Hida-no-Kami

Hida-no-Kami
Born:	Unknown
Died:	Unknown
Parents:	Amaterasu Onnotangu
Siblings:	Akodo Bayushi Doji Hantei Shiba Shinjo Togashi (Half) Fu Leng (Half) Ryoshun
Spouse:	Mashiko
Children:	Hida Atarashi Osano-wo
Titles:	Kami Crab Clan Founder
People

Hida was son of Lord Moon and Lady Sun, and one of the Kami who fell to the mortal realm from the Celestial Heavens, alongside his siblings.

Heavens

Since the beginning of time, Lord Moon chased Lady Sun about the world. One day, he caught her, and as her light faded, the curtain fell on the age of the ancient races. Over the course of countless seasons, Lady Sun gave birth to ten children: Hida, Doji, Togashi, Akodo, Shiba, Bayushi, Shinjo, Fu Leng, Hantei, and Ryoshun. Fu Leng was openly despised by Lord Moon, and all their siblings did not know why. Unknown to them, Fu Leng and Togashi had a different father than the rest of their siblings, a Lord who Lady Sun met during her wanderings from an unknown land he called Tian Guo.

Fall of the Kami

Legends told that the Moon, jealous over Lady Sun's love for their children, swallowed their Kami children. This day was the night with no light, when Amaterasu wept for her children. Amaterasu saved her final child, Hantei, from being swallowed to save his siblings. Amaterasu trained Hantei in the martial arts. When Hantei and Lord Moon finally did battle, he sliced open his father's belly, and the rest of his siblings tumbled out. They fell from the sky to Seppun Hill, save for one. Lord Moon reached out at the last moment and grasped Fu Leng. Hantei swung his sword one last time and severed his father's very arm. Fu Leng tried to grab ahold of Hantei, and they both fell. Plummeting downward, Fu Leng plunged through the earth to Jigoku itself, where he was lost. Ryoshun's name was lost to history.

Founding Rokugan

The Creation of Mankind

In some places, the blood mixed with Lady Sun's tears, and from that mingling came the first men and women. After he arrived in the Mortal Realm, Hida became a legendary slayer of monsters, vanquishing primal beasts and creatures that threatened humanity.

Tournament of the Kami

No longer immortal, the Kami shared the mortal realm with human beings. They resolved to teach and guide these humans, and they held a great tournament to see who would lead those who lived in this land they dubbed Rokugan. Lady Shinjo outpaced Lord Hida, but she was outwitted by Lord Bayushi. Hantei was the final victor, and after his coronation as Emperor, he charged each of his siblings with a different task.

Crab Clan

Hida felt weak for the first time in his existence. As he bemoaned his failure, a passing monk remarked that identifying one's weakness was a form of strength. Hida took the stranger's words to heart and spent the following years mastering strategy. Shinsei had told Hida that strength, by itself, was insufficient for victory. Hida began to set about learning how to refine and focus hos strength with strategy and cunning. As he traveled into the southernmost reaches of the fledging Empire, his reputation as a powerful warrior preceded him. One by one, the warring tribes of this mountains swore fealty to Hida and the Crab Clan was born. He would guard against the growing darkness beyond the southernmost lands.

Monster Slayer

Hida was renowned as a legendary slayer of monsters. He beheaded the massive orochi that once menaced the rose-marble palace, and who was said to have ripped out one skull of the two-headed Kabuto no Oni and crushed the other head with it. Hida was cunning, and killed monsters not just with brute strength, but also by discovering and exploiting their weaknesses.

Defending the Empire

Occasional attacks by mysterious creatures skulking out of unexplored southern lands were noted by Lord Hida and the Crab Clan warriors under his command, who began to organize a defense. As the raids had no central command structure, however, they were nothing more than irritations to a warrior of Hlda's stature and the other groat champions of old.

War Against Fu Leng

But not long after the Kami had begun to order the world and formed clans with their earliest followers, Fu Leng emerged from his subterranean lair. He confronted Hantei because he had not been invited to the Tournament of the Kami, and challenged Hantei's right to rule Rokugan. Togashi was selected as the Emperor's Champion, who in turn selected all that lives in Rokugan as his weapon. Fu Leng assaulted the Empire with his dark army from the place which would be known as the Shadowlands, but they were eventually repelled from Rokugan by the Seven Thunders on what became known as the Day of Thunder. The Emperor Hantei commanded the Crab to build a wall to protect the Empire from the evils of the Shadowlands and from the corruptive power of the Taint. Hida and his followers created the “First Wall,” a belt of fortifications—watchtowers, palisades, and bulwarks—designed to block attacks from the forces of Fu Leng, which in time would become the Kaiu Wall. The Crab used slate-grey blocks fitted together to make a structure of thirty feet thick and a hundred feet tal. After a ferocious battle, the attacking horde was driven back.

First Son

In one battle Hida and his army saved a seaside village from a Shadowlands attack. Afterward, Hida met the leader of the village, a warrior named Mashiko and soon fell in love with her. They married, and Mashiko bore the couple a son, who was named Hida Atarashi.

Second Son

In the thirtieth year of the War against Fu Leng Hida began to despair of the interminable war against his brother. He met a priest of the Thunder Dragon, named Hekima, who offered Hida counsel, and from her Hida drew the courage and determination of the Thunder Dragon. A year after their first meeting, Hekima bore a son, whom she named Osano-wo, and not long after, Hekima departed on a pilgrimage. Osano-wo was raised by Hida and his wife. Eventually Hida Atarashi represented the Crab Clan on the Day of Thunder, when Fu Leng was defeated, but Atarasi died that day.

Aftermath

The Empire was saved, but the Shadowlands remained, a realm of hightmares that continued to haunt Rokugan. Hida swore his Clan would combat them, and his brother Hantei codified this as the Crab's duty to the Empire.

Families of the Crab Clan

After the Day of Thunder, as the clan and its defenses grew, Hida sought out the strongest and most capable of his followers among the Crab to act as his lieutenants. He challenged his followers to prove that they were strong enough to stand beside him. Three stepped forward. The very first was Hiruma, a hunter. Together, the trio embarked on a quest to slay Hajimeno Tatakai no Oni. Kaiu, a blacksmith, was the second to accept Hida's challenge, and the shugenja Kuni was the third. Working together, they prevailed and were accepted as the founders of the great families within the Crab, the Kuni, the Kaiu, and the Hiruma family.

Death

Hida was one of the last Kami to die, only survived by his sister Lady Doji, who was lost at sea shortly after she knew of her brother's death. Osano-wo became his succesor.

Preceded by: None	Crab Clan Champion 5 - ?	Succeeded by: Osano-wo
Preceded by: None	Hida Daimyō 5 - ?	Succeeded by: Osano-wo

References

This Crab Clan related article is a stub. That means that it has been started, but is incomplete. You can help by adding to the information here.