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An Account of the Divine Empress’ Subjects’ Activities During This Time of War
The Fourth Week of the Month of the Dragon, Year 1172
My Empress,
Forgive me if I begin the description of this week’s events without the typical preamble. The truth of the matter is that I am simply exhausted, emotionally and physically, from the enormity of this task.
Last week I reported with great alarm a number of threats that had gone unanswered in the preceding days. It has seemed that I was not alone in my grave concern over what would take place as a result of those dire situations. In one instance, I reported an account of Destroyers appearing off the coastline near the ruins of Otosan Uchi. This threat was noticed and a unit from the south was dispatched to deal with it. As my herald reports, the commanders of the southern front believe that they are best suited to deal with the Destroyers and that the northern clans have no experience in the matter. This is true, of course, but I hope that the attitude does not create a rift between your clans before the wars have concluded. Regardless, the unit dispatched was the Hiruma Stalkers, a unit known for speed and proficiency. My herald further reports that the commander, Hiruma Todori, was hungry for revenge against the forces that prevented their reaching Shiro Hiruma, now lost far behind enemies lines, its fate ultimately uncertain. The Stalkers reached the shore in the dead of night and, if the report is to be believed, swam into the sea to board the Destroyers’ ship. There, they killed several of them, committed several acts of sabotage, presumably as a secondary plan, and then executed their primary plan: they scuttled the ship with the Centuriae still aboard. The Stalkers then swam back to shore. How they managed a task of this magnitude I cannot fathom; I can but assume they were operating under the influence of outrageous anger and hatred. Regardless, the unit’s losses were few, but my herald reports that Todori’s hatred remains unabated.
Although the waterborne Centuriae was destroyed, it appears that they were present in the area long enough to dispatch advance scouts to determine the best path to whatever target they ultimately sought, presumably within the Crane lands or, Fortunes forbid, the Imperial City itself. These scouts, an advance unit of reasonable size, consisted primarily of the strange human gaijin that we have seen accounts of in different Destroyer engagements. They appear mundane in most regards, although clad in unfamiliar clothing and wearing accessories that we are as yet uncertain of; they may be jewelry of some sort, or possibly a portion of some sort of restraint. Are these humans slaves? We do not know, and they speak only unfamiliar languages, so we cannot interrogate them. These scouts pushed farther inland and nearly reached the border of the Lion lands, dangerously close to the Imperial City itself, when the Shinjo Scouts intercepted them. The Stalkers had previously alerted the commander, Shinjo Dun, of their plan, and he moved his force in as a secondary measure. We are fortunate that he did so, for who knows what ill end could come of the scouts’ insertion near the Imperial City? Dun and his men eradicated the Destroyers’ scouts, leaving none alive. Their possessions are currently begin examined by a team of Kitsuki and Asako investigators operating under a mandate to try and determine how better to combat these men and their iron-clad masters, or perhaps servants? We do not know.
Similar to the Destroyers near Otosan Uchi, there was a Destroyer sighting near the Crane coastline farther south. The Centuriae aboard it grounded just south of the Spine of the World Mountains, near the Daidoji holdings. The Daidoji, being largely deployed in the southern provinces in the event of Destroyer incursions, were unable to respond to the threat in a timely manner. Fortunately, the allied forces of the Lion Clan Wardens and the Crane magistrates known as Lady Doji’s Eyes came together to intercept the Destroyers there. The enemy here made landfall, which dramatically increased the threat they pose. The Lion and Crane fought valiantly, holding them to a standstill, but unable to push them back, lacking as both units do a heavy infantry component with sufficient force for such a task. Fortunately, the Crane commander, Kakita Idzuki, called upon an ally traveling with them. This particular ally was an ise zumi named Togashi Gato, a traveling monk and master of several unarmed styles taught by his friend and sensei Taro, was able to circumvent the Destroyer front lines with his unique acrobatic flair. My herald reports that Gato was able to incapacitate the commander of this Centuriae with precise hand-to-hand attacks, and although he suffered some significant injuries, was able to depart the battlefield under his own power. The chaos sowed in the wake of the defeat was such that the Wardens and magistrates were able to turn the tide and drive the Centuriae back into the sea.
Dangerously close to the battle with the Lion and Crane, the Storm Riders of the Mantis Clan were dealing with a terrible outbreak of plague within their own small mainland provinces. The Mantis are a clan very interested in the well-being of their lower caste servants, similar in that respect to the Unicorn. Although the Islands of Silk and Spice where the clan’s power is strongest has as yet remained largely immune to the ravages of the plague, their mainland provinces have experienced occasional outbreaks, albeit in a limited fashion. This is the first major outbreak that we are aware of in Mantis lands, and the Storm Riders responded accordingly. With their powerful abilities, they were able to alleviate the suffering somewhat, but even with such powerful shugenja there is only so much that can be done via the kami. Fortunately, there was among those responding to the region a samurai named Tsuruchi Gidayu, a particularly wealthy samurai and merchant patron who expended vast amounts of personal resources to acquire the additional supplies necessary to comfort those affected. Likewise, the Mantis have among them a young gaijin woman named Arjuna Singh, related in some way to the samurai Yoritomo Singh whom you may recall from Winter Court. This Arjuna was able to utilize Gidayu’s resources to create herbal concoctions that, while unable to cure the plague, alleviated the symptoms to the extent that the mortality rate in this outbreak was remarkably low. And of course if any rose again from the disease’s effects, the Storm Riders ensured that their disgraceful return could be measured in mere moments.
You may recall, Empress, that the Scorpion have been waging a nearly single-clan war against the plague that has ravaged their homeland and spread to the unaligned lands around their provinces. It seems that their assistance to the Dragon in recent weeks has not gone unnoticed or unappreciated, as the Dragon’s famed Justicars have traveled to the Scorpion lands to assist them in dealing with yet another in a terrible series of outbreaks. The oft-put upon Bayushi Elite Guard isolated the infected area and went in to perform whatever grisly tasks they deemed appropriate in order to have proper containment, and the Justicars maintained a proper perimeter, ensuring that no one who attempted to depart the area bore any signs of the plague. A unit of duelists trained by your former family among the Kitsuki is a dreadfully effective force, I have been told.
And so it seems that my report this week is largely positive, for which I am grateful, but I can no longer allow my hopes to rise, as they have been dashed again and again during this season of war. In particular, I am horrified by reports of a plague outbreak near the unaligned lands between the Scorpion and Crane lands that appears to be huge out of all proportion compared to previous outbreaks. Entire villages wiped out to a man, all within riding distance of one another. What’s more, initial reports, while difficult to trust because of the panicked nature of those who experienced the area, seem to indicate that the rate of reanimation in this region is vastly, vastly higher than previously recorded. If this is true, we could be facing the sudden appearance of an enemy force possibly numbering in the thousands, and placed well behind the southern front. I am not a military man, but I fear what this might mean.
Ever your servant,
Miya Shoin
Imperial Herald
