Prologue

Prologue and Explanation of the backstory to the isle of Wa.

The islands of Wa are an archipelago that lie to the east of the Han sea. Further to the east lies the never ending waters of the ocean and to the northwest lies the kingdoms of Han. The isles are very mountainous with dense forests and precious little arable land. This land was historically warred over by the tribes of Wa, bloody and violent they killed their enemies and took what they needed so their own could survive. This changed over a thousand years ago with the coming of the son of heaven.

The first Emperor was a descendant of the Sun Goddess Amaterasu and the Sea God Susano-o. During his youth he unified the tribes of the southern islands and marched to the north. There they conquered the lands of central Honshima and founded the Imperial house. This dynasty sent emissaries to the continent and brought the wisdom of the Empire of han. They returned with new techniques of rice irrigation which allowed the people to live in abundance and rules and styles of governance which created harmony in the lands.

This dynasty founded the capital city of Hikyo and the Emperor's generals brought the other tribes under the Emperor's grasp and soon all the lands of Wa thrived under his rule. Slowly the Emperor's descendants married into the families of the generals and the houses of samurai (or servants of the Emperor) began to emerge. This samurai acted as the Emperor's right hand and crushed those foolish enough to threaten the stability of Wa.

As time went on though, the samurai grew in power, and the Emperor could no longer control their struggles. Each selfishly began to war with one another, some clans the Emperor declared anathema and were crushed by the other clans. Others however, were permitted their struggles with the understanding that if their acts disturbed the lands of Wa they too would be destroyed. From these struggles of the samurai clans the great families began to emerge, often with imperial blood these samurai grew favor and were able to expand their might, often gaining other vassal families in service to them. Thus the empire solidified itself, though the threat of civil war did grow.

The threat that truly shook the lands did not come from within however, the greatest threat the empire felt was from the west. It came from the great Han empire to the west, an empire so vast it dwarfed that of Wa by a hundred fold. Philosophers and scholars studied as they always had, but as the lands grew decadent and wealthy, their research fell to forbidden arts. They learned how to perform magic, not beseeching the gods for power but ripping it from the world themselves. In doing this they learned how to summon demons, or 'Oni', in the Wa tongue.

Oni first were used by the sorcerers to enforce their will, to force others to submit to them and as they grew in number, even to fight on the field of battle against Han armies. The sorcerers struggled and tore the empire to a thousand pieces, and when the sorcerers were slain by rivals their Oni were released to wreak havoc and carnage upon the populace. This troubled the sorcerer's little as they used their powers to raise the dead from the graves and have them fight alongside their demonic warriors. The great empire of Han crumbled to dust. Now hundreds of city states each clutched on to what knowledge and power they could.

A group of sorcerers’ decided their pathway to power was to take Wa under their control and use the islands as a foothold to claim the lands of Han. They sent a hundred ships bearing demons towards the shores of Wa, and the Emperor declared that the samurai should unify under one 'great general' or 'Shogun' of the samurai. The Shogun unified the clans under his banner and met the the demonic forces of the sorcerers in battle. The seas crashed and fought the invaders as they tried to travel to Wa. Streams of holy light burned the forces of the demons when they stepped on shore. With the armies of the samurai and the favor of the gods the people of Wa repelled the attack. Soon after the Shogun began to root out sorcerer's within the native lands of Wa, thus ensuring that the sorcerers would never be able to gain a foothold upon their fair isle.

The Shogun came from a great clan known as the Tagarii. The Tagarii kept the peace in the isle and were allowed to keep this title. The Emperor focused more on spiritual matters while the Shogun kept his attention upon the samurai clans, while the clans policed the people. This order has served Wa for three hundred years. While the clans have had an occasional struggle amongst one another, the Shogun's threat of violence kept the clans in check. Soon this took the place of the Emperor declaring a clan anathema. Peace reigned through the isle of Wa.

Though this kept the clans in relative peace for years, now the Emperor is becoming reluctant of the shogunate's methods and often acts against their wishes, challenging their power. There are whispers that the Emperor may declare the shogunate anathema, and with the Shogun's power in question the clans began to struggle with one another in hopes of seizing more power for themselves.

One of these clans is the Taeshimo clan to the north. The Taeshimo have a long history with the Imperial house, and while every Shogun is confirmed by the Emperor, every Emperor for three hundred years has had a Taeshimo bride. With the ear of the Emperor and growing military power, the Taeshimo are seen as a threat to the Tagarii shogunate. This story is about the actions that happen in the year 1078 of the Empire, that center around the scions of the Taeshimo clan, one of the other prominent families of Wa.

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