War of the Dead

The story of the lost family of Goju is unknown to the Empire; even the Ikoma cannot tell the tale. Goju's lost work on the Living Darkness, the Celestial Agonies, was never shared with the clans. The Scorpion have no record of it among their secrets, the Ikoma libraries do not know of it, and even the Emperor's records do not contain a copy of the Black Text.

Little is known of the Goju, save for small mentions of a mortal by that name who lived at the beginning of the world. When the kami chose their Great Clans, Goju fled in terror, hoping to escape their influence. Perhaps it was Goju's weakness that drew the Darkness to him, or perhaps the Darkness recognized Goju's fear as kin to its own.

It is certain that the Goju are not a true family; at least, not anymore. Although they all may have once been descended from the original Goju, they are no longer composed simply of relatives. Instead, the Goju include those transformed by the Darkness who desperately seek to retain their name, as well as Goju's descendants.

The tale of Yume is one of the few that has survived. He is said to have once been a great warrior, even before he became the servant of the Shadow, and his war is against all of the souls that have lived in the past. He fights not to destroy the samurai who tread upon Rokugan's soil, but to destroy the spirits of the past, the ancestors who guide their children in the ways of bushido and the spirit. He fights for the Shadow that is his master, and he fights to destroy the Empire of Rokugan by killing its past. Called the spirit-killer, Yume stands at the gate to Jigoku and slaughters the souls of the dead.

Against him, it is said, fight a legion of samurai from Rokugan's past, their swords blazing with honor. For a thousand years, the war has raged between Yume and his dark warriors and the Spirit Legion, and for a thousand years, the Tenth Kami and his legion have beaten back the Goju.

But that time is ending, and the ancestors speak no more. The Tenth Kami has fallen and his blood stains the arch to Jigoku. Yume and his minions hold back the tide of the dead, and even the EmpireÕs Jade Throne is threatened by the Darkness of the Shadow.

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