Dark Edge Village

"Minna-sama," the Hare spoke up, just like the two previous days. "I am Usagi Tomoe, historian of the Hare Clan. The last two days we have shared history of some of the darker days in recent time, but today we shall look to the early days of the Empire, and to one of the oldest Minor Clans."

"But it all begins with Hida-Kami. Lord Hida had no family left after the Day of Thunder, as his son Atarasi fell on that day. In his mourning, the Dragon of Thunder came down from the Heavens and fell in love with the strong Kami of the Crab Clan - she became his wife and bore him a son; Osano-Wo."

"Osano-Wo was a great man in many ways: he was physically nearly as powerful as Lord Hida, a skilled leader and tactician, he fought hard and celebrated his victories even harder, and easily inspired men to follow him in both endevours. And he held his brother Atarasi in the highest regard and forged a most magnificent suit of armor that would await his brother upon his return, and today still, Atarasi's Armor awaits in Kyuden Hida for a hero with Atarasi's eyes to come and claim it."

"Lord Hida announced that he would go to find his lost son Atarasi, picked up his tetsubo, and went into the Shadowlands, never to be seen again. From that day forward, Hida Osano-Wo was the Champion of the Crab Clan."

"As his first course of action as leader of the Crab Clan, Osano-Wo decided to wage war on the Troll Kingdom which laid just south of Shiro Hiruma, and he personally saw to the destruction of the capitol of the Troll's. However, Osano-Wo realised that as he fought the Trolls, if he wanted to fulfill his vow of destroying his enemy completely, the losses to the Crab would be too great, and in the end, Osano-Wo relented, permitting the trolls to survive in the ruins of their Empire, which allowed his Clan to retreat and rebuild. Over time, Osano-Wo came to the realisation that the constant war of attrition with the eternal enemy would require more resources than the Crab Clan had at the time and his solution was to find a wife of a wealthy family. He looked long and hard, and finally decided on taking a Matsu bride - and so he married a high-ranking lady of the Lion, Matsu Kyoda."

"Matsu Kyoda was a fiery warrior and a skilled tactician, often pointing out strategic errors in commands and troop structure, and when she announced she was with child, Osano-Wo was overjoyed and threw a spirited celebration the way only a Crab could, with great amounts of sake and good spirits... and he awoke the next morning with an unknown peasant girl he had spent the night with."

"Nine months later, two sons were born to the two women: Kaimetsu-Uo and Kenzan. No one knew which child was born first, and Osano-Wo acknowledged them both as his own. Both were raised equally, yet Kaimetsu-Uo, his legitimate son, would beat Kenzan in every contest, though only barely. Osano-Wo was impressed with Kenzan's unbreakable determination to keep trying to beat his brother no matter how many times he lost. And as the two boys passed their gempukku to become adults, Osano-Wo chose to pass the Sword of the Crab Clan, Chikara, to his son Kenzan. Matsu Kyoda was so enraged at this, she left Kyuden Hida, taking Kaimetsu-Uo with her as they travelled to the islands of the coast of the Crab lands. These islands, the Isles of Silk and Spice, was where Kaimetsu-Uo declared that he had no need for his father's legacy and began his own; claiming to be the Mantis Clan."

"However, tragedy would befall the Hida family, as Osano-Wo was murdered while he was visiting the lands of the Phoenix. Hida Kenzan could not travel north because Duty compelled him to remain in Kyuden Hida and guard the Empire from attacks in the south, and he sent a plea to his brother Kaimetsu-Uo to seek justice for their father's death. Kaimetsu-Uo accepted this opportunity and swiftly tracked the murderer to Kyuden Isawa in Phoenix lands. The Phoenix first refused to open their gates, but when Kaimetsu-Uo cried out to his father for vengance, suddenly lightning struck the gates of the castle, causing them to open. The Phoenix saw this as a sign to release the traitor to Kaimetsu-Uo and the Phoenix soon enough petitioned to Emperor Hantei Genji that Osano-Wo be recognized as the Fortune of Fire and Thunder."

"The divinity of Osano-Wo and the notorious deeds of Kaimetsu-Uo gained a lot of recognition by many, especially for Kaimetsu-Uo's fledgling Minor Clan. But it would not be until the year 429 that the Mantis would officially be recognized by the Hantei as a Minor Clan, when they were granted the Family name of Gusai."

"The Gusai Family was founded when the Mantis Clan Champion Gusai won an argument with Emperor Hantei Kusada. Gusai proved to the Emperor that steel was stronger than words by drawing a concealed sword to the Emperor's throat. Gusai was awarded the family name for his bravado, for Hantei Kusada was a man known for appriciating the lesson of Shinsei that 'Fortunes favor the mortal man', but the Emperor could not let a threat to his own person go unanswered in such a manner, and after granting Gusai and the Mantis his recognition, he signed the execution of Gusai. In this way, the Hantei proved that sometimes the word could be mightier."

"Sadly, the name Gusai would only last three generations. In the year 510, the traitorous Gusai Rioshida attempted a coup and kidnapped the Emperor's son. The rest of the Mantis Clan, horrified at the actions of their Champion, recovered the prince and returned him safely to the Emperor, and the Gusai family were soon destroyed for their blasphemous actions. The Emperor acknowledged that the rest of the Mantis had stood against their lord's treachery and in his mercy allowed them to continue to exist as the Mantis Clan, but the name Gusai was ended."

Yuzuki found her way here, after hearing the Hare was doing a daily history lesson for the Unicorn and found herself hearing her own Clan's history.

And then Gusai came up.

After she'd spent so much effort trying to avoid having to mention him to the Unicorn the other day.

Still, the only sign that Yuzuki felt anything other than absolute neutrality at the story was the fact she'd crossed her arms. Waiting to see what others thought of the story.

"Huh!" Moto Baatar said at the conclusion of Tomoe's story. "Good story! But if Kaimetsu-Uo was Hida Osano-Wo's true born son, and even avenged his father's death, why couldn't his descendants keep the Hida family name?"

"It is a very good question, Moto-san," Tomoe smiled as she recalled the young man from the previous night. "But Kaimetsu-Uo had decided to forge his own path and create his own destiny, and some argue that he did not want to dispute his brother's right to rule."

"Kaimetsu-Uo went into the jungle in pursuit of his destiny, and met a great spirit who had known Hida-no-kami and recognize the Kami's blood in him. And it was after his meeting with the spirit that Kaimetsu-Uo called us the Mantis."

Tomoe acknowledge Yuzuki with a respectful bow, and shot Bataar a friendly smile. "We're lucky to have a member of the Mantis here, Moto-san. I appriciate your insight, Yuzuki-san," another bow. The Hare clearly took no offense to Yuzuki filling in the details. It made everything more interactive this way!

Monkhbaatar returned for another lesson, listening to the story intently. It was an interesting tale and explained why the Mantis had no family name. At Baatar's question, he paid attention to the answer. He may have been a bit older than Baatar, but he was just as much in the dark about the history of the Empire. The back and forth with the Mantis also helped to provide insight into the Mantis clan.

Yukarin manages to sit in this time, listening carefully.

Yuzuki wrote:"Kaimetsu-Uo went into the jungle in pursuit of his destiny, and met a great spirit who had known Hida-no-kami and recognize the Kami's blood in him. And it was after his meeting with the spirit that Kaimetsu-Uo called us the Mantis."

"Why Mantis?" Baatar asked. "Was the jungle spirit a giant Mantis?" The young Unicorn tried to imagine what it would be like, meeting such a monstrously gigantic insect deep in the jungle.

"No. It was a Koumori. A bat spirit. It told Kaimetsu-Uo of many things. Like the Seven Thunders. And Kaimetsu-Uo was inspired by that. We are called Mantis, because like the Mantis, we face foes much larger than us without fear, and with much ferocity. The Mantis resembles the strength of mortals."

"Oh." Baatar pondered for a moment.

"I think this story would make more sense if you had called yourselves the Bat Clan," he offered at last. "I mean, wouldn't you be disappointed, if you were a magic bat spirit and went to all this effort to inspire a heroic mortal, and then he went off and named his clan after some kind of bug instead?"

"I'm sure the spirit didn't take offense. The bat is a noble creature in its own right, but does not symbolize our clan the way the Mantis does."

"Well, okay then, I guess that's all right," Baatar allowed. "But if I meet a magic bat in the woods and it makes me found a new clan, I am totally starting a Bat Clan."

"It sounds like the Emperor is making people into Fortunes all the time in these old stories," he commented, changing the subject. "Do you think we can get him to make our clan champion into a Fortune, too?"

"It is certainly not impossible," Tomoe explained, which it wasn't, of course. "Perhaps you can share the stories of your Champion, so we can all learn of the great deeds of someone who might become a new Fortune?"

Much like how he expected the Mantis felt on the subject, Tenzo kept a neutral face but frowned greatly internally as the nasty business of Gusai came up. Threatening the life of the Son of Heaven, descendants taking one of His sons... good riddance to the lot of them. Quite thankfully, however, that whole stain on Imperial history appeared to have been been passed over for discussion other parts of the Mantis history, much to his relief.

"It is not something the Son of Heaven does often and not lightly either... but yes, such is possible, though very much reserved for those of great talent or heroic deed and and an exemplar of some aspect not already represented by a Fortune," the Otomo acknowledged in answering Baatar's question