men and horses. South of his position, he heard the screeches and roars that indicated the infernal Gaijin cannon. They must be closer to the coast than he thought.

He hacks at another Gaijin warrior, shouting orders to his men. Beside him, Rekai sights along his bow and fires. A mounted Phoenix shugenja a hundred yards away falls from his horse, fire still twisting about his hands.

Tetsuko has ordered him to secure the hilltop, a strategic location in the vast plain of battle. His men have almost done so, slowly cordoning off its base, when an explosion of ice and wind rips a hole in their lines. Yama calls Rekai to him as a force of Gaijin and Phoenix pour through the hole, heading for the hilltop. In the force, he spots the Gaijin known as Cabo, and Isawa Yasukaza.

“Take the Phoenix,” he says to Rekai just before the forces clash on the hilltop. “The Gaijin is mine.”

Then the grand melee is upon him, and he turns his newly forged Jade Katana red with the blood of foreign invaders.

Segundo has also seen the value of this hilltop. Word has come to him that Luigi has fallen in battle, and he needs the vantage of that position to survey the field and plan his strategy. The Dragon fight nobly to defend it, their warriors skillful and loyal. Again, he finds himself admiring them. Then he turns, and finds himself facing General Yama.

Yama scowls, but without as much malice as he thought. He had hoped to find that snake, Cardona, and to grind him beneath his heel. This Gaijin did not generate the same level of animosity.

“I am not in chains this time,” he shouts over the din.

“I would not face you any other way,” says Segundo. He throws his pistol aside, and raises his rapier in a salute, then returns it to his sheathe, waiting.

Yama regards this display with narrowed eyes, expecting a trick, but finds nothing more than a warrior ready to duel.

“Very well,” replies Yama. “Let us finish this honorably.”

With that, Segundo’s slim blade snaps forward. Yama’s katana leaps from its resting place to swat it aside, and the battle is joined. The Gaijin is quick and skillful, his light blade darting in from multiple angles. Yama’s katana glitters crimson and emerald as it parries and strikes.

Segundo gasps but does not cry out as the point of the katana sinks deeply into his right shoulder. With a flourish and a burst of blood, Yama pulls it from the wound.

“You fight well,” says Segundo, through clenched teeth.

“As do you,” says Yama, raising his blade to finish the job.

But suddenly bullets begin to fly around him as the Gaijin rush to defend their leader, and Yama is forced to retreat.

[Seppun Kuron]

The final confrontation is a formality. His men have secured the city. After all, he brought almost half of Shiro no Otomo’s population in troops. The Emerald Legions had no chance. The final remnants of their force stand, one hundred strong, at the Square of the Gilded Lily in the center of town.

He could have simply swarmed them. He could have taken them down with what few ranged weapons his army possessed. He would not do them the dishonor of asking for their surrender.

So instead, he takes a two hundred of his finest samurai and leads them in an attack himself, the rest of his force remaining a respectful distance. To attack with the same number of men would also be an insult to these great warriors. It also wouldn’t be the most practical course of action, and Hideaki was nothing if not practical.

They fought to the last man, and in the end, Hideaki stands with only a dozen of his own troops remaining. Ignoring a wound to his side, he approaches the captive delegation of the Otomo leadership.

“This city and its province are now mine,” he says simply. “Whether it remains so depends on you and the Regent. You are to cease your trafficking in political favors and influence, effective immediately. You will not be holding Court, nor playing lapdog to the Phoenix champion any further.”

“The Regent will never stand for this,” snaps the eldest. “And Court will simply move to Otosan Uchi. We have more than enough members there.”

”This is a possibility,” says Hideaki mildly. “However, I think the Regent will halt the Court in Otosan Uchi, in exchange for the return of this province to his personal control. He too has concerns about Mazumi.”

“You have made a grave mistake here, Lion,” spits the Otomo. “This will not be forgotten. You will face judgment in the end!”

“Indeed I will,” replies Hideaki. “And I am ready to face it. You must ask yourself, if you continue to defy me,” he puts a hand to his sword, a gesture all the Otomo follow with wide eyes.

“Are you ready to face it yourselves?”

[Seppun Kuron]

Weak. Ignorant. Criminal. Close-minded.

Isawa Yasukaza has a scroll in one hand, a crimson blade in the other. They cannot escape him. Those who face him fall to his blade. Those who foolishly run fall to his magic. They cannot escape him, as they cannot escape judgment.

Coward. Thief. Adulterer. Weakling.

He can read the crimes on the face of each man he fights, their faces filled with fear as they confront what they have done, what they have hidden from everyone.

But not from him.

Braggart. Arrogant. Covetous. Violent.

He seeks the leaders of the Unicorn, to pass judgment on them for the greater crimes they have committed. He hungers for Tetsuko, and his blade longs to sing a dirge for the Unicorn Champion.

But Tetsuko must wait. Another accounting requires his attention.

Rekai fires arrow after arrow at the approaching Phoenix. But Yasukaza either cuts them from the air or they shatter against the film of ice that he wears. Rekai’s mouth goes dry as he sees the look in the Isawa’s eyes. It is empty, distant, and cruel; like a man about to step on an intruding insect.

Then the Phoenix is upon him. He raises his bow to defend himself, but the bloodied blade simply cuts it in half. Faster than Rekai can follow, Yasukaza sinks the blade into his chest.

“Traitor,” he hisses.

An agonizing void spreads from the blade, and Rekai is falling, falling into that darkness.

[Seppun Kuron]

Tetsuko leads the charge, and Morimoto is his shadow.

And he is glad.

He has never been comfortable with being in the spotlight. With being the one in charge, forced to give orders and take action. He has always sought to do the right thing (is that the same as the honorable thing, he wonders briefly), but he preferred to be the instrument, rather than the instigator.

Now, he follows his Champion, to protect him from harm, as they strike a blow against the Gaijin the likes of which has not been equaled. The reports came in: the foreigners’ leadership was in chaos, their generals out of the fight. Despite his poor tactical position, it was Tetsuko who was able to rally his men first, to coordinate a unified strike first. And now, the Unicorn and Dragon are wading into the mass of the invaders and their corrupt Phoenix allies like farmers in a rice field. Throughout the hour, they have been falling before the might of the Noble Clans.

The battle sings in his head and in his blood. His Khan roars like a dragon encased in steel. His own blade is a bolt of lighting in his hand.

And always, he is protecting Tetsuko.

Pikemen find their weapons shattered. Musketeers cannot find him with their muskets. Though he finds many men to be simply illusions in the initial rush, he is soon cutting the heads from marine and footman alike.

Through the haze and cacophony of battle, he hears a sound. Screams of frenzied rage move toward Tetsuko’s position, as men and horses go flying, knocked about by an approaching rider.

The Unicorn Champion wheels his horse around, and stares at the massive Crab, mounted on a stolen Unicorn steed, tetsubos in each hand. Ken is at the crest of his fury, almost an elemental force of destruction on the battlefield. He doesn’t see Tetsuko as the general of the opposing army, simply as another man to swat aside. The thundering of his heart fills his ears.

Suddenly there is a short man standing before his target. No matter. He will crush this insect as well! But in the space between the heartbeats, the man moves faster than even Ken can follow.

He doesn’t feel any pain. But everything seems to slow down. The horse screams, a deep bellowing noise, as a line of crimson appears around the base of its neck. “He cut of my horse’s head!” Ken thinks. “Impressive!” Then, he realizes that as the horse is falling, his legs remain in the saddle while his torso is continuing forward.

“The horse AND me?” he thinks, as the world drifts away.

“REALLY Impressive!”

[Seppun Kuron]

The Regent would like to think he is dreaming, but his is well aware that he is awake. He is also inclined to doubt this is a trick, since he is far from Otosan Uchi. Almost none know his current location, in a cave deep in Crane territory. He has faced a difficult challenge, and succeeded. His reward is slid within his obi, but even his excitement and finding that which has been lost has been dispelled by the image in front of him.

Otaku Mina hovers there, slightly transparent, her skin suffused with a golden glow. She looks directly at him as she delivers her message.

“Most Honorable Daidoji Hoto, Regent of the Empire and former Champion of the Crane. I come to you with grave tidings from the realms beyond Rokugan. Please, do not interrupt. I must be quick, for dark forces come to block my message.

“Know there is a realm where those who’s destiny’s are not fulfilled can fall. This realm is a place of power, a new land of the spirit forged in response to the obscenities of the Lying Darkness. It bears many resemblances to Rokugan, but its nature is affected by those who walk it.

“Know that your former Champion, Kakita Tanaka, is one of those. But know also that this is the place where Kyuden Hantei went. The Bloodspeakers moved the whole city to this realm, starting a cancer of taint and corruption that spreads across it. I, Yokuni, Tanaka, Katsuro, even Kitsu Barako and Isawa Murasame fight this corruption, for we know what lies in the heart of it.

“For you see, there is another who was here, quite possibly the first inhabitant. He was trapped in a void until the round sprung up around him. One who’s destiny was great and terrible, but was, in the end, thwarted by the Seven Thunders.

“Fu Leng is here. It is the Dark Brother who commands Ishak and his minions.

“I know not what terrible purpose he works towards, but I fear it has something to do with Oblivion’s gate. For as the Gate exists in Rokugan, so to does it exist in this Realm.

“You must convey my message to the clans. I have also spoken with Tetsuko. I know you and the Khan have not always been allies, but you must be now. I do not wish to see more samurai join us here.”

[Seppun Kuron]

“Pull the right flank and recall the raiders. They aren’t doing anything useful out there, they are driving a wedge through our center. Have the remaining marines lead the remaining grenadiers in a fighting retreat. Call the captains, have them converge here,” Duncan stabs at the map with his finger, frustration evident in his voice. Land battles are so different from those at sea. The last hour has been agony, trying to coordinate two very different forces across a battlefield several miles wide. Finally, he is finished with controlling the chaos left by the departures of his generals and the assault by the Dragon and the Unicorn.

Wishing that Andre was here to speed the process, he spurs his horse toward the rallying point. Though his glamour is nearly exhausted, he is still able to cast a half dozen copies of himself to draw fire, and the occasional arrow or blast of magic does ripple through his illusions.

Flying across the battlefield, he witnesses the carnage. He rides past the scorched and corpse-filled grove where more than half of the Phoenix were caught by the Unicorn scout cavalry. His allies had been able to ride away, but left a third of their number behind. He rides past the vale where the footmen got themselves bottlenecked between the Dragon and the Unicorn. The depression was choked with the dead and dying. Less than fifty had managed to escape.

He rides past other scenes, but he does not focus on them. No, he focuses on the great mass of his men gathering ahead. Summoning the last of his power, he casts the Baron’s Banner, fifty feet high, over the men. As a single entity, they roar and surge forward into the lines of the Unicorn and the Dragon.

The Dragon and Unicorn have little time to prepare, but call the remains of their elite and samurai to blunt the blow. Both the Murimoto Blademasters and the Otaku Battle Maidens have been devastated by cannon fire at the beginning of the battle, but the survivors stand with the samurai against the blades and bullets of the Gaijin, the hooves and fire of the Phoenix. The charge of Duncan’s men hesitates, hesitates, but finally breaks through.

Men and horses die. The battles with the Unicorn always seem worse, Duncan reflected as he swung his claymore, because the horses screamed so much louder than the men. The Dragon lose their elite and samurai, but their general sent wave after wave of peasants to slow the Gaijin. Though the ashigaru die by the thousands, they have their intended effect.

Gradually, the Gaijin and Phoenix’s counterattack is slowed, and then thrown back. Duncan has injured his foe, but not as critically as he hoped. The loss of Luigi has been crippling. Even now, the battle is moving away from the coast, the latest round of cannon fire falling short of the Unicorn’s rear guard.

This is no longer a conflict he is willing to waste limited resources on. The Unicorn would hold Mori. He calls for a fighting retreat.

[Seppun Kuron]

The shape of Ken’ichi waits patiently. When he is not concentrating, he seems featureless, a dark silhouette of malice and dread. Tendrils of darkness slowly extend and contract from his form, touching the shadows of the old gatehouse around him almost lovingly.

Even Iuchi Tonsu seems somewhat uneasy when in the same room with him. The Bloodspeaker has his guard up, a faint nimbus of green energy about his form. “Megwari better get here soon,” he thinks. “I may need the help in dealing with this...creature.”

“Do not worry, Tonsu” echoes Ken’ichi’s discordant double voice. “You still serve a purpose, and as such I have no interest in killing you.” A deliberate pause.

“Yet.”

“Megwari will be here soon,” Tonsu snaps, half to Ken’ichi, half to himself. “The Crab have not the ability to survive without trade. Their borders remain open. She will move quickly across the countryside.”

“She comes now,” Ken’ichi replies, gesturing behind Tonsu. The Bloodspeaker turns, and a crimson owl flies through the open window. It lands in a flurry of feathers, and with a flash of light and a burst of copper scent, Megwari is kneeling in its place. Standing, the short woman brushes her black hair from her eyes.

“Did you get it?” asks Tonsu eagerly.

She hesitates, and he scowls at the drama.

“Of course,” she says smugly, and withdraws a small yellow pyramid of jade from her robe. “The Earth Key.”

Tonsu reaches into a pouch and removes a light blue pyramid. “The Air Key.”

From nowhere, Ken’ichi’s form pulls a black pyramid. “The Void Key.”

Each pyramid begins to glow with colored light in the proximity of each other. Slowly, the three move toward each other, and finally, touch the Keys together.

A ripple, like a pebble being dropped into a pond, extends out from the point of contact. It flows over the three gathered in the abandoned gatehouse. It spreads across Shinomen province, out over the lands of the Scorpion and Crab, over the Lion and the Unicorn, over the Shadowlands, over all of Rokugan.

Suddenly, the three can see two others standing with them. Toyotomi looks up from his plate of fish with a start, and bellows in rage, his kama leaping to his hands. Hoto is sitting in meditation, and he stands, startled.

Tonsu hisses and blasts the Regent full in the face with sickly green lighting as Toyotomi slams both kama into Ken’ichi’s chest. Both attacks pass harmless through their targets.

“Fools,” says that which wears Ken’ichi. “These are but images of those who hold the Keys.”

In the mess tent in Shastakar, the Crab has scattered away from Toyotomi, who seems to having some sort of fit. He looks incredulously at the four people surrounding him, then at the guards who stare only at him with wide eyes. “Can’t you see them,” he asks?

“See what, Toyotomi-sama?” a sergeant asks.

“Nevermind,” the Mantis Champion replies, as a fourth figure appears in the middle of the circle.

All five of the Key holders look upon this new image with surprise. It is a wizened, ancient creature. Its grayish skin is thick and heavy, its limbs spindly, its eyes like agates. It wears an orate mantle of silver metal and golden stone. It looks at no one, but opens its mouth to speak.

“The time I have been told would occur has come. The Key has been put In Play. You who have done so, take heed:

“The trolls walked this land before the Sun and Moon. Volturnum was our city, a city built before time and death had any meaning. As there was no barrier between night and day, so was there no barrier between life and death. Two different states a breath apart. So easy to cross between there was hardly any notice. All was peace and harmony.

“But then came the Sun and the Moon. The shock of Time coming into the world was great, and threw us into confusion. When the heavens fought as the son struck at his Father, War entered the world. When the Kami fell, one fell into our city and into Death. But as he could not return, his death created a great rift in the Spirit Realms. Suddenly, that which was nothing became an insurmountable barrier.

“It was the End of our people, though we did not know it at the moment. Time, Death, and War suddenly existed. Each feeds on the other, and these three diseases ravaged us to the point of extinction. Towards the end, the greatest among use sought for a cure. Those who sought to undue Death created the Gate.

“Oblivion’s Gate was built upon the source of the barrier, the first true Death in this land. It was designed to swing open the portal that was separating more and more of us, to once again allow the passage between life and nonlife, returning the natural order of things.

“But then the sages who had sought to conquer Time came forward with horrifying news. They had succeeded partially. They had unlocked that which was called the future, and in it we saw that the Gate was the key to the power of a horrifying Nothing that sought to consume all things in all times, in life and in death.

“There were those who wanted to destroy the Gate, and those who wanted to keep it. War, the one disease we were unable to master, in the end mastered us.

“I could not destroy the Gate, for I thought that eventually, even after the Nothing, there might be a chance for Death to be conquered. Just once. Just at the right time. And so I broke the Key into five pieces and scattered them across the land.

“Know this. Now that the Key is In Play, you have but twelve cycles of the Moon to use it. Should it not be brought to Volturnum and the Gate by then, grave misfortune will fall upon all those who have had contact with its pieces.

“But fear not. Now that the Key is In Play, all you must do is concentrate upon one piece, and you will know the location and holders of the all the others. Gather it quickly. As the pieces come together, their power increases. Some of this power will suffuse its holder, as others who learn about the Key may seek to take it.

“Bring the Key to the Gate. It will empower it to allow one soul to cross back over to the land of the living. One, and only one. Use it wisely, children of the Sun and Moon, and know what the trolls have long down: that Death is but a doorway.”

With that, the strange creature fades from sight.

“This is exactly what Ishak predicted,” cackles Tonsu. “The Master will return!”

“You will never have the whole Key,” says Hoto in a calm voice. “I will destroy my piece.”

“What will you do,” echoes Ken’ichi. “Drop it in the deepest oceans? The highest volcano? We can follow it anywhere. You cannot defend it forever. Besides,” he continues. “Would you destroy the only way to restore the Emperor?”

“What?” snaps Toyotomi.

“Think, Mantis. The Emperor grows weaker each month, trapped in living death by the Phoenix. He cannot be cured, but he can be killed, released from his broken body. Once he is released, he goes to the lands of the dead. From the lands of the dead, he can be called back by the Key.

“Think on it.”