Upon the road to the Shadowlands - RP

[Isawa Mitsuru]

The lands of the Crab provide a large border, ecologically speaking, between the completely unwholesome and barren Shadowlands and the otherwise verdant aptly named Emerald Empire. Therefore, the areas such as the Kuni Wastes and the area surrounding the Kaiu Wall are less than welcoming to the traveler who has grown up surrounded by forests populated by towering trees and thick groves of bamboo.

Which is to say, me.

Our three-man company walked along a large dirt pathway that apparently qualified to the Crab as a “road” followed by the lumbering carts and wagons which made up Kuwarimu’s entire trade caravan. Personally, I had no idea why he felt compelled to bring his entire business venture on this supposedly secret mission to the Spider, but I had been entirely unable to convince him to leave it behind. I could only chalk it up to the eccentricities of a Gaijin.

Also in our motley party was the Spider who had identified himself as the Book Keeper, though on the subject of just which book he kept he was much less forthcoming. As a standard precaution he was in Jade dusted manacles that kept his hands not entirely useless but fairly restrained. There was about two feet of chain between the cuffs so that he would not have to be babied for the entire trip but so that he would be able to make little use of his hands in something like a fight or an escape. The most concerning thing to me was that much of the jade coating on the otherwise mundane manacles had worn off in our weeks of travel and I wondered if the holy cleansing effects of the green stone would last until we got to the City of the Lost. Of course once we were in the City we would have to remove the shackles to give our prisoner room to move about freely in his own home. This was another thought that gave me pause concerning the overall wisdom of this venture.

As for myself, I stayed wrapped in a thick haori that had been padded in shredded silk roving to try and stay warm in the biting wind of the Southern Empire. We had thus far on our journey encountered snow storms, biting icy rains along the coast, hail, and muddy roads through steep mountains pathways. Coming all the way from Kyuden Otomo in the middle of winter was perhaps also not the best part of this trip. My clothing had become so mangled by the journey that I now wore a dark blue kimono embroidered with little crabs and koi fish that I had been forced to purchase from a Yasuki vendor at what I was positive was an exorbitant price.

And so we trudged onward toward our final ungodly destination deep within the Realm of Fu Leng where we were to allegedly find one, Daigotsu Yoee, and charge him properly with the murder of a single Lion Samurai so many weeks before at the Winter Court of his Celestial Majesty, the Emperor.

((OOC: Is this a good start to our adventure? If you feel like any of the details are wrong, PM me and I'll be happy to change them. Otherwise let's just get the ball rolling.))

[Isawa Mitsuru]

I watched the sway of my kimono as we walked and noted the fierce looking crab motifs; armored creatures carelessly frolicking among the waves.

“Kuwarimu-san, do you know why the southernmost Clan is called the Crab?” I had begun several conversations in a similar manner. It had been my intent to help the gaijin better understand the land in which he found himself and so I had tried to work several classic stories or lessons into our casual talk. We had discussed the story of Lady Doji and the snowflake, Shiba’s deference to Isawa, and the story of the first Tournament between the kami.

“I do not know if you have ever seen a crab in the Burning Sands, but they are fierce little sea creatures. Although a crab is a fish it has a suit of armor to protect it from predators. This impenetrable defense is often covered in spines and a crab has a pair of great claws to grasp and crush his opponents.

“The Crab Clan is the same way. The form an immovable defense against the vile desecration of the Shadowlands.” And with this I made stern look at the Book Keeper who was, of course, a purposeful inhabitant of the aforementioned despicable country. “When we reach the wall you will see the armor of the empire in the form of the great Kaiu Wall. It is a great construction as only the crab can make and it is the base from which they attack the Shadowlands and everyday unfailingly perform their duty to the Empire.”

[quarim]

The thick cloth of Quarim's gaudy robe seemed untouched by the elements and seemed to be constantly playing his fingers over the various gems sown into the material.

We have crabs in the Burning Sands but they are quite different. They bury themselves in the sand and hide. They only have one claw they use to grab their unsuspecting prey. They are very similar to a scorpion but more cowardly.

It was strange to us when we heard about the Crab Clan. We originally thought them to all be cowards. We were quickly told to disregard that idea. If we were to call a Crab a coward we would regret it quickly.

Strange enough, no samurai seem to like to be called coward. While it is very much an insult to call a brave man a coward. Calling a coward a coward is not in the Burning Sands. My culture seems to like honesty. While yours seems to like illusions. I understand of course. Being a merchant I know how an illusion can often be more valuable than the item itself. And how ideas can make something of no value priceless. Is that not the very idea of currency itself. what value is gold compared to food? Is that what Bushido attempts to accomplish? Trying to turn simple men into legends to inspire more simple men.

[The Book Keeper]

It was nice to be back in the Shadowlands, hear was a place of true freedom; this is the home of the tainted, of the oni, goblins, undead and most of all this is the home of the Spider Clan, the Great Clan founded for the Kami Fu Leng.

Now the little birdie was trying to say that the crab where doing their duty to the empire, “yes what a great duty to the empire, they treat people who they do not know like trash, they betray the emperor and side with an upstart, they attack the crane and steal towns from them, and their doing a Great service to the empire.” The Keeper heard a lot of chuckles from some of the Gaijin nearby. “Now if you would like some truth of the matter Quarim, one of the things that little birdie is not telling you are what the Kami did to one of their own brothers instead of helping him, his siblings had intentionally allowed him to remain trapped in Jigoku after he had fallen from the Heavens. Then they decide to have a tournament to see what the pecking order in this land is going to be. Then each of the kami after the battle made a clan, yet the manties clan who have no backing of a Kami are made a great clan. The Spider are a clan despite what anyone else in this empire would like to say. For the very thing the clans pride them selfs on is the fact that thay wher based off the kami that that clan is named after. The only exeption to this rule is the spider clan. But instead of welcomeing the spider in to the empire,the spider clan is constantly beet down by the crab but what can you expect the Kami left one of ther own in Jigoku and not a single Kami tried to find and help him.”

The Keeper heard what Quarim said about the cowardly crab it brought a smile to his face. “Well the crab do hit behind a wall to attack so in many ways they are cowardly.”

The Keeper was wondering when the moment would be best to bring forth Enigorl

[Isawa Mitsuru]

I tossed my head back in superiority and looked down my nose at the prisoner bound in chains and forced to march half the length of the empire.

"Yes, let’s all accept the 'truth' from a Spider. Tell me, my noble and auspicious Lord Book Keeper what have the Spider done to prove their worth as a clan? The Seven Great Clans are descended from pure kami who were decidedly not corrupted by the claws of Jigoku. The Clans were formed so that mankind would have the protection of the gods themselves. And even Yoritomo himself proved himself a man of such virtue as to deserve not just a minor clan status, but the full glory of acceptance into the family of Great Clans.

"In contrast, the Shadowlands spent over one thousand years trying to do nothing but destroy the upstanding sacred lands of the Emerald Empire. They dappled in dark and profane magics and did not cease to attempt to corrupt the very souls of men. Tell me, where is your courage or duty? Where is your compassion and honesty? What have the spider done to prove themselves worthy of even the notice of those who uphold the principles of Bushido!?

"Let us speak of Honesty and illusions, Kuwarimu-san. We Rokugani value honesty as one of the principle virtues of Bushido. And I tell you with honesty right now that this decrepit and disgusting creature is the very reason for the duty of the Crab. Let us not speak of cowardice until we have spoken of the man who steals into the empire and murders in cold blood a noble lion samurai- a dutiful servant to his lord as the Celestial Order requires. How can you think that politeness in not calling a man a coward could ever compare to the deceit of the Spider and all minions of Fu Leng?"

((OOC: BK, we aren't quite in the Shadowlands yet. We are still in the southenr reaches of Crab Lands, very close to the Wall. I presume we will cross over the wall after this debate and then we'll be in the Shadowlands proper.))

[The Book Keeper]

“Upstanding lands are you kidding me, look at all the fighting, bloodshed, and wars you do in the name of honor. You call fu Leng corrupt then how is it he is the only kami with his divinity and the other where striped of theirs? You look down your nose at the spider, there’s not one single thing you have done to think you are better than us. Just look at your little Inquisitors, who butcher and murder who ever tells them to. How many women and children have been murdered due to misinformation but it’s ok because it’s for the good of the empire. The spider acutely care about the people, just look how many small villages where under attack from bandits and we had to step in and save them due to the petty clan squabbling, most of the spider have been attacking the upstart and his forces where ever they might pop up. And yet you stand there as if your word is any better than mine, I’m sorry but you can take your opinion and cram it sideways. Let’s be honest you just think that your better than everyone else when in fact your nothing more than a child trying to sit with the grownups. And you want to know why the Shadowlands wher trying to destoy the empire was because the empire is brokein, you belive that you are on the side of what’s right, well I hate to break it to you but your nothing more than a pawn. Every single person is born the same and we all bleed the same, yet you believe that your better then everyone.”

“And what do pray tell have you done for the empire, what have you done to help make it a better place. How have you made it honorable, I will tell you what nothing, you hold and cling to principle virtues of Bushido and believe you are doing the right thing. Even when you know in your heart you are not, if you where trying to do the right thing you would be joining us, you would be a person who is against people being oppressed, controlled and limited in what they can do. And you have the never to speak of Honesty, be honest with yourself and quit believing in some broken illusion. And on the case of a lion being murdered let’s be honest he betrayed the celestial order when he joined the upstart. Don’t act for a minute that the lion was pure. The lion is nothing more than a crab with a bigger mouth, both of them will betray you when it best suits them and nothing of honor is question on their behalves but me a spider I’m the un-honorable one. The lion where supposed to follow the emperor and stand by him, and do pray tell what did the lion do to Toshi Ranbo? Unlike you Fu Leng looks at all the people who understand him with respect not as minion now how do you get treated by your Kami so don’t speak to me about being a minion when you do everything your told like the puppet you are.”

(ooc. sorry if this is to mean.)

[Isawa Mitsuru]

I shoved my hand in my pack and drew forth one of my less used scrolls. I quickly let it unroll and formed a quick hand seal.

"Shugendo, Kazegami no Shinkan."

There was a sudden stillness of air immediately surrounding the Book Keeper as the kami stood in rapt attention. For the very short duration of my cantrip they would refuse to carry the Book Keeper’s very utterances from his mouth. I inhaled deeply and then let out a slightly wearied sigh.

"Before we continue," I said, trying to remain as calm as possible, "Let me see if I can crystallize what little logic you have. If I am hearing you correctly, your primary two points are, first, that Bushido is an inherently corrupt principle as it causes people to act as pawns under the control of someone else, and, second, that Fu Leng and his rule is just for his equal view of any human. Is this more or less correct?

"Before you answer consider that I am not really required to continue this line of reasoning with you and that we can have you easily gagged. This is something I will only do if the argument gets out of hand and becomes excessively heated.

"I am willing to discuss this…philosophical difference if we can stay civilized about it. I promise you that I shall do my very best to attempt to be polite and civil if you will do the same.

"Kai."

With a whoosh the kami around the Book Keeper relaxed and resumed their normal operations. I stood and respectfully awaited the prisoner’s response.

((OOC: No worries. I can differentiate between you and your character.))

[The Book Keeper]

The Keeper had the look in his eye of victory after the air kami let him speak again. “Who said I was being aggressive? If it came off that way I am sorry” and with this the keeper bows slightly to the little bird “Well lets discuses what two points you decide to inquire about. First is the concept of Bushido. The principles of Bushido emphasized honor, courage, & loyalty to a warrior's master above all else. The ideal samurai warrior was to be immune from the fear of death. Only the fear of dishonor, & loyalty to his daimyo, motivated the true samurai. And in this is where the problem lies Bushido does not take in to account the greed and corrupt nature of the Daimyos or their lords. Look at a lot of the clan leaders in the past. This whole war would not have gotten as big as it did if the clan’s leaders would have stayed out of it. And how that has pitted a lot of different governors and Daimyos of different lands to fight and cause the mobilization of the samurai, who they cannot disobey due to dishonor.”

Taking a pause to crack his neck and pop his shoulders. “And on your second inquire. Yes in Fu Leng’s eyes we are all the same, now and then there will be someone interesting to come about from the human race as a whole but not by much. Due to how much most of us are constantly fight our selves. And for what so the people that are in charge can controls who dies and how much happiness is in our life. Most of us Spider know what it means to be betrayed by our “superiors”. We humans are all nothing more than beings that will do nothing great with our life as long as we are at war within ourselves. To follow the path of Fu Leng is to understand that at the end of the day everyone is equal, it should not matter what flows throw your vain, who your parents where, but the actions that you and you alone make.”

After saying all this in an even and non-threatening tone. He gave a look to this little bird “If you don’t mind next time you wish to gag me with magic or what not, why not try instead and use your words. After all I have not casted a single spell on this trip, nor have I casted any magic on any one hear, so please don’t use the kami for silencing someone, if you don’t mind my honesty, its disrespectful to use the kami for such a thing.”

[Isawa Mitsuru]

"Your overall outlook seems to show a woeful misunderstanding of the celestial order in which you were born. It is true that what you do does impact who you are; very much so in fact. Have you not been taught the proper order of the universe? That is a sad situation indeed.

"Life exists in layers and levels and this is why there are masters and servants. We all serve those higher than ourselves and are masters to those below us. Surely even the Spider understand that this is necessary to maintain the order of the world. As you yourself have said you have superiors and you seem to note that fu Leng is a ruler over you all. How therefore can we all be the same?

"No. Rather, we are organized by the universe into the perfect celestial order. Therein we can see that those who perform admirably are rewarded and those who perform poorly are punished with a lower station in their next life. I admit that not everyone is perfect but the universe will clearly see to that. A sinner will easily be punished in his next life by being born into a lower station. Likewise we all strive to follow the tenets of bushido and the teachings of the little master so that we may achieve a higher station in our next life. I presume that you at least know this, yes? You are not ignorant, are you?"

I let the question hang in the air like a prayer strip tied to a bamboo tree during the midsummer festival. It twisted and dangled and begged to be answered.

[The Book Keeper]

The Keeper had to think on how to put this in to the best words to convey his thoughts. “May I ask where you where taught the order of the universe? Have you ever spent time in a Temple, have you spent an entire year in a cave in deep meditation and studying. When I was with my Birth clan I thought very much like you. Until I started to actually question things then and only then will you see the truth of the eye. The Spider believes that’s in its self, the celestial order is broken. There should never be rulers based on the blood in your veins. Fu Leng is our ruler as he is the Kami, Kami are higher on the chain of the universe then us. It’s lazy to make the universe do everything and it should be because of the drive of wanting something better for ourselves then to just hope to get a better spot in life. You need to think like you can reach for the stars based on your skill, and never give up and wanting more and better in this life. Without that that kind of thinking you put yourself up to be defeated, and that just gives you a very defeatist attitude and mindset.”

[Isawa Mitsuru]

I sighed again and then turned to the gaijin merchant.

"Kuwarimu-san, please be kind enough to bear witness to the alleged honesty of the Spider who is unwilling to answer a simple question. Perhaps you will be kind enough to participate in an actual dialogue.

"I am curious as to how a similar theory would play out in your lands. I have two questions for you. The first is this wise: If there were a man who came to your land as an outsider and professed that the sultan ought not be Sultan and that all men were exactly equal and therefore should follow a single deity who was universally reviled by your empire, how would that turn out? How would people react to this man and what consequences would he face?

"The second is this: Let us presume that there were a group of people who had scourged your lands for generations uncounted and were known criminals guilty of the most heinous of profane magic. How would they be accepted into your country and perhaps even the Sultan’s court?"

As I finished my question, we rounded a corner in the road and had our first glimpse of the indomitable monument that is the Kaiu Wall. In one direction it stretched like a single continuous fortress across the landscape and beyond the horizon and in the other was a massive castle that served as the anchor to this end of the Empire’s first line of defense.

[The Book Keeper]

The Keeper was confused now. “I answered your questions little birdie, what have I not answered? How can you say I’m dishonest, you performed that magic to see if I was telling the truth, and you know I did not lie.”

The Keeper turned to the Gaijin “Quarim, I believe you see the truth of the eye, you have seen this kingdom and the flaws within it, do you believe that this empire is the best that it can be?”

The Keeper was board talking to the Bird, at least with the Gaijin you can hold a conversation that people will not be hostile towards you. Most of the Gaijin in the caravan where nice and kind people that where great to deal with. The swords and metal that they have are of very nice craftsmanship that will come very nicely when I can hopefully get a grant of land in the Shadowlands from Daigotsu Thrakhath. I just wonder what his price will be? Oh well whatever it is it will help the spider and that’s all that matters. For the spider must grow if we are to face what is coming, after all I have foresee it in my dreams. Oh the dreams he gets, The Keeper can never forget when he first got them. Watching his mother killed by lion troops and, his father killed by a crab samurai striking from behind. The keeper had to stop from going down that line of thoughts.

Turning forward to look at the wall, The Keeper was filled with disgust. In front of him is a wall that keeps his newfound brethren from freely moving in this empire. This is a wall that keeps people trapped for no other reason than the rest of the empire not understanding. Oh how much better this empire would be if the rest of the clans could get over their hate. Not that The Keeper has anything against his home clan. A part of him will always love the mountains there. But I just can’t live with the hate and warmongering that was done. The Keeper was happy that his old family took over and supported Hantei Naseru. But it was my time to leave the Dragon and join the Spider. After all he was an outcast in the Dragon, because he did not follow the traditional paths, of earth or of flame but the path of his mother’s clan, the crane and the water that flows throw them.

“‘OOC. Sorry I’m hoping you guys don’t mind if I put in stuff about his past before he came with the spider."

[Tamori Koichi]

"OOC insert: Outrageous! Tell me who outcasted you and I'll kill him myself. We don't outcast people. We have a whole city, Suigeki Toshi, where water shugenja are highly valued. Anyway, carry on."

[The Book Keeper]

OOC. when i was dragon hear on the forms for water instead of earth or fire people thought i was to odd to RP with.

[quarim]

Quarim listened to the two men go on. Then both seemed to seek his side to validate their own arguments. How extremely foolish these two were. Conviction did not require agreement.

The Jackals are a disease that must be stomped out. It is easy to make a comparison from them to the Spider. However if what you say is true, Keeper, then the Spider are far better than the vermin I hunt. If the Spider wish to be treated as equals then they must prove that they are equal. They need not ask for permission to be a great clan but by presence alone demand it from all they encounter. Perhaps they have the strength for such a feat or perhaps they will be crushed. Only time will tell.