A SPEECH BY BASHO GENJI BEFORE THE
FRIENDS AND MEMBERS OF JOJII'S SWORD
It
is time for me to speak on several things, all
seemingly separate but inextricably connected.
Many of you remember how I recovered this ring,
how Pew dispelled a demon that was sent to kill
me. The demon drew its power from this ring -- a
ring I gave to my teacher Murasaki Tanka years
ago.
That was in Ispar, when I was a boy. He never
removed the ring. I still fear him to be dead.
There is no shame in admitting that my detachment
is tested.
Why was this demon sent? And what does it mean
for us now?
You must all surely remember the wars between the
Sho and Alluvia over the Porcelain Road, back in
Ispar. The Road -- it connects the Sho and the
Alluvian kingdoms, through the Gharun desert. The
sultans of the Gharun handle fine goods from the
Sho, and these goods set the tables of Alluvian
lords. C eramics and silks. Control of the Road
is control of the trade between and through the
great Isparian nations. So the Sho and Alluvians
fight, over and over. It has been a series of
wars without victors, only victims.
My part in this play began when Lord Yoshioka
Tempo called my master, Murasaki Tanka, to his
estate. I accompanied my teacher. I was only 15.
Lord Yoshioka demanded that my teacher train his
soldiers. My teacher refused. He would not become
involved in the war of wealth and power over the
Road.
We were hounded from that time forward by the
agents of this greedy lord. Everyone we touched
was punished. Everywhere that was home,
destroyed. Even a monastery of innocent monks,
and their orphaned charge, felt the wrath of this
lord.
"The cult that sent the demon to kill me
here, that infects Uziz and other places, was
hired by this Sho Lord. But the fact that a lich
lord hears their prayers in Uziz tells me that
more is afoot.
Reports from Shoushi are disturbing. One of the
cultists has been seen at the abandoned outpost.
Asoka prepared a report, and he will tack it to
our forum with a sketch.
Why go to such great lengths to kill me, when I
am already gone from Ispar? And why possess one
so innocent as Kikuchi Kentaro? We must have
answers before we act.
And, what if ... what if the Shadows are somehow
connected? What part do we play in their plans?
A small party of Sho warriors and merchants,
swept from the Porcelain Road by a portal storm
-- they may know. They arrived only recently in
Dereth -- in the Direlands, I am told. Rumors are
that they speak of strange cults making their
power known in the war over the Road. I must
speak with these Sho. Find these Sho and report
on their location in the Direlands. Make a
sketch, and deliver it to me. Do not betray your
purpose, there. They may be infiltrated by our
enemies. I will determine if it is safe to speak
to them on these subjects. Perhaps, if we are
lucky, we may even find them tonight. But I do
not expect it. |
NOTE: See the ongoing story The Great Precept for more information on the background to
this speech.
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