From Ryoko Owari Toshi
16 January 2006
by Everett Johnson

To Kitsuki Iweko and Tamori Shaitung,

I know I am not a part of either of your families, but I journeyed for several weeks with one who was a part of both, in some ways. It is with great sorrow that I must report to you on the demise of Kitsuki Shaiyan, formerly a shugenja of the Tamori school. I wish I could say that he died with honor, but he died instead as a self-admitted maho-tsukai, having summoned an oni and given it his name.

For what it is worth, I do not believe that he actively pursued the black knowledge of maho, but rather that his intense desire to avenge his father's murder allowed the temptations of those ways to lure him into abandoning good. All the information I have been able to gather indicates that he likely only fell to the ways of maho within the last few days of his life. I have been able to find no evidence that he killed anyone after his fall, although his known crime of summoning an oni is severe enough.

I only happened on Shaiyan by chance. I had been invited to spend the Chrysanthemum Festival in the home city of a good friend, Shosuro Ridachi, along with a few others who had also journeyed with us, and Shaiyan, to Otosan Uchi this spring. Isawa Takako, Seppun Nikana, and Shinjo Yul attended, and we chanced to meet with another who had journeyed with us after Shaiyan had run away, Kakita Katai. During the festival, one of our number, though I cannot recall precisely who, spotted Shaiyan in the crowded streets.

Our search for him led us to the temple district, and from there to an eta district, where a shrine to Fu Leng was discovered, with signs of recent use. It is my belief that this was where, and when, Shaiyan turned to the shadow, and that it was not a part of his plans. However, at this point, we lost track of him, and may never have found him had we not encountered another former friend of Shaiyan's.

Kitsune Nyoko, who either truly loved Shaiyan, or at the very least, sincerely cared for him, also chanced across him in the city, and was warned by him to stay inside the city on a certain day, as well as to avoid a certain alley in one part of the city. Concerned for Shaiyan, she came to Shoduro Ridachi to try and enlist aid from us. We convinced her to keep her promise to avoid those places, but we proceeded to investigate ourselves.

At the end of the alley, we discovered the reason for Shaiyan's presence in the city. A supposed sandal shop, actually an opium den, was located there, and was run by none other than Naganori, the bloodspeaker who murdered Shaiyan's father, as well as many others in the lands of the Dragon. Due to some skilled questioning by Shosuro Ridachi, Naganori admitted, in the presence of six samurai, to using maho, and to having slain Shaiyan's father. I can report that Naganori has now been killed, as well as his apprentice and the few undead we discovered on the premises. His apprentice proved troublesome, as he grew disturbing claws, which he seriously wounded Kakita Katai with, tainting him in the process.

The very next day, we managed to locate and speak with Shaiyan. He seemed immensely different from the last time we had spoken, both in manner and in speech. When he was informed that Naganori had been slain, he demonstrated almost no emotion. I offered to escort him back to Dragon lands, to speak with his sensei or daimyo, at which time he made the statement that it was too late. Pressed on the point, he stated "It is almost here." Asked what "it" was, he replied, simply, "Oni no Shaiyan."

I was so stunned, and saddened, by this statement, that I almost missed the end. Seppun Nikana stood, drew, and decapitated Shaiyan in an instant. While I would have preferred to discover more about this oni, so as to destroy it more efficiently, I cannot find any blame in Nikana's action. Shaiyan had just admitted to endangering the very city by summoning an oni within the confines of the walls.

The oni was eliminated, with minimal property damage, and no loss of life that I am aware of, and information discovered in Naganori's rooms led to an ambush of the celebration of Fu Leng's fall and the killing of many maho-tsukai, though I was able to find no satisfaction in either event. In my heart, everything had already failed the moment Shaiyan admitted his crimes, and was killed for it. He had so much potential, and had already found love and friendship with Kitsune Nyoko. It is such a waste to have lost him so young. The world is a smaller place without him.

Lost young shugenja
Seeking ancestor's justice
Blinded by vengeance