Gisei Toshi

Gisei Toshi -- the City of Sacrifice -- is a myth to all outside the Phoenix, and most within as well. The City of Isawa had been long believed to be destroyed by a disaster, but in reality, the city was rebuilt and kept secret from all of Rokugan. The city is so secret that its population is reported to neither the Emperor's census takers nor tax collectors. Because of this, among the very few who are even aware of its existence it is sometimes called the Hidden City. It was founded in the year 1, as the Isawa Calendar marks its beginning by the founding of the city.

Treasures of Gisei Toshi
Gisei Toshi is the final resting place of the Tao of Shinsei, as well as many other artifacts that the Isawa have collected over the centuries that they do not want known to the empire as a whole. Gisei Toshi is also the city in which Shiba knelt before Isawa. After his oath, the Phoenix Kami even lived in the city with his new followers.

Gisei Toshi also contains the original seven temples to the Seven Fortunes. The Fortunes were worshipped by the Tribe of Isawa even before the Kami fell, and after the family's acceptance into the Phoenix Clan and Rokugan as a whole, their worship spread among the rest of the empire. (Phoenix pp. 20-21)

Unkown to other Phoenix families, each of the seven temples contains both of the most important and the most dangerous artifacts in all of Rokugan. They are as follows:


 * Yajinden's Scrolls which can be found in the Temple of Ebisu .
 * Gusai's Corpse which can be found in the Temple of Hotei.
 * Karasu's Sai and Mask which can be found in the Temple of Daikoku.
 * Shiba's Shadow which can be found in the Temple of Benten.
 * Yobanjin Flying Carpet which can be found in the Temple of Fukurokujin.
 * Morihono's Cipher Scrolls which can be found in the Temple of Jurojin.
 * The Black Scrolls which can be found in the Temple of Bishamon.

Some of the other items hidden away in the depths of Gisei toshi includes:
 * The sword Hunger; forged by Togashi Nyoko.
 * A bronze lantern from the Burning Sands, taken from the Scorpion Clan.
 * The white pearl that imprisons Kuni Yori and Iuchi Karasu.
 * The Bloodsword Ambition, and the skull of Sanzo, the ronin who last wielded it.

(SoPhoenix, p. 82-85)

The Asako and the Library of Gisei Toshi
Shortly after the death of Shiba, the Isawa found out that Shiba had shared his secret with Asako, but left their family completely unaware. It is not known how the Isawa found out the of secret's existence, but they did not discover the nature of the teachings of the Asako until centuries later. When the Asako refused to share the information with the Isawa, the Isawa expelled all of the Asako from the City of Sacrifice, never allowing another to set foot on the city's soil.

Unfortunately, the Asako family had been tasked to be the librarians of the city's great library. Unable to retract this mandate, the Isawa instead forced the Asako librarians to lead lives sequestered within the library, never again setting foot outside. These librarians ever more led sheltered lives, completely devoted the the scrolls they kept. (Phoenix pp. 30, 45-46)