Unicorn Clan Letter - #16
My lord Khan Chagatai,
Our campaign to the south goes well. The Crab have been most grateful for the intervention of the Baraunghar. The Crane have been somewhat less enthusiastic regarding our participation. I imagine that their inability to seize and hold ground from us on the western front is at least partially to blame for their ill feelings.
In truth, my Khan, the longer this conflict lasts, the more I feel certain that the Unicorn Clan is best served in siding with the Crab. I know that Chen counsels you to enter the northern conflict on the side of the Dragon, just as I know that Tadaji recommends using our role in this conflict as leverage against the Crane in court. While both are wise and honorable men, I do not believe they are correct in this matter. Choosing to aid an enigmatic clan of philosophers or to choose words over action at the behest of a clan full of effete duelists - it is not our way. It is not the way of a warrior.
The Crab are much different. I see in them the virtues that the Unicorn extols, the same virtues by which the Moto line restored honor to our clan. They are honorable warriors who know that deeds are more valued than words. They are stalwart allies upon whom we can depend when the time of our own conquests is near. I am the least among your generals, my Khan, but I must tell you that I believe the Crab to be perhaps our only true allies in the Empire.
If I am to speak truthfully, then I must also tell you that there is another reason I champion the Crab as our allies: they fight a battle on two fronts. On the one hand they fight the Crane, a clan as different from us as is found in Rokugan, and on the other, the Shadowlands. I have seen the things the Crab face on a daily basis. We Unicorn know all too well the horrors of the Shadowlands as well. Just as the great Gaheris crushed the Dark Moto years ago, we must support the Crab in their effort to destroy the Shadowlands. To turn against them in their time of need - it would an unseemly act for a true warrior.
I also bring you news of the Mantis, as you requested. I have met a few of them in this war, and though some fight on the side of the Crane, just as many are unaligned. One even offered to add his forces to ours, for a price. I refused, and cursed him for the cowardice of offering troops to both sides. He only smiled. "Another time, then, Iuchi-chan," he said. "In the meantime, pray the Crane do not meet my price. Business is business, after all, and I would hate to split such a pretty skull."
The temerity of the man!
I was most impressed.
-Iuchi Lixue