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| The Phoenix Clan http://ironhearts2.fallenash.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=23 |
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| Author: | Kannon [ Sun Jan 08, 2017 3:29 pm ] |
| Post subject: | The Phoenix Clan |
Back in 435 Shiba Gaijushiko's cowardly betrayal of his former Gozoku associates seemed at the very least to be a pragmatic choice in the face of imminent onslaught by Imperial restorationists. However, it proved to be one of the worst decisions a Phoenix leader has ever made. Its negative consequences would haunt the Clan for the next decades and might have even damaged it beyond repair. Arguably, the seeds of decay had been sown in the Gozoku period itself, which had witnessed a growing policy rift across familiar familial fault lines. The Imperial Scribe gradually sidelined the Isawa in determining Clan policies, especially after Five Nights of Shame. Wiping out the Snake in 405, a Minor Clan with a record of positive contribution to the Empire, on unknown grounds and with nothing more than a promise of not repeating it (or not allowing it to be repeated) was a huge liability for Gaijushiko in his manoeuvring at the level of Imperial politics. The Masters' gross violation of Hantei Genji's edict banning aggression against the Minor Clans gave the Lion a hard-to-refute excuse to invade the Phoenix in 408 with a barely hidden intent to topple the pro-Gozoku Phoenix regime. Probably only Shiba Kaigen's (II) valiant defence of the Treacherous Pass prevented it. That, and pro-Brotherhood attitudes of the Council, as showcased by its factual leader Master of Void Isawa Eisai in how he had resolved the Nikesake crisis of 411, fuelled Gaijushiko's efforts to marginalise the Isawa as a threat to his own authority. The Asako were mostly on his side for the amount of promotion to power and prominence within the Triumvirate he was awarding to their secular masters of lore. The Shiba were divided, along the old fault line between Kami Shiba's two grandsons, Kaigen (I) and Yinobu. The political successors of the former, like the Champion Toshiken, Kaigen (II) and Gaijushiko himself, were prioritising the Clan as a whole, with less special regard to the Isawa, while the Knee-benders, still sizeable group with powerbase in the yojimbo dojos and the Elemental Legions, had no major political voice, especially after their complicity in extermination of the Snake. The chasm between two broad factions only widened when Gaijushiko led the Phoenix into an open war with the Brotherhood in 428. No clean cut in leadership Gaijushiko 'won' for himself and the others in 435 allowed those divisive realities fester within the Clan. The Scribe died in ignominy four years later, while Toshiken remained Champion until 445, adding allowing the destruction of Toshi no Omoidoso, an Isawa holding, by marauding Lion forces in 441 and non-participation in the Battle of White Stag in 442 to his long list of failures. When in 435 the Champion offered the Council to give priority to the expansion of Kyuden Isawa as a way to mend strained ties, they rejected the offer. Instead, the new Master of Void Isawa Tokiuji moved the tensai schools out of Kyuden Isawa, into unknown locations in the Phoenix interior in order to reduce both their exposure to Imperial repressions and their dependence on protection of the Shiba. Eventually the coastal Kyuden Isawa stopped to be the central holding of the family. The alienation was about to stay, also because the post-Gozoku legacy predisposed both camps to relate to the notion of progress in starkly different ways. The Nasu who Gaijushiko had fostered into the Shiba were fast becoming the bureaucratic fulcrum of the Clan, or at least in its southern, non-Isawa provinces, solidifying progressive, secularist spirit already prevalent among the Asako and part of the Shiba. For the Isawa and Shiba Knee-benders loyal to them that meant perpetuating all that had been rotten in the Gozoku regime. During Yugozohime's reign the Phoenix were almost complete political pariahs in dealings with the Throne and the other Clans. The Empress had no sympathy for them, and did not trust Gaijushiko or Toshiken even one bit, following the rule not to trust the traitor, not even one she created. They could count on no goodwill from the Dragon or the Lion, allies behind Yogozhime's restoration, who felt that Phoenix had not been held accountable enough for their Gozoku past. Especially the Lion made it their idee fix to not let the Phoenix get away without paying for past crimes, and used every reason or excuse to wound them. Unlike the Phoenix, the Scorpion and the Crane self-cleansed and had new, untainted Champions, but neither Doji Usan, nor Doji Kakumei, nor Bayushi Junzen were inclined to support the Phoenix in any manner. In part because they didn't want to draw the attention of the Otomo in the volatile time, but more importantly because they wanted no dealings with people who were widely perceived as traitors in their respective Clans. For Scorpion and Crane deaths that resulted from Gaijushiko's name-spilling there were families to hold grudge and seek retribution. In the 440s the Phoenix were usually reluctant to go to winter courts because of the amount of iaijutsu challenges and poisoned tofu awaiting them there. Crane personnel of the embassy complex in Nikesake was reduced to the bare minimum, and even the Asahina distanced themselves from their Clan of origin. Isawa dealings with Bayushi Tesaguri, renegade son of the Scorpion Champion, only exacerbated Phoenix-Scorpion tensions. When the saga of Matsu Hitomi ended with City of Remembrance being destroyed, everybody watched but nobody moved a finger even though the way it came about was outrageous. And the Lion were generally pleased with that takeaway from the Crab-Dragon war, in which the Phoenix had no stakes but probably suffered the most, that they could move troops across the Phoenix territory unchecked and with political impunity. They would use this situation to set up Lion outposts across Phoenix lands, most notably Akodo Godaigo's Castle of the Faithful Bride on the northern reaches of Isawa Mori. It is telling that probably the only ally the Phoenix had at the time were the Centipede, and the only other Clan ready to deal with them without apprehension were the Tortoise, mostly because after the majority of northern trade was entering the maritime domain through the entrepôts they controlled. The Phoenix fortunes started to improve with Retsuhime's enthronement. Her strategic calculus was different than her mother's and she did embrace progress to a much greater extent. The marriage of traditionalism and sheer power embodied in the Lion Clan was something to be overcome and counterbalanced in order to give way to her agenda. The Phoenix got their chance to be a player again. There could be much guessing how strong personal bond that developed between young heiress apparent and Shiba Murayasu, a prodigy duellist who became a sensei at the Seppun dojo in 444, contributed to the shift. Either way, somehow paradoxically, those who had been the closest to the Gozoku were primary beneficiaries. The Empress chose to wed her sister Ryohime to the Asako daimyo, as a harbinger of restoring ties between them and the Imperial Families. The Asako, already romancing with progress in philosophy, political thought and linguistics, were vindicated in their pursuits by Retsuhime's edicts on advancement. After the Empress chose Kyuden Asako for one of her early winter courts the former role of Shinden Chukan as the hub for enlightened learning was restored. By the end of her reign most Clans had undergone some process of normalisation of ties with the Phoenix, though no going as far as to seek an open alliance. As Asako humanities thrived, culminating in the creation of the Blue Tiled College in Nikesake in 487 by its governor Asako Itsuo, who was Ryohime's second child and the brother to the family daimyo Asako Kuneho, the Reju were allowed to engage the progressive northern scholars in development of the Four Colleges. It's been the close collaboration between the Phoenix and the Imperials that has brought about their current status as first-rate places of learning, but also strengthened Phoenix influence in the capitol area, mostly because of the clever insertion of the Nasu in the work of the colleges they knew all too well from prior times. Arguably the brightest mind of the era, a polymath Asako Hisau, whose theories, discoveries and inventions in many sciences go well ahead of current times, is among Nikesake graduates. His assistance in combating foxpox has won him, and the Asako, much goodwill in the Imperial Court and Crane provinces. Those positive developments turn bleaker, however, when compared to the plight that befell the Phoenix in 470s and 480s. First, it was a Yobanjin invasion that drained the resources of the Clan. The Shiba were not enough to stem the barbarian tide, while the Isawa chose not to oppose the gaijin, letting them lay siege to the Lion-controlled Castle of the Faithful Bride. The Lion entered the Phoenix territory, and the Empress eventually caved in to the petitions of the Ikoma to grant Lion Champion Akodo Toru the title of shogun for the duration of the campaign. Even though the Yobanjin threat was overcome, the Lion wasted no opportunity to impose effective occupation over Phoenix provinces, either directly or with the help of commandeered Imperial Legions, finally meting out the justice for the Gozoku era. Toru's political immoderation, however, led to re-emergence of some old alliances, and eventually most Clans and the Emerald Office decided to support the Phoenix in demands for quick termination of the campaign. The disruption to the Phoenix provinces the Lion occupation had caused would take years to overcome. Except the Phoenix likely don't have those years. With no commercial port of their own they have been losing out on the modernity race that was fuelled by the contact with the outside. It would require just a slight Imperial policy shift for the Lion to come to exploit their weakness again. Few had ideas how to remedy that, for serious rapprochement with the Crane or the Dragon was still rather difficult to accomplish. But one man had an idea. Isawa Takao ascended to the Council as Master of Fire at the age of 21 with the commitment to restore Isawa centrality and to develop viable magical means to deter the Lion from further undeclared invasions. History, also Phoenix history as recounted by the Asako, remember him as a fool whose bravado in challenging the Oracle of Fire in 489 proved to be his undoing. But those who knew him personally, like Moshi Aizu, could tell a different story - of a brilliant man who knew full well the risks associated with what he would attempt, but took them nonetheless for in his mind only wielding the power of the Elemental Dragon through his Oracle had enough destructive potential to give the Phoenix credible deterrence against the Lion. He tried, and failed. And his failure would carry such a heavy cost. In the aftermath of Takao's reckless attempt the anti-shugenja edicts of the Veiled Emperor were a crippling blow to the Phoenix, tearing the Clan apart along the fault lines that had been all too easy to define. By then, the southern and the northern Phoenix were deeply estranged toward one another, and all plans to put the Clan back together had met insurmountable odds. Put in the terms of a prisoner's dilemma, both Itsuo's faction and the Council chose to defect, leaving Asako Kuneho and the Champion Shiba Sawayanagi in mostly empty middle. Itsuo fully supported the Throne and helped enforce the decrees in the Reju Colleges to the hilt. The known Masters chose to defy the edicts completely. They abdicated from their positions, severing contact with the rest of the Phoenix and the Empire, leaving the administrative powers over Isawa provinces to their acolytes. Their allegedly reconvened in new composition as the Shadow Council or the Masters in Hiding, but the only notable person who has retained contact with them is Moshi Aizu, Lady of the Centipede, an unfathomable slight to the Phoenix Champion. While the public faces of the Clan keep the appearances, it can be convincingly argued that the Phoenix Clan as Rokugan knew it is no more. That the foundational pact between the Tribe of Isawa and the Kami Shiba has been severed. Right now the sustainability of illusion of Phoenix unity hinges mostly on Itsuo and his mother as they have the best chance to politically prevent the Lion from dealing the final blow. Many Phoenix fear that what is about to happen is for them to share the fate of the Ki-Rin. In those dire times they ponder many options. It is said that one of the most vividly explored is that the Three Matrons, Retsuhime's younger sisters, shall bring their progeny, leaders of the Gusai, the Asako and the Daidoji together, for a pre-emptive action against the Lion, but so far such an arrangement has been pure political fiction. One reason is the great disdain Kuni Tokaji, the Jade Champion, has for the Phoenix, what has so far effectively prevented any alliances with the Phoenix to form. A perspective of facing both the Lion and the Crab at the same time is unappealing to any kind of coalition. Not all agree to the Phoenix split as final. Over the last several years a new otokodate has emerged, unlike many if any before it. They call themselves "The Naka" (中 - the Middle) and use the appropriate kanji as their symbol, though it is no mystery that most of them are former Phoenix, bushi and shugenja alike. They may be hundreds or thousands of them already, and they are spread wide across the Empire, as if looking for something. Their leadership or their real agenda is unknown, but one with some knowledge of history could recognise their narrative, the callback to the Grand Master of the Elements Naka Kaeteru who had once put the Phoenix Clan back together when it almost stopped to exist. The Eternal Phoenix needs to die to be reborn, and while the Clan has been testing new lows over the passing century again and again, perhaps this is the time for the grey ashes to grow into fiery wings again. |
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