GM Note: The following connects a response to
This Post as well. I am only going to respond here, but this will grant closure to the other.
Two Phoenix strode into the empty Dragon forge as if they possessed every right in the world to be there. The man strode directly towards the forge, eyes wide, mouth open to breath in the hot air. The woman paused at the anvil and lifted a pair of tongues. Her nose wrinkled in disgust at the strange magic practiced here.
"They went ahead against my suggestion. The most recent letter from the Crane informed me of the Dragon's death and I believed it was necessary to deal with the matter personally. However," the woman bowed her head to the man, "I was not certain I could resolve the matter on my own."
The man sneered into the ever-burning forge as if daring it to sear his flesh. "You were right to summon me."
The woman was Isawa Hajioki, second-in-command of the Order of the Blessing of the Eternal Kami, a natural fire shugenja. When she had received Koutetsu's letter she knew she did not have time to respond properly. Instead, she had reached out to the most influential and potent fire shugenja she could trust.
Isawa Tenjaku, Phoenix representative of the Sentaku Tribunal, turned from the forge. "We will seal this passageway to the great spirit and then go and speak with Ashidaka Koutetsu about playing with fire. The O-Ka no Kami is angry, Hajioki-san. We must work fast."
Without another word the woman began to lay out ritual scrolls around the room. The man set up sticks of incense, small trays of prepared wooden sticks, and brought forth an old scroll with the dual heraldry of the Imperial Hantei and the Isawa Elemental Council.
"My lord! You can't!" Hajioki gasped as she realized what Tenjaku would offer up as sacrifice to appease the spirit. The document signed by the Elemental Masters and approved by the Hantei himself that granted Tenjaku the right to serve on the Sentaku Tribunal.
"You will not tell me what I can or cannot do." Tenjaku's words were spoken calmly, but with a firmness that would not be denied. "My position is secure. The document is important and holds great memory for me, but we need something to reach out and contain the great spirit."
The fires in the forge flared up as Tenjaku cast the scroll inside.
"Come forth, O-Ka no Kami and speak with your cousins in this world! We are Isawa, Masters of the Elements, and we beseech you to hear us!"
The forge flared to life in an instant. Heat rolled out in waves. Hajioki fell back involuntarily, eyes closed by the scorching heat of the flames. Tenjaku continued to chant until, finally, the spirit made itself known.
I WILL NOT BE CONTAINED.Simple words, but spoken with a fury to rival a volcano. A simple response, but Tenjaku felt it deep within his soul.
The forge roared to life. The two Isawa were drenched in their own sweat. Hajioki cried out and fled the forge, but Tenjaku could not for he was held perfectly still by the power of the kami.
I TAKE YOUR SACRIFICE, MORTAL. I GIVE IN TO YOUR DEMAND. THIS FORGE SHALL GLOW NO MORE. IT SHALL PROVIDE NO FURTHER CREATION TO THIS WORLD. ITS COALS SHALL GO DARK. BUT THE OTHER...Tenjaku shuddered and fell to his knees. The sacred document turned to ash before his eyes, but that was not enough. Such a simple sacrifice could not appease the furious Spirit of Creation. Tenjaku felt the spirit reach inside his mind and demand more.
The Isawa realized he had no choice. To refuse would insult the spirit and grant it free reign in this world. The fires would spread out from this forge and consume the whole district.
Tenjaku bowed his head and whispered. "Take it."
And just like that he felt the memory burn away. The day he stood before the Emperor and was granted his position turned to ash within his mind. The pride he felt, the swell of assured arrogance, all gone. For a man of his pride the memory meant more to him than the position itself.
And now it was gone.
THE OTHER FORGE SHALL REMAIN UNTIL MY WRATH HAS BEEN APPEASED!Isawa Tenjaku stumbled out of the forge of the dead Agasha Hiroshi, body and kimono smoking. Hajioki stood on shaking knees, her own face covered in soot. "It worked?" she whispered.
Tenjaku nodded.
"Then we shall go to the Murabai now and finish it."
"No." Tenjaku said in a whisper. "We will do no such thing. The Crane has cursed us. O-Ka no Kami demands his forge remain until such a time...until he decides it no longer is needed. We can do nothing, now, except observe the fallout of his actions."
Ashidaka Koutetsu knelt in a furious storm of heat and raw elemental power. The world, his world, had gone up in flames.
He had begun innocently enough hoping to appease the Spirit of Creation despite the loss of his Agasha partner. He had followed the simple methods of meditation and beseeched the great spirit to listen.
But it was a spirit of fire and fire must consume.
Koutetsu screamed. His world, his flesh, his soul was on fire and he could feel it burning him straight through to the bone. The forge roared with the words of the spirit.
I WILL NOT BE REFUSED. SHE MUST BE FOUND OR IN THE DAYS TO COME YOU SHALL FEEL THE WRATH OF THE SPIRIT OF CREATION AS IT REMAKES THIS CITY ANEW.Koutetsu collapsed on the floor, tears streaming. He reached up to a bucket of water kept handy to quench newly forged metal, but when his fingers tipped it down only steam poured forth.
Still, the fire wanted more. It would always want more.
He had been foolish to try this. Foolish to agree to the Agasha in the first place. Foolish not to realize that once given reach into the mortal world the Spirit of Creation would never cede control.
KNOWLEDGE, FLESH, MEMORY, OR TOTAL ANNIHILATION. GIVE ME SUCCOR AND YOU SHALL BE GIVEN TIME. GIVE IT NOT AND YOU SHALL BE BUT THE FIRST OF MANY TO FEEL THE WRATH OF THE SPIRITS OF THE FATHER'S HOME.A decision. A sacrifice. He had failed and the cost was his to decide. He could barely think amid the pain. What could he offer? What would he give up to contain this unbridled fury?
OOC:
The Agasha's forge is shut down.
Yours will remain open unless something unusual is done. The O-Ka no Kami is making of you a similar demand that the Rumbling Lord made of Akira. If you appease it by offering it a sacrifice, it will give you time. If you refuse, you will suffer tremendous damage and possibly die.
Choose:
- Knowledge - You will lose Rank 3 in Lore: Swords.
- Flesh - A sacrifice of your own body. This will leave you disfigured. You will gain Bad Fortune: Disfigurement in the form of hideous burn scars visible on your face and body.
- Memory - A vital memory. The O-Ka no Kami wants the memory of Chi-Yomi's final hour.
- Destruction - Choose nothing and accept the pain that comes. It will be tremendous damage to both yourself and the forge possibly releasing it into the city.