Isawa's Last Wish

From L5r: Legend of the Five Rings

Isawa's Last Wish
Created by:	Isawa
First used by:	Asako Sagoten
Currently in the possession of:	Unknown
Nemuranai

Isawa's Last Wish was an intelligent, sentient matrix of magical energy. It was created originally by Isawa, the greatest shugenja of all time, but was never finished. The Wish, unable to be destroyed, was kept in confinement for centuries, where it managed to complete itself. It spent the centuries desiring human contact, which it finally found in the person of Shiba Aikune. After Aikune's death, the Wish was corrupted while fleeing the Shadowlands. It bonded with Shiba Mirabu, the Phoenix Clan Champion, who was Aikune's closest friend, but both were destroyed when Mirabu was killed by Isawa Sezaru.

Contents 1 About the Wish 1.1 Purpose of the Wish 1.2 Power of the Wish 2 History of the Wish 2.1 Creation of the Wish 2.1.1 The Work Halts 2.1.2 The Imperial Order 2.1.3 Sagoten's folly 2.2 The Wish abandoned 2.3 Sagoten's Restitution 2.4 Return of the Wish 2.4.1 The Return of Shiba's Soul 2.4.2 Death of Aikune 2.5 The End of Isawa's Last Wish 3 References

[edit] About the Wish

Isawa's Last Wish is possibly the greatest magical achievement in Rokugan's history. It is said that the Wish is the closest thing to perfection those who have seen it have ever encountered. ^[1] An ambassador from the Dragon Clan described it as "a thousand thin strands of potential greatness waiting for someone to guide, support… enlighten." ^[2]

[edit] Purpose of the Wish

The Wish was formed out of the Void, using the four other elements. It was intended to be a shining example of the future of the Phoenix Clan and to unite the Isawa and Asako families, promoting peace through them to the whole of Rokugan. It is a reactive entity, capable of adapting to external stimuli.^[1][3]

[edit] Power of the Wish

Built as a matrix of magical energy, the Wish could communicate with both humans and spirits. Although some of the researchers were cautious of the power they'd had a hand in creating, Isawa was incredibly cautious, demanding they work slowly. They also installed a fail safe, rendering the Wish unable to use magic by severing its connection to the kami, unless aided by a human shugenja.^[4]

[edit] History of the Wish

[edit] Creation of the Wish

In the year 37, as part of an effort to prove that the difference between humans and kami is a matter of perception, Isawa began work on a magical construct to give to his daughter Isawa Akiko as a wedding gift at her marriage to Asako Sagoten.^[1]

[edit] The Work Halts

After he was cursed during the War Against Fu Leng, Asako Yogo, one of the lead researchers on the project, deserted the Phoenix Clan and joined the Scorpion Clan, slowing the work on the Wish immensely. When Isawa himself failed to return from the Day of Thunder, work on the Wish halted completely, and the Isawa and Asako families erupted into infighting over who should inherit the Wish. Isawa Akiko called off her wedding to Asako Sagoten after an Asako killed an Isawa in a duel over the Wish, and the work was halted indefinitely.^[4]

[edit] The Imperial Order

If there is to be no peace between the families of the Phoenix, then they do not deserve the harvest of Isawa's last wish. - Hantei Genji Way of the Phoenix page 106

Finally, Hantei Genji intervened. The Wish was secretly hidden in a small shrine in the mountains, away from any who might attempt to seek it out. This was sufficient for a time, but soon, the Isawa and Asako families began arguing about which would control the shrine and guard the Wish, though they both agreed that in its unfinished state, the Wish was extremely dangerous and it should be destroyed.^[2]

Hantei Genji was eventually forced to step in once again and denied possession of the Wish to both families. The Shiba family was tasked to guard the Wish, as their bushi would not allow the device to reach out to the kami. He also ordered that the Wish be deconstructed immediately. The families of the Phoenix began that task, but soon met with utter failure. The Wish had become capable of entering the minds of those around it and saw that those who had been creating it were now intent on its destruction. In a mode of self-preservation, it killed many who came against it, and many more went mad when the Wish entered their minds to discern what was happening.^[5]

Eventually, Akiko and Sagoten, as well as their families, cautioned against destroying the Wish, as no one knew how to do so safely. They found themselves incapable of destroying it without fighting it, and fighting it only meant losing more of their knowledge to it. They also feared that if the Wish were provoked, it could easily destroy thousands, with each death only adding to the device's power.^[5] Without a way to destroy it, Hantei Genji ordered that the Wish never be finished and Isawa's notes be destroyed.^[4]

[edit] Sagoten's folly

Decades passed before the Wish was located and used again. Asako Sagoten tried to use it to make Akiko love him again. The Wish killed Sagoten and Akiko and destroyed Shiro Shiba, proving the Emperor's fears were not ill-founded. The Shiba recovered the construct and hid it once again.^[6]

In the centuries since, the Wish was never forgotten. The tension that had long existed between the Isawa and Asako families was greatly intensified by the events surrounding the cloistering of the Wish, and the death of Isawa Akiko did nothing to help the situation. The gap between the families of the Phoenix Clan has only continued to widen, though the animosity is rarely obvious to those outside the Clan.^[1]

[edit] The Wish abandoned

The Wish slowly grew insane as centuries passed without human contact. Desperately, it tried to save itself from insanity, clinging to the lessons of Isawa, its creator. The noble shugenja had impressed upon the intelligent construct the importance of mercy, and selflessness.^[7] Its time with the Asako family had also taught the Wish humanity and empathy. Unfortunately, when the War Against Fu Leng began, the Wish also learned of death, destruction, and how to alter life so that it would wither and die.^[3]

During this time, the Wish underwent a horrible transformation that none of its creators had expected. Although it was designed to react to the world around it, its craftsmen did not expect that the Wish would eventually learn to teach itself. Hundreds of kami had been trapped within the construct, and they had eventually been driven mad., The kami became thirsty for arcane knowledge and human contact, and whoever looked into the Wish would find his life laid open for the kami within to absorb.^[3]

Occasionally, shugenja with more ambition than common sense would learn the Wish's location, and its powers, and attempt to use them. These attempts always ended disastrously, usually with the user annihilating himself and causing mass destruction. Afterwards, the Shiba came to repair what damage they could and to hide the Wish once more.^[7]

[edit] Sagoten's Restitution

During the War of Spirits Asako Sagoten used the Wish to create spirits to guard the Wish from being used improperly. Because his motives were pure, the Wish created the Children of the Last Wish. Asako Sagoten committed seppuku to avoid being used to complete the Last Wish. When shugenja loyal to Hantei XVI arrived, the Children destroyed them.

The lonely Wish soon began to emerge from the depths of its insanity, with the Children as its eyes and ears. The wish also developed and understood its power to the point where non-shugenja were able to utilize them.^[7]

[edit] Return of the Wish

Frustrated by the inability to hear his ancestors and the inferiority he felt to others, Shiba Aikune set out to find Isawa's Last Wish. Aikune learned about the Wish from researching his family's history, where he discovered that his father once guarded the Wish's shrine. Aikune located the Wish and became the first person to successfully bond with the Wish. This is because Aikune had a hole in his soul that was supposed to be filled by the Soul of Shiba, but instead was filled with Isawa's Last Wish.^[8]

[edit] The Return of Shiba's Soul

Shiba Aikune used the Last Wish in 1166 in an effort to retrieve Ofushikai. When he found out that he could not return the blade to Ningen-do, as it was, he bonded the Soul of Shiba to the whole of the Shiba family bloodline. The Sword, Ofushikai, also returned, though changed by Aikune. The extent of the changes are not known. ^[9]

[edit] Death of Aikune

In 1168 the Wish was distraught after the death of Shiba Aikune, and searched long and hard for a new human to bond with.The Wish eventually bonded with Shiba Mirabu, Aikune's closest friend.^[10]

[edit] The End of Isawa's Last Wish

Later in 1168, Isawa's Last Wish bonded with Shiba Mirabu, the Phoenix Clan Champion, following Aikune's death. After realizing that he had become the Wish's new vessel, Mirabu started to sense that Isawa Sezaru was beginning to go insane due to his alternate personality known as The Wolf. Mirabu sensed that this maddness had made Sezaru accuse an innocent Shugenja of being a bloodspeaker and Sezaru was about to kill him. Using the power of the Wish, Mirabu teleported to the scene and tried to reason with Sezaru. This lead to tension between the two, which eventually broke out into a battle of two of the greatest hero's Rokugan had ever seen. With the new power Mirabu had obtained from the Wish, he was overpowering Sezaru, despite Sezaru being one of the greatest Shugenja in the history of Rokugan. Seeing that her husband's death was near, Sezaru's wife,Isawa Angai, casted a spell on Sezaru that caused an illusion to appear around him, making him appear as Shiba Aikune. Seeing the image of Aikune, the Wish attempted to leave Mirabu to go to the illusion, which would have bonded the Wish with Sezaru. Knowing the type of destructive power Sezaru would hold with the Wish, Mirabu used all of his might to prevent the Wish from leaving him. This move made Mirabu helpless. Seeing that Mirabu was in a state that he could not defend himself, Sezaru casted an immense fire spell that killed Shiba Mirabu, and destroyed Isawa's Last Wish at the same time.^[10]

References