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Post by Tanaka Kozo -Tnk (Tristan) on Jan 22, 2014 19:09:18 GMT -5
Mori Nagata (Deceased) Wizard of the Blue
Personal Mon of Mori Nagata, Wizard of the Blue.
This mon has been adopted as the personal mon by each successive Wizard of the Blue since the first wizard wore the mantle.
Mori Nagata was born 44 years ago, in the Year of Petals Falling From The Clouds. The fifth and final child of Mori Isao and Mori Hiroko. His family, a very minor and distant relation to the great Lords of the Mori clan, managed land in the extreme south of Yamaki, earning an income that placed them only marginally above the farmers who owed them obedience, who scratched out a meagre existence amongst the marginal lands at the foot of the mountain.
It was expected as a child that Nagata would join the ranks of the clan's military by being apprenticed to one of Mori Clan samurai. An action that would bring some honour to the family while at the same time removing a mouth from a table that could scarce afford to feed it. Thus at the age of 8 years he was taken by his father in the autumn months when they travelled with their tithe to Citadel of One Thousand Widows, the Palace of the Mori Kazuya, Lord of Yamaki and the Mori Clan. Here his father would seek a position for him in the army and would have but for a chance encounter with the Wizard of the Blue.
As Isao and Nagata led a single wagon driven by one of the peasant farmers up the long road to the citadel they where halted and required to move to the side of the road while the most noble Wizard of the Blue and his retinue travelled past them towards the Citadel. As the Wizard of the Blue passed by the crowd that had been pushed to the side of the road, with his personal guard, the Blue Dragon Warriors closely clustered around him in their brilliant lacquered armour, chased with images of sinuous dragons wreathed with lightning, the voice of child carried over the sounds of the crowd, "Father, why doesn't the armour have any men inside?"
The Blue Wizard came to sudden stop and he spoke, his piercing voice resonating with barely repressed power "Who said that?", as no-one spoke and the crowd was swept with sudden silence he spoke again, this time an ominous chill and sense of foreboding sweeping forth from him, "Who said that?" Without a word the crowd around Isao and Nagata shrunk back, revealing a concerned Isao shushing Nagata. "Why did you say that child?" the wizard spoke again.
As Isao shrank back, quailing under the gaze of wizard, Nagata spoke up with the courage of a child who has not yet learnt to fear, "Because I can see the spirits in the armour."
A week later as Isao returned to his families lands his fifth son not apprenticed to a samurai like many of his brothers, but to the Blue Wizard.
Little more is known about Nagata or his apprenticeship with the Blue Wizard until some 15 years later when in the Year of the Blue Lightning Pillar, the Wizard of the Blue announced that he would accept a challenge for his position, and that this challenger would be last wizard standing in a magical grand melee.
Nagata and the Blue Wizards 4 other apprentices quickly nominated, becoming the first 5 entrants into the melee, other challengers from amongst the apprentices of the other Paramount wizards entered as well as minor wizards keen for a chance to assume the mantle of the Blue.
No great detail exists of the battle as the site of the challenge was a set of barren rocks in the middle of the ocean a number of miles off the coast of Yakami. Astute scholars suggest that was both to shield the province from the damage that would be caused by the great discharges of magical force and might, but also to add additional challenge to the battle ensuring that the victor would be one who could not only defeat his enemies but also tame his environment. Observers from the shore describe great flashes of light and loud noises over the course of hours until in the hour before the settings sun a great standing pillar of lightning descended from the heavens and ground in the centre of the battling wizards before sweeping out in a great ring over the battlefield. They describe the pillar as pulsing with surges of energy some 12 times before the sun set and with it the pillar of lightning subsided.
As the pillar subsided, the seas dropped to a complete still and from the calm sea Nagata strode out from the ocean and spoke with the Wizard. Nothing is known of what they said, only that at the conclusion of the conversation the Blue Wizard drew a dagger, placed it against his heart, placed Nagata's hand on the dagger and then drove it home.
Thus began the tenure of Mori Nagata as the Wizard of the Blue.
Nagata's tenure as the Blue Wizard was quiet, he took a position in the court of the Mori Lord as an advisor but otherwise retired to his manor in the mountains above Yamaki and was rarely seen. In one of his infrequent visits to the court of the Mori some 9 years ago, he presented a young child, who he named as Mori Akana, aged maybe 5 as his apprentice. Based on a passing resemblance to Nagata, many assume that this is a child of his loins rather than one adopted into the clan.
Little more, past this is known about the life of Mori Nagata save that it has ended. In a dramatic scene at the Court of the Lord Mori Takeshi, in the Citadel of One Thousand Widows, Mori Akana announced that Mori Nagata was dead and that he, Mori Akana was the new Wizard of the Blue.
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Post by Tanaka Kozo -Tnk (Tristan) on Jan 23, 2014 16:54:42 GMT -5
Mori Takeshi (Deceased) 42nd Daimyo of the Mori and Lord of Yamaki
The Mon of the Mori Clan.
The Mon of the Lord of Yamaki.
When Mori Takeshi ascended to rulership of the Mori and Yamaki after the passing of his father it was assumed that this was the beginning of a great Era for the Mori. That after a generation of measured growth and accumulation of power, both political and military, that the Mori would be in a position to contest the Watanabe control of Nansei-Do.
The first years of his rulership showed this great promise. The Tamagusuku, long subjects of the Mori, who had been seduced by the Maeda where bought back into the fold and much chastised for their disloyalty. Mori Nagata, a distant relative ascended to mantle of the Blue Wizard and accepted a place at the court of the Mori, bringing prestige to the clan and the threat of dire magical retribution should any strike his family.
Then soon after the ascension of Mori Nagata the first in an endless torrent of misfortunes struck the Mori.
Mori Akio, his eldest son, choked on a chicken bone and despite the great efforts of the priests and nobles present he could not be saved.
Mori Rin, his eldest daughter, disappeared from the Citadel of the Thousand Widows never to be seen again.
Mori Shoji, his brother, an extremely experienced horseman, fell and broke his neck while hunting.
Again and again misfortune struck those of the direct line of the great Mori.
When he passed from this realm to the spirit realm some 30 years later there where no surviving direct descendants of the Mori. Instead only a slew of cousins, many times removed from the throne stood to inherit.
The Mori are now a shattered clan, whispered by many to be cursed by the vengeful spirits of the Akuna no Bokun, a vengeance, some say, for actions by the great hero Mori in the Gokai Taisan.
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Post by Tanaka Kozo -Tnk (Tristan) on Feb 23, 2014 20:16:03 GMT -5
Mori Akana 23rd Ao No Wushi 43rd Daimyo of the Mori and Lord of Yamaki
Mori Akana was first revealed to the Mori courts, and the world at large at a young age, now assumed by most reputed scholars to be somewhere between the 4th and 5th celebration of his naming day.
As Mori Nagata, the 22nd Ao no Wushi, entered the court of the Mori lords, surrounded by eleven of the mythical Blue Dragon Warriors, all eyes where drawn to the young child, almost hidden from view by armoured forms, who stood beside him. An otherwise unremarkable child, the only sign of his importance was his hair. Coloured the deep blue of the sea and the white of crashing waves, it rippled and surged in a rhythmic manner like the ocean. This unusual trait is a sign only seen amongst the most pure and powerful Mori bloodlines.
When Nagata claimed the boy as his heir, both magical and of the blood it sent shockwaves through the court. The courtiers tried in vain to identify which noble Mori lady had been seduced into the bedchamber of the aloof and severe Mori Nagata. However they could identify no lady of noble blood who had been hidden from view for the time required to bear and birth a child. It is to this day a topic of conversation amongst the court who is the mother of Mori Akana.
As the years passed Mori Akana, like his father Mori Nagata, was infrequently seen at the courts of the Mori Lords. Instead most word of him is from the tutors hired to train him in all of the behaviours required of a noble. They describe him as a patient child, observant and careful. Making deliberate action when required. His bearing and mien is described as being great and noble. His conversation intelligent and insightful.
The next presentation of Mori Akana was to have been his presentation at the Winter Mori courts when Mori Nagata had indicated that he intended to present Mori Akana, as an adult.
It is here that I will present you with the words of the noted bard, Iida Hashin.
With a sharp echo the guard at the door thumped the butt of great beringed naginata against the tiled, the booming ringing out over the court and stilling the conversation. "Noble Lords and Ladies, the Ao no Wushi," here the guard paused momentarily, as though overwhelmed by what he was about to say, "Twenty-third of his name, Mori Akana".
The court dropped into a silence with the depth of the ocean, broken only by the subdued chattering of songbirds carried on the breeze.
Then into the room strode Mori Akana, flanked by four armoured forms of the Blue Dragon Warriors. He moved forward alone, until he stood before Mori Takeshi, seated upon a slightly raised dais at the far end of the hall. There he paused, making a low bow, one of equals. "Lord Takeshi," here he paused momentarily the silence deepening, "It is my sad duty to notify you that your cousin, and my father Mori Nagata has passed onto the spirit world."
Takeshi, seemingly shocked beyond normal politeness, gasped out "What? How did this happen?"
"A most unfortunate accident Lord Takeshi."
Lord Takeshi, raised his hand to his chest, clutching at his robe, as though grief stricken. Then his face contorted like a man suffering extreme pain and then he fell slowly, inevitably forward.
Here Iida Hashin falls into poetic licence and so I will instead repeat what is known to be true.
That a great stream of energy rose from the body of Mori Takeshi, forming a great cloud above the room. That from this great cloud of energy tendrils of twisted red and white reached down to touch the hearts of every noble in the room. That almost immediately the tendrils retracted from every noble not of Mori blood, and that then, seconds later the tendrils retracted from all the Mori nobles. The cloud then compacted forming a great ball, pulsing with energy before a spear of lighting shot out, piercing Mori Akana and down this racing spear poured all the energy until nothing remained of the cloud.
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