To the most honourable Hida Kisada, The Great Bear, Crab Clan Champion.
For years our clan has been viewed to accomplish the mirror of your honourable duty by protecting the Northern borders of The Jade Empire. While this is true in part, there are other, secret duties our clan serve. While I cannot go into detail of these duties, I am writing you this missive to warn for an unknown danger we have stumbled upon. I am honour bound to share this secret with our brothers from the south. Consider this legend as told in the Moon Scrolls by an unknown author. Nota that this document is genuine dated 600 years ago:
When Lady Amaterasu and Lord Onnotagu went about the task of naming everything that existed, Nothing decided it did not want a name. It begged the Shadow to hide it so it would not be noticed.
Amaterasu and Onnotangu walked the Celestial Heavens, at peace with their realms. They loved, and they laughed, and all was well with Onnotangu and his bride, Amaterasu. They spoke of immortality, and of creation, and Onnotangu built a wonderland for his bridal bower, filled with trees and plants, and all the beautiful things of the world. The Lady Sun, enchanted with his gift, begged him to let her populate it with children, but Onnotangu was jealous of his bride's love, and would not hear of such a thing. Yet, as he loved her, they created the animals, and the beasts of the sea, and spread them across the world. But still the Sun was not satisfied. They created man, and still, she wanted more. At last, Onnotangu's love for her broke through his fear, and they created the Children, the sons and daughters of the Heavens: the immortal Kami. The babies became the light of Amaterasu's world, and she adored them. So much, that she forgot her love for Onnotangu, and turned her face from him. As the Moon and the Sun gave names to the world, she forgot to hide her love for the children, and she spoke of each thing as another gift for her children. She no longer needed the Moon.
Onnotangu grew bitter. He began to hate his wife, their children, and the world they had made,seeing each as a reflection of the Sun's false love. So, as he gave Amaterasu the names for each beast and tree, he held one name for himself, and did not tell it to her. He kept that one name, the last of all names.
When the Children of the Sun fell from the sky, screaming their mother's name, Onnotangu cursed them all. He watched the Sun weep as her children were cast down, and he cried, "My wife has betrayed me, and for her crime, I will chase her through the heavens. She will have no rest, no peace, and she will forever be alone, apart from her children. As she took her love from me, so will she be forever without love."
"My children, too, deserve no mercy. One by one, I shall hunt them and their people, until the world is as red as blood, and as black as night. I shall destroy them, for daring to steal what is my own."
"But I shall have one child," said Onnotangu, gnashing his teeth with fury, "a son of my own choosing, who has never betrayed me. A child who has never known the Sun." And he went to the last of the world's creatures, the unnamed Shadow. The Moon spoke to it as a father, and he lifted it up from that place, and carried it to become the blackness between the stars.
Nothing hid within the shadow and watched carefully, looking for a way to destroy the world it had accidentaly created. It saw potential in the youngest of the Kami, He Who Must Not Be Named. The Dark One was wise but also arrogant, with a deep rage within that, if tempered, could destroy all. Nothing came to him and revealed itself, the true nature of the universe and the ways of magic. It offered an alliance to unmake all of existence.
However the Evil Kami refused, causing Nothing to attack him. The Dark Kami already knew too much an used a crystal katana to sever Nothing's hand. It fled back to the shadows. When the Kami fell, Nothing traveled to the Realm of Evil, warning it of the power of the 9th Kami but Jigoku was more intrigued than afraid and caught The Dark One in its realm, dragging him deep under the earth and suffusing him with corruption.
This story was told to me by a trusted Asawa Shugenja. Consider then a second story, one you will know. I hereby provide an excerpt from the novel "Dark Tidings", chapter "Three days of Strife" by the legendary storyteller Doji Shizue. I understand this is personal to you and that you have lived the tale, yet I include it for consideration.
Hitomi and Yakamo
This story begins with Mirumoto Satsu, a Dragon Clan samurai. Although he is not his clan's daimyo, he is considered a promising man with a great future, and he is allowed to carry the Ancestral Sword of the Dragon Clan. This is an ancient and powerful artifact carried by the original Togashi, a god who fell from the sky a thousand years ago.
Unfortunately for him, Satsu enters a duel with Hida Yakamo. Yakamo kills Satsu in the duel, driving Satsu's little sister, Hitomi, into a furious rage. She accuses Yakamo of cheating, but the accusations of a young girl cannot besmirch the honor of a samurai warrior. Mirumoto Hitomi takes up her brother's sword, armor, and memory. She shaves her head to demonstrate her dedication to bushido, the way of the warrior. Equipped with the Dragon Sword, Hitomi slices off the hand of Yakamo, her brother's killer.
Kuni Yori of the Crab Clan, tends to Yakamo's injury, grafting a huge, horrid oni claw to the stump of his arm in place of the hand that had been there. Yakamo is now equipped with a powerful claw that has the power to crush steel in its grip. Hitomi and Yakamo meet yet again, dueling in the midst of a storm. Although Yakamo cannot kill Hitomi at this time, he breaks the Dragon Sword and crushes Hitomi's hand in the grasp of his claw.
The mutual hatred between Yakamo and Hitomi grows, and they continue to face off against each other whenever Fate draws them together. Meanwhile, back in Crab lands, Kuni Yori, the aforementioned Crab shugenja with evil schemes, opens one of the Black Scrolls. The Black Scrolls are magical items used to trap the evil god Fu Leng a millennium ago. As each one is opened, Fu Leng's power becomes greater, and an evil taint is felt across the land. Kuni Yori has seen happier days, but even getting his face turned inside out does not seem to stop him. Not only has he paid the price for his dark knowledge, but he has paid it willingly. At this point, Yakamo begins to regret having followed Yori's advice to graft a claw onto his arm.
Hida Yakamo takes the Jade Hand, an ancient artifact, and claims it for his own, as a symbol of his dedication to fight against the evil that now sits upon the throne of Rokugan. This involves chopping off the claw that was on his arm, which shows how far he will go to right the wrongs his clan has caused. The Hand is connected to a prophecy, and now that someone has claimed the Hand, the prophecy begins to unfold.
Only now has it become clear what has happened in the Empire. By cooperating with the evil creatures of the Shadowlands, Kuni Yori and the Crab Clan have helped the evil god Fu Leng to possess the body of the Emperor himself. Fu Leng has sworn to destroy the Empire, and Yakamo leads the Crab against their former Shadowlands allies. Armed with the Jade Hand, Yakamo leads a great crusade against the Shadowlands, increasing his fame and honor at every turn. He also has been able to carry over some of his experience with the claw, as he has the ability to crush any opposing Shadowlands creature in his grip. The Day of Thunder approaches, the day that Fu Leng becomes fully manifest and fights against the Seven Thunders, reincarnations of ancient heroes of Rokugan. Togashi Yokuni, the Dragon Clan daimyo, reveals himself to be the original Togashi, the god that fell to earth a thousand years ago. Fu Leng and Togashi are brothers, and Togashi has been manipulating events to bring them to the events he had foreseen.
The prophecy of the Jade Hand is at last complete, as Hida Yakamo is revealed to be one of the Seven Thunders. Not only that, but he is willing to fight the Shadowlands Horde any time, any place. Mirumoto Hitomi is also revealed to be a Thunder. In order for Fu Leng to become fully manifest (and therefore mortal), Hitomi must open the Twelfth Black Scroll. The problem is, it's hidden in the heart of her daimyo, Yokuni. She plunges the Obsidian Hand into Yokuni's chest, rips his heart out of his body, and crushes it to dust, stealing Yokuni's power. She then opens the Twelfth Scroll, allowing the Thunders to fight and defeat Fu Leng.
I have reason to believe that the Osidian Hand is in fact the lost hand of Nothing. I urge you to send me emisaries as soon as possible so we may pool our knowledges and provide a solution. Consider the four messengers a gift from our clan to be stationed on the wall as a token of our good intentions.
Ichiro Kihongo, Badger Clan Champion