Black Scrolls

The Black Scrolls were used to seal away power taken from external sources. The power they contained usually transfer the taint to the scrolls, awakening new effects that would be unleashed after they were opened and read.

Before the Day of Thunder
The Tribe of Isawa used scrolls to purify the bodies and souls of the dead and bind them to the walls of Gisei Toshi, so that they might defend the city forever. These soul were connected to a realm beyond Ningen-do, and it would give a skilled shugenja some ability to manipulate their place in the mortal realm. These were the basis that Otaku saw and Isawa mastered to bound the soul of Fu Leng, originated from Tengoku and linked to Jigoku to be sealed in the scrolls. The Ninth Kami would be bound, but still alive. If the scrolls were opened, Fu Leng would awaken once more.

Original Twelve Scrolls
The first twelve scrolls were created by Isawa in 42 with pure blood magic to bind and therefore defeat Fu Leng on the first Day of Thunder. The idea for the creation of the Scrolls was conceived by the Unicorn Clan Thunder, Otaku. For more than one thousand years, the Black Scrolls held Fu Leng's spirit bound, until 1123 when the first Scroll was unsealed by Yogo Junzo.

Shosuro and the Scrolls
After Fu Leng was sealed inside the twelve scrolls, Hida Atarasi faced the First Oni. Shosuro was the only one who knew a way to leave the Fu Leng's Keep. Hida's son sacrificed himself to give time to Shosuro to take Shinsei and the scrolls and came back to Otosan Uchi. The First Oni chased them in the Shadowlands, and Shinsei charged Shosuro with delivering them to the Kami. Shiba appeared to confront the oni and again Shosuro gained time to escape. She complied and died in Bayushi's hands upon finally reaching the palace. Moved by her death, Bayushi demanded the right to guard the Twelve Scrolls, and was granted it by Hantei.

Yogo and the Scrolls
After claiming the right to protect the Black Scrolls, Bayushi entrusted them to Yogo. Since that day, the Yogo family has had the duty of guarding the scrolls. Only the Scorpion Clan Champion knew the location of all twelve scrolls. Each of them was hidden in different locations known only by the guardian of each respective scroll.

The First Scroll is Opened
Following the failed Scorpion Coup in 1123, the dis-illusioned Yogo Daimyo Yogo Junzo began opening the Black Scrolls.

The Masters and the Scrolls
In 1127, the Council of Five decided to open the three Black Scrolls in their possession to better understand the threat posed by the Shadowlands. The Master of Earth, Isawa Tadaka, had just returned from his excursion into the Shadowlands with the fourth scroll. Of the five Masters, only the Master of Void, Isawa Kaede, refused to participate, certain it would only result in disaster. The four scrolls were opened and much wisdom was gained, but corruption ran rampant through the Council, infecting the four Masters with the Taint of the Shadowlands.

New Scrolls
In the year 1168 a new black scroll appeared which seemed to be of gaijin origin and was not related to maho. In 1170 a Rokugani shugenja crafted another black scroll.

The Wasting Disease


"Let the courage of the seven thunders remedy this corruption."

- Isawa

The Wasting Disease was the first Black Scroll.

It was opened by Yogo Junzo in 1123 following the failure of the Scorpion Coup. It released a deadly plague that spread across Rokugan, bringing misery and death to all who contracted it. After Yogo Junzo's death on the Second Day of Thunder, the scroll passed into the hands of Iuchi Karasu. Karasu then passed it on to his wife, Iuchi Hiruko shortly before Karasu's imprisonment with Kuni Yori inside a Naga Pearl. Hiruko gave it to her daughter, Iuchi Yue on the day of her gempukku. It was kept in Shiro Iuchi until the scroll was stolen in 1160 by Shiba Michirou, a Asako Kinuye's servant and used in 1166, month of the Rooster, by a Phoenix independent bloodspeaker, Asako Kinuye, to wipe out a Phoenix village. The shugenja then passed it to Asako Hirotsugu who planted it on a captured Mantis vessel, which led to the beginning of the War of Fire and Thunder. This was an effort to weaken the new Gozoku that was growing in the Mantis and Phoenix Clan, and it could eventually had led in major coopoeration between both clans, what Kinuye considered not desireable. The Council of Five delivered the scroll to the Emperor Toturi III. The following Scroll's whereabouts were not precisely known, but it was assumed to be in possession of the Hidden Guard.

The Iron Citadel


"Let the truth of our purpose stand as a citadel against the night."

- Isawa

The Iron Citadel was the second Black Scroll. It was opened by Yogo Junzo shortly after the first in 1123, creating Junzo's base of operations deep in the heart of the Shadowlands. The scroll was one of the black scrolls stolen by Isawa Tadaka in 1126. It was used in 1165 by the bloodspeaker Iuchiban to enact a terrible ritual that covered the Empire in a Rain of Blood. In 1166 the Heartless used it again to make a new base of operations in the ruins of the Imperial Palace at Otosan Uchi. Its whereabouts since then were unknown.

Black Wind From the Soul


"Let our souls' wind rise and snuff out the flames of Jigoku."

- Isawa

The Black Wind From the Soul was the third Black Scroll. It was originally guarded by the Scorpion Clan, but sold to the Phoenix Clan by Bayushi Tesaguri in the sixth century. The scroll was one of the three opened by the Elemental Masters in 1126. Its whereabouts since then were unknown.

Walking Horror of Fu Leng


"A soul's sacrifice to purge the horrors from our land."

- Isawa

The Walking Horror of Fu Leng was the fourth Black Scroll. It was hidden away in the ancestral katana of the Fox Clan for nine hundred years, having been secretly placed there by the Scorpion Clan. The katana was found by Kitsune Ryosei in 1124 who returned it to the Fox Clan Champion, her father Kitsune Gohei. Gohei opened the scroll in a bid for immortality. Its whereabouts since then were unknown.

Dark Divination


"Let our minds be unclouded, may Tengoku be our light."

- Isawa

Dark Divination was the fifth Black Scroll. It was originally guarded by the Scorpion Clan, but sold to the Phoenix Clan by Bayushi Tesaguri in the sixth century. The scroll was one of the three opened by the Elemental Masters in 1126. It was Master of Air Isawa Uona who opened it. Its whereabouts since then were unknown.

Shapeshifting


"As the oceans shift, we shall adapt to cage our foe,"

- Isawa

Shapeshifting was the sixth Black Scroll. It was originally guarded by the Scorpion Clan, but sold to the Phoenix Clan by Bayushi Tesaguri in the sixth century. The scroll was one of the three opened by the Elemental Masters in 1126. Its whereabouts since then were unknown.

Touch of Despair


"And harden our hearts against the touch of despair."

- Isawa

Once a simple and powerful spell Touch of Purity was created by lsawa to combat the corrupting influence of the Taint in others. In fact. it is believed that Touch of Purity may have been the only true cure for the Taint that Rokugan has ever known. Sadly, like all the scrolls sacrificed by lsawa to seal the soul of Fu Leng in its lomb, Touch of Purity became perverted by the raw power of jigoku. Where it once cured the Taint, it now bestowed it on a large area. Its whereabouts since then were unknown.

Touch of Fu Leng


It was unknown who opened the Touch of Fu Leng, and when it was opened. Its whereabouts since then were unknown.

"As the touch of the dark one reaches for our souls,"

- Isawa

Return of the Fallen Lord


"Let the Ninth Son, the Fallen one be taken unaware."

- Isawa

Return of the Fallen Lord was the ninth Black Scroll. It was stolen by Bayushi Tesaguri in the sixth century and sold to the Lion Clan. It was later passed to Soshi Bantaro who used it in 1127 to attempt to bring deceased Bayushi Shoju back to life. Its whereabouts since then were unknown.

A Terrible Oath


"A terrible oath I now make to bind the darkness,"

- Isawa

A Terrible Oath was opened by Kuni Yori. It was supposed that Scorpion Clan destroyed it after the Second Day of Thunder, but in 1159 it was revealed in the Temple of the Ninth Kami, in hands of the Walking Horror of Fu Leng. Omen stole the scroll and passed it to Kitsune Ryosei, who gifted it to the scholar Isawa Maasaki in Gisei Toshi.

Doom of Fu Leng


It is unknown who opened the Doom of Fu Leng, and when it was opened. Its whereabouts since then were unknown.

"The doom of Fu Leng is upon us,"

- Isawa

The Twelfth Scroll


"Let the time of redemption be now at hand."

- Isawa

The Twelfth Scroll was the twelfth Black Scroll. It was hidden within the heart of the Kami Togashi, until it was opened on the Second Day of Thunder in 1128 by Mirumoto Hitomi. Its magical effect had long been lost and in its place was merely a blank scroll, however, it served as the final seal on Fu Leng's spirit, and its opening rendered the Dark Kami fully mortal. Its whereabouts since then were unknown.

Unknown Openings
The exact order of the scrolls was unknown. It was however known that Kuni Yori opened the 11th scroll, which was found by Uragirimono in the Phoenix village of Doro Owari Mura where it had been hidden by the Scorpion Clan and it was guarded by the Shosuro Daimyo, Shosuro Hametsu. The scroll was then later used by Kuni Wazinu to taint the Four Sacred Bells of Kyuden Seppun. It was possible the 11th scroll was the Doom of Fu Leng.

It was also known that Kuni Yori used a Black Scroll to grant Hida Amoro an army of undead. Exactly which scroll was unknown. It was possible this was the Touch of Fu Leng.

It was also known that the opening of the eighth Black Scroll fred the soul of Fu Leng, who emerged from the Festering Pit. The eighth scroll had not been identified.

The Thirteenth Scroll


Apart from these twelve scrolls exists the Thirteenth Black Scroll called Essence of Jigoku which was one of the Artifacts of the Tomb of the Seven Thunders found during the Battle of the Tomb. It was retrieved by Shosuro Aroru and brought before Bayushi Paneki and Soshi Yukimi. Yukimi identified it as a black scroll, but not one of the twelve originally created by Isawa to bind Fu Leng. She also believed it might not have been created by Isawa at all. Paneki ordered it to be kept safe by the Kuroiban. In 1169 the scroll was opened and read by Soshi Natsuo. Natsuo was driven completely insane and as a side effect the field became entirely devoid of life, becoming the Blasted Lands.

Research, Kali-Ma, and the Destroyer War
The Essence of Jigoku was created via elemental magic, and it contained, the essence of some vital portion of Kali-Ma's power, stolen from it through magic the rokugani did not understand, but not through maho. The Black Scrolls were used to seal away power taken from external sources, and Natsuo's ravings seemed to indicate that whatever was affected by the power was in some remote corner of the world, far from Rokugan. This Black Scroll could free them of a god whose time in the Empire has passed. It possibly released the spirit of Kali-Ma and starting the Plague War, also known as the Destroyer War.

In 1171 the Scorpion planted it in the place of the Essence of Destruction.

In 1172 Isawa Yutako discovered the deception.

Essence of Destruction


There was another "Black Scroll" known as the Essence of Destruction, which was used in 1170 by Asako Fosu and Isawa Mariko to bind the soul of the Oni Lord Kyoso no Oni. In 1171 was secured by the Scorpion Clan, and the opened scroll Essence of Jigoku was planted in its place.

Kyoso and Kali-Ma
Kyoso no Oni was not a truly Oni Lord. She was instead a Progeny of the Destroyer, Kali-Ma. Part of the power of the Destroyer had been in Kyoso's soul when she was created, so this power was contained now in the Essence of Destruction scroll. Yogo Kazunori discovered that this gaijin entity would regain full power and Rokugan could be destroyed by her if she would seize this fragment of power.

Quest for the Scroll
In 1172 Fu Leng, currently a mortal man after he had been severed from Jigoku and replaced by Kali-Ma as Champion of Jigoku, disguised as Furumaro manipulated a Rokugani group to seize the scroll. The group found it between the remnants of Scorpion ambushed by Destroyers. In 1173 Yoritomo Saburo opened it and Fu Leng recovered his divinity. Who created the scroll was a soul of incredible purity, and Fu Leng was not able to open it himself. He fouled Saburo, a soul of honor, to open it.

Kali-Ma had stolen Fu Leng's divinity, and this divinity had been taken by a pure soul and bound within the scroll. When the Black Scroll was opened, this divinity returned to his original master, the Ninth Kami, restoring him to his full power once more.