Seppuku

From L5r: Legend of the Five Rings

Seppuku is the act of ritual suicide. Seppuku is a means for samurai to atone for failure or dishonor. Successful completion of the ceremony will remove the stain of dishonor from a samurai's name, although it will happen posthumously.

Seppuku is not taken lightly and rarely occurs. Since samurai are servants to their lords, one must ask for permission to commit seppuku. Seppuku is performed with a wakizashi, the symbol of a samurai's honor. Normally the samurai's own wakizashi is used, but his superior may offer another instead. Being offered the clan's ancestral wakizashi is the ultimate gesture of forgiveness. Being offered a wooden sword is the gravest insult, insinuating that the samurai is insincere in his request or too cowardly to successfully perform the ceremony.

To commit seppuku without permission is an extreme denouncement of a dishonorable master's actions, and it does not absolve one of dishonor. Instead, it implies that the samurai can no longer stand to serve his lord for the shame he endures under their command.

Seppuku is often offered as an alternative to the more shameful mode of public execution- to have the privilege to even take one's own life in quiet ritualistic dignity rather than let a public headsman do the deed is an honor offered only to samurai. To refuse to commit seppuku when ordered (or after having the option offered) means the samurai is unrepentant of his acts- chances are, he would have his name stripped and become a ronin. In polite Rokugani society, to be forced to live with such dishonor is more vicious than any form of death.

[edit] Major References

• Game Master's Guide Page 69.
• Legend of the Five Rings, Third Edition Pages 31, 343.