The following is a timeline of the Ki-Rin's Exodus:
Early Events[]
Founding of the Empire[]
At the Dawn of the Empire, Lady Shinjo defeated Lord Hida in the duels to determine leadership of the new Empire. Using her superior speed and small size, she defeated her brother by using his strength against him. In turn, she was defeated by Lord Bayushi's deceit. From this experience she learnt to respect both the determination of Hida and the cunning of Bayushi. [1]
Confronting Fu Leng[]
Lady Shinjo departed the new Empire to confront her younger brother Fu Leng in the south. Fu Leng defeated Lady Shinjo in single combat to prove his ability to have won the tournament. Lady Shinjo learnt it was her compassion for all living things that distinguished her from Fu Leng, beginning her path towards ensuring the safety of the Empire. [2]
Preparing to Leave[]
After the Day of Thunder, each of the Clan founders took a role to serve the new Emperor Hantei. Lady Shinjo, distressed at the threat the Shadowlands posed to the safety of Rokugan, decided she must learn more of what laid beyond its borders to better arm the Empire against a future threat. She spoke to each of her siblings to prepare for the exodus. Each sibling provided her a lesson to protect her long journey. [3]
The Exodus Begins[]
Ki-Rin's Exodus
Using the Path of Woe to leave the Empire, [4] the Ki-Rin's Exodus began in the year 45. Shinjo left Rokugan and was accompanied by the Ide, Iuchi and Otaku families. She was given a blessed mirror, one of a pair, to keep in contact with Hantei. After a few months' travel, the Ki-Rin Clan came into contact with the Ujik-hai and defeated them in battle. [5] These men claimed to know nothing of their formation from Lady Sun's tears and Lord Moon's blood. [4] Many Ujik-hai soon swore fealty to Shinjo. As generations passed, these warriors became the Moto family. The Ki-Rin remained with the Ujik-hai for over one-hundred years. [5]
New Rituals and Laws[]
In the her time with the Ujik-Hai, Lady Shinjo worried that her Clan would lose its foundation in Rokugan. A blood ritual was developed to bind those adopted to the families with their new ancestral past. [6]
An incident occured in the Burning Sands where two members of the Ki-Rin Clan turned on each other, Otaku Shiko and Iuchi. To ensure the survival of the Clan, a strict law was enacted prevented bloodshed between Clan mates. This, among other innovations necessitated by survival, became the foundation of Unicorn law, called Shinjo's Law. [7]
New Magic[]
In 152 the Ki-Rin discovered the City of Sorcerers where they encountered powerful sorcerers to the west of the Ujik-hai lands. The sorcerers attacked the Ki-Rin and severely wounded Iuchi, who noticed his traditional methods of calling on the Fortunes for aid were diminishing beyond the borders of the Empire. He discovered and stole gaijin books and learnt meishodo while in captivity, a more primal form of magic which called directly on the powers of the elements. While proving more resilient to the conditions beyond Rokugan, the Iuchi family was forever changed by their new practices. As time passed, the Iuchi forgot the ways of Isawa and stepped beyond the Celestial Order. [5] [8]
The Oasis of Spirits[]
A year later, in 153, Shinjo she was lured beyond a stretch of mountains. In its foothold she discovered the Oasis of Spirits, a strange oasis in the desert and went to investigate while Otaku Shiko stood guard. Shiko fell asleep and woke to find that Shinjo and the oasis had disappeared. Shinjo returned one week later, seemingly several months pregnant. She disclosed nothing of her time in the oasis, save that the oasis was a passage to the Spirit Realms. Upon returning, Lady Shinjo understood that she had broken her vow to never left her Clan. She created another vow, promising that she would always return. [5] [9]
Shinjo's Children[]
Shinjo gave birth to five children, all of whom were shapechangers. The children favored human forms and that of the Ki-Rin. The children began losing the shapeshifting ability a year later and must choose a final form. Four children chose the form of the Ki-Rin while one while the strongest, Shinjo Martera, remained in human form. [5]
No Way Home[]
In 223 the Clan returned crossing the stretch of mountains back, but the Ki-Rin had the Battle with the Rocs, and were attacked by pale-skinned men and women riding gigantic rocs. The battle lasted several days and ended only when Iuchi called down the mountainside to crush the attackers. The tactic worked, but destroyed the pass that the Ki-Rin crossed, blocking their path back to the Ujik-hai steppes, the Burning Sands, and Rokugan. [5]
The Ki-Rin Divided[]
Shinjo split her mirror into four pieces and gave them to the leaders of the Ide, Iuchi and Otaku famiies and kept one for herself. The families split and went their own ways, each looking for a way home. The families each parted ways, while the Moto family accompianied the Ide family. [5]
Trials and Tribulations[]
From 225 to 442 each of the Ki-Rin groups encountered friends and foes over two centuries. [10] In 266 the Ide and Moto encountered the Ashalan. In 298 the Otaku run across their enemies from the City of Sorcerers and discovered that the sorcerers had learned to remove their hearts from their bodies and became immortal. In 305 the Iuchi combatted, and then made peace with, beings known as jinn. In 340 the Otaku escaped their bondage, bringing with them a herd of powerful warhorses led by a stallion called Vata. In 439 Moto and Ide scouts reached the port of Aqahba, from where the Moto sailed overseas and contacted the kingdom of Merenae. [11]
Reunion[]
Lands of Darkness[]
In 442 the Ide, Iuchi and Otaku each saw an image of Shinjo being assaulted by dark talons in their mirrors and rushed to her aid. They reached the Shinjo in a landscape very similar to the Shadowlands, where the Moto and Otaku fought to free the trapped Shinjo family and the Iuchi held the darkness at bay while the Ide tended to the wounded. [10]
Shinjo's Sacrifice[]
Once her family was safe, Shinjo ordered her clan to leave her. Iuchi Suasan, Ide Sunosa, and Otaku Fujiko grudgingly agreed and watched helplessly as Shinjo was swallowed by the Lying Darkness. They swore fealty to the only living descendant of Shinjo, Shinjo Yonaru, who declared that the clan was no longer the Ki-Rin, but the Unicorn. [10] They were children of a creature that carried both the blood of the Rokugani and the blood of all they had encountered. [12] [10]
New Tribulations[]
In 497 the Shinjo thwarted the Cult of Ruhmal in the Ivory Kingdoms. In 543 the Unicorn battled with a distant remnant of the ancient troll empire. [11]
End of the Road[]
The Unicorn continued westward for another 150 years. At the end of this journey, the Unicorn encountered a great sea. As the Clan leader Shinjo Sato debated whether to cross this ocean or return to the East, the mirror activated. Lady Shinjo appeared and warned of coming troubles to the Empire, of Thunders, and commanded her family to return through the Shadowlands. [10] [13]
Entering the Shadowlands[]
In 790 [14] the clan reached the border of the Shadowlands. Shinjo Nishijin was who stood at the forefront of the Clan when they entered the lands of the evil, with Otaku Sekigako, Iuchi Shino, and Ide Tadan at his side. There they fought minions of the Lying Darkness in a land that was not under the control of Fu Leng. When the first goblin pack appeared, after many years, they knew their journey was coming to an end. [15]
Return of the Unicorn[]
Doji's fan, used as proof of the Ki-Rin's identity
In 815, the Unicorn Return. The Unicorn arrived at the southern border of Rokugan, pursued by Shadowlands forces. A fifth of their Clan had been lost to battle or the taint. Exhausted and short of jade, they had no time to talk and were forced to fight through the Kaiu defenses. The Clan raced west, following the Kaiu Wall, and charged the assembled Crab at the western edge. After several pitched battles the Unicorn were finally recognized among the Great Clans when Doji's Fan was presented in court. [10] [16]
References
- ↑ Way of the Unicorn, p. 22
- ↑ Way of the Unicorn, p. 20
- ↑ Way of the Unicorn, p. 25
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Way of the Unicorn, p. 27
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 Secrets of the Unicorn, p. 8
- ↑ Way of the Unicorn, p. 30
- ↑ Way of the Unicorn, p. 28
- ↑ Way of the Unicorn, p. 33
- ↑ Way of the Unicorn, p. 34
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 Secrets of the Unicorn, p. 9
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Imperial Histories 2, p. 154
- ↑ Way of the Unicorn, pp. 36-37
- ↑ Way of the Unicorn, p. 37
- ↑ Imperial Histories 2, p. 163
- ↑ Way of the Unicorn, pp. 37-38
- ↑ Way of the Unicorn, p. 38
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