(Region 15 - Honolulu, HI, USA; made public by L5R)

White Stag, Imperial Lands

Iuchiban’s whispered command was most powerfully felt in the ruins of Otosan Uchi, where his dark tower rose from the ruins to loom above the pitiful wretches attempting to eke out an existence from the shattered city. His many servants went berserk, assaulting the forces of Daigotsu and Hida Kisada, both of whom had a presence in the city at the time of Iuchiban’s death. Most were slain, but some, the more cunning and strong-willed, those who had the ability to resist their lord’s dying commands for at least a short time, survived and hid until the Emperor’s forces left the city a short time later.

The bloodied madman known as Migawari laughed as he cut deeper into the Nezumi warrior that lay bound by his spell. The beast shuddered once and died, bringing a scowl to the Bloodspeaker’s face. “Bah,” he spat. “Your brothers were far hardier. They offered me much more entertainment.” He rose and kicked the beast ferociously, dismissing the spell that had held it. “I crave more,” the sorcerer whispered, half out of his mind with his master’s final command. “Perhaps there are yet Yotsu who dwell in the city.”

There was a stirring in the darkness, and Migawari instinctively hurled a bolt of corrupt energy at it. He heard a muffled scream of pain and death, then a thud as something struck the ground. He uttered a word of command and the flames from his fire danced through the air to illuminate the shadows. There, a bloodstained figure dressed in ruined robes lay twisted on the ground, his features obscured by a gag, his hands bound, and his chest torn apart by Migawari’s spell. The man’s face was familiar. “Tokken?” he said, surprised.

There was a whispering sound, like silk in the breeze. Migawari’s vision in his right eye was suddenly gone. He had only enough time to find it odd before the pain washed over him like a wave. He screamed in agony, turning to seek his assailant. The sound came again, and everything went black.

A gigantic Scorpion warrior stepped from the darkness and swept the Bloodspeaker’s legs out from under him. He withdrew a series of small, straight daggers and pinned all of the sorcerer’s limbs to the ground. Migawari screamed until his throat was raw, but there was no answer. It was not until he calmed somewhat, when the white hot agony faded to a bearable level, that a voice came to him.

“In these last moments of your life,” Shosuro Yudoka said, “you will tell me of the Bloodspeakers in this city and beyond. You will do this, or I will cause you terrible pain such as you have never imagined.”

Migawari laughed suddenly, tearing his arms free from the ground. His flesh and muscle was shredded in doing so, but pain was truth, and none understood truth so well as Migawari. “I think not, Scorpion!” he hissed though pain and amusement. He summoned his power to take him away, sensing at the last moment something huge leaping at him, but it was too late. The Bloodspeaker disappeared into the shadows, his laughter echoing in the assassin’s ears.