Phoenix Clan Letter - #15
When the Shadow moved against the Empire and would have unmade everything, who destroyed the Shadow? We did. Isawa Hochiu, glorious destroyer of the Goju Adorai, the Shadow-fiend.
When the legions that marched on Volturnum were cut off in the Shadowlands, unable to fight their way back to the Empire, who rode back from Jigoku to save them? Shiba Mirabu, former Champion of our clan, a warrior whom neither death nor the Shadowlands could prevent from doing her duty and guiding the warriors of the Empire to their new day.
Who has guided the children of Toturi, teaching philosophy to Naseru and revealing the secrets of the kami to mighty Sezaru? Who showed Sezaru the way to destroy the oni that threatened his gempukku? The Elemental Masters of the Phoenix, the wise Council of Five, accepted Sezaru in after his unfruitful years among the Dragon and taught him the true Way of Void and Fire.
Who has guard the Empire against the corruption of maho and the heresies of the Bloodspeakers? Who was vigilant while the Jade Champion stumbled clumsily along the trail of phantom witches? Whose inquisitors will see to it that the Empire has nothing to fear from these petty sorcerers and witchlings? The Phoenix, the founders and protectors of the true magic of the Empire.
When the Lion Clan, wise in the way of warfare, masters of tactics, looked for an ally who could help return them to their place of glory among the clans, what ally did they choose? The Phoenix. We shall repay the wisdom of the Lion a thousand fold.
When the Agasha, the guardians of magic among the Dragon, could no longer tolerate the heresies of their mad daimyo, where did they turn to broaden their view? To move away from mere inner contemplation toward appreciation of both the inner and outer paths? To the Phoenix. Now they stand alongside us as brothers, as sisters, as friends. The Tamori claim to hold the secrets that were once the Agasha's but they are wrong. They are a shadow of a family, with a name bought and paid for through treachery and murder. They are less than nothing.
Isawa, Asako, Agasha, Shiba: we ask you now to rededicate yourselves to the path that great Toturi charter for us: We are the guardians of magic. We must guide the Empire away from harmful practices, toward pure worship of the kami, toward wise paths of power that will preserve peace until such time as one of the Four Winds has proven him or herself the true heir.
We must act with honor, with wisdom, and above all with compassion for this virtue we have in a measure greater than any clan. When our path is clear, we must not be afraid to also act with speed and force. The Dragon have shown us their dark colors, using the evident displeasure of the kami that drives them from the lands as a pretext for invading our own. We must not allow the foolish magics that have destroyed the Dragon's homelands from within to excuse their clumsy invasion.
We will triumph.
Isawa Taeruko
Master of Earth