Agasha Chunigo glanced around nervously as he rode across the Dragon Heart Plain. This region was technically within the lands of the Ox Clan, despite that the Phoenix had unofficially cared for them for centuries. The Phoenix and the Ox had an unspoken understanding that so long as one didn’t bother the other, they would be content neighbors who minded their own business. By coming here, Chunigo was taking a substantial risk. If he was caught, he could expect considerable dishonor to be brought to his family, perhaps even enough to warrant his seppuku.
How could he stay away? His research had turned up some fascinating possibilities regarding lost artifacts in the ruins of the Snake Clan provinces. And it wasn’t as if anyone ever went there anyway. The ruins stood as still and empty as at the conclusion of the Five Nights of Shame centuries ago, when the Phoenix had killed every man, woman, and child in the Snake lands.
The thought of all that violence was unsettling. Chunigo was not a violent man. He was a scholar, a seeker of lost treasures. He hunted down the items that history had forgotten, studying them and cataloging them for his clan. There were some who said he looked for things best left forgotten, but he believed that nothing should be forgotten. There were lessons in all of history’s mistakes, and it was his job to discover them so that others might learn from them. As a Jade Magistrate, it was his duty to seek out any such items so that at least they would not bring harm to others.
Dismounting, Chunigo eagerly and cautiously strode into the overgrown stone ruins that once were Shiro Chuda. It was so quiet here, as if nothing dared break the silence. Chunigo thrilled at the thought of all the secrets once held in this foreboding castle. Dark and evil secrets, to be sure, but ultimately knowledge knew neither good nor evil. History was pure and unadulterated by morals or judgment.
A skittering sound from somewhere deeper in the ruins caused Chunigo’s heart to stop for a moment, his breath catching in his throat. When no other sound came, he finally sighed in relief. Curious, he looked for the source of the sound. He found nothing, but the sound came again, this time from deeper inside the ruins. Chunigo followed, his hand clutching his scroll satchel tightly. Rounding a corner, he saw what might have been a large rat dart from a small pile of rubble and disappear into a hole in the stonework.
Chunigo glanced around. This room appeared to have survived the purge somewhat intact, although there was still sunlight piercing the walls in several places. Looking upward, he lost his footing and staggered over the rubble pile the rat had been sitting upon. As he fell, Chunigo flailed about for purchase but found none, landing flat on his back in a very undignified sprawl in the center of the room.
Rolling to his side to get up, Chunigo noticed a glint of metal within the rubble pile over which he had stumbled. Climbing to his knees, he gently moved the rubble aside to find a small lacquer box with metal studs bolting it shut. The bolts seemed to have rusted away with age, which was strange since there was very little moisture in the room.
Carefully, almost gingerly, Chunigo pried the box open. Once he cleared away the dust and the cloth that concealed the box’s contents, he gasped in astonishment. Inside was a carefully crafted mempo bearing the snarling visage of what could only be an oni. In fact, this particular image seemed strangely familiar to the scholar. Had he seen it in one of the Kuni scrolls he had read the previous spring? He would have to check to be sure. Whatever the source of this mask, it was surely a great historical find.
The mask seemed to tremble in his hands, the jaw working silently as the hollow eyes stared into Chunigo’s. He could sense the terrible power in this item, and was afraid. Cautiously, Chunigo slipped the mask into his satchel.
If something like this could be found, who knew what other treasures might lay hidden in Shiro Chuda?
Agasha Chunigo
Earth 2
Water 2
Perception 4
Fire 3
Intelligence 4
Air 2
Awareness 3
Void 3
School/Rank: Agasha Shugenja 2 (Kyuden Agasha)
Honor: 3.1
Glory: 1.8
Advantages: Precise Memory, Wealthy
Disadvantages: Fascination (nemurani), Gullible
Skills: Astrology 3, Calligraphy 3, Courtier 2, Etiquette 3, Heraldry 4, Herbalism 3, History 2, Horsemanship 2, Investigation 4, Law 4, Lore (Maho) 2, Meditation 4, Shintao 3, Spell Research 5, Tea Ceremony 3, Theology 4
Spells: Sense, Commune, Summon, Biting Steel, Breath of the Fire Dragon, By the Light of Lord Moon, Call Upon the Wind, Courage of the Seven Thunders, Elemental Ward, Fires from Within, Force of Will, Waiting Flame, Whispering Flames.
Mask of the Maw
(from Magic of Rokugan)
Many mistake the influence of the Shadowlands as just a supernatural force of destruction made apparent in rampaging oni, goblins, trolls, and the like. Those who know the power of Fu Leng's realm understand that the Taint can take shape in many ways, corrupting both spirit and mind... destroying a man as surely as a ogre's club. The invitation to embrace the darkness of the Shadowlands can be as simple as a child's toy, and as innocent as a kabuki mask. The Masks of the Oni are such items. Each of the items corresponds to a particular Oni Lord, granting some measure of that creature's dark power. They were created as attempts to siphon off a bit of the awesome power of the Oni Lords... with mixed results.
The Mask of the Maw increases the wearer’s strength to a fraction of that wielded by the Maw itself. Anyone wearing the mask keeps two additional dice on all melee damage rolls. Once per day, the wearer of the mask may choose to double their Water or Earth ring for 10 rounds. This effect causes the wearer of the mask to increase in size dramatically, distorting their physical form badly with the power of the mask. Upon returning to normal, the wearer of the mask is stunned for one round and unable to attack.
In addition, each hour the mask is worn, the wearer accrues Taint as if he had spent a day in the Shadowlands, and no amount of jade or magical protection can prevent this. (It can be carried, but not worn, without harm.) If a mask is presented to its respective oni or one of its spawn, that creature flies into an angry rage and destroys the owner and the mask as quickly as possible.