What is the
Way? Shinsei will tell you. Look there, to the Tao of Shinsei,
or to the New Tao, and you will find answers. Or look to the
clans, to the great families of Rokugan, and see how they each
embody a path.
The Kakita will
tell you that every second, every breath, is art, and that by
their art of living they enrich the Empire. The Kakita are right.
Yet to find a Kakita who will share art without expecting a favor
in return, that is not so easy. Their breath is honorable but
tainted by expectations.
The Akodo will
tell you that war is honorable, because it serves the Emperor's
needs and what serves the Emperor protects the Empire. The Akodo
are right. But the Akodo have no time to think about the Empire
they serve and are always dragged into dubious situations by
the severity of their devotion to honor. Akodo do not take the
time to reflect until they turn fifty, cut off their hair, and
become monks.
The Isawa say
that they world is made of the Five Elements and that they are
the masters of those Elements. The Isawa are right or rather,
they would be right, if they themselves were the celestial Dragons
or the elemental kami rather than mere mortals who channel their
power. We are descended from a true Dragon, a master of existence
who did not need to make claims; he just was.
Now we Dragon
are assailed by the Phoenix, clearly jealous of our power, of
the ease with which the Tamori surpassed the Agasha's former
stature. In different times, this rivalry would mean nothing.
We Dragon are above petty squabbles. However, we are under assault
from our own lands, from volcanoes that have lain dormant for
eternity, only to roar to life and remind us that the mountains
are alive.
What path must
we take out of these perils? What more shall we do, besides relocate
a few of our farmers and fight for their new homes? Shall we
seeks to help choose a new Emperor, one to rise up and help us
with our troubles?
No, we shall
not. We will welcome a new Emperor or Empress, but we need not
fight new battles for the sake of any one of Toturi's children.
Toturi would not wish to to be so, and neither do we.
And yet each
of them has another lesson to teach us. Listen:
Naseru plies
the Court with his flatteries and intrigue. He is a clever man,
and knows well how to rule. Hantei Naseru does not expect to
become Emperor, but he acts as if he already were. He stirs the
courts do discontent so that he will be needed, but would anyone
do less?
Akodo Kaneka
grew up within his clans' close-knit ranks, and is a Lion to
the core. However, the circumstances of his birth have made him
thoughtful where the rest of his family is inflexible. Honor
binds him as tightly, but he knows that one failure does not
doom a life.
Tsudao spends
all of her time at war - or does she? Her troops call her Lady
|of the Sun, though she has never sought that name for herself.
Perhaps there is some echo of vanished Amaterasu in her bearing,
in her spirit.
Sezaru. Whether
behind his mask of walking plain-faced, Sezaru is best known
to us. He does not need a tattoo to understand the mysteries
of the Void. He learned his first magics at our feet, and he
has taken them to levels even his teacher cannot comprehend.
Time spent among the Isawa did not bend his steps from the path
he had already chosen. He is one of us.
So what is the
answer? One answer is change, and the willingness to accept change.
That is the
Way we Dragon learn anew every moment.