| Jade Hand | |
|---|---|
| |
| Created by: | Osano-Wo |
| First used by: | Kuni Hohiro |
| Currently in the possession of: | Buried behind the former Tower of Fear |
| Nemuranai | |
The Jade Hand was a relic created by Osano-Wo from a scale of the Dragon of Jade and was a powerful nemuranai against the Shadowlands.
History[]
The Jade Hand
Legend said that just prior to the Battle of the Cresting Wave - during the building of the Kaiu Wall - the young brother of Kuni Osaku, Kuni Hohiro, went to pray. Feeling powerless to help stop the hordes of Oni lead by The Maw awaiting the Crab, Hohiro pleaded and begged the Fortune Osano-Wo for help. Seeing that Hohiro was weak and asking for help, the Thunder God ignored the boys pleas. Hohiro returned day after day, making offerings, and praying with all his heart. Still Osano-Wo did nothing, but watched. Then, after many days, Hohiro left the shrine... convinced the god would never help him. Hohiro cursed Osano-Wo's name and said he would find a way to stop the Shadowlands himself. Impressed with the boy's new-found confidence and anger, Osano-Wo created the Jade Hand [1] from the scale of a Dragon [2] and gave it to Hohiro. [1]
The Hand stayed under the guidance of Hohiro's family until finally Kuni Hitu awoke in the middle of the night and left the Crab territories, in 1118. A single Hida guard watched the young samurai depart, and the guard claimed the only statement made by Hitu was "I hear his call." Hitu was unchallenged and disappeared, traveling north, [3] into the mountains of the Dragon. [4]
Omens[]
In 1123 a Solar Eclipse during winter court was thought by many to herald the return of a great hero, and that the Jade Hand would return. [5]
Hida Yakamo[]
Following a duel with Mirumoto Hitomi, Hida Yakamo had lost his arm and at the behest of his father Hida Kisada traded his name to Jigoku in exchange for a great Oni's Claw. He confronted Hitomi at the Battle of Beiden Pass, using the Claw to defeat his nemesis, although leaving her alive. [6]
Turning from Corruption[]
In time, however, he began to feel the corrupt energies of the Claw, and when after the failed assault on the Imperial chambers resulted in his father being mortally wounded, Yakamo was confronted by Togashi Yokuni. Yokuni told him to make a choice: Jigoku or salvation. Yakamo tore the claw from his arm and replaced it with the Jade Hand that Yokuni had brought. [7]
Prophecy[]
The Jade Hand was connected to a prophecy, and now that someone laid claim to the Hand, the prophecy began to unfold. The prophecy of the Jade Hand was at last complete, as Hida Yakamo was revealed to be one of the Seven Thunders. [6]
Second Day of Thunder[]
Using the Jade Hand, Yakamo cleansed his own Taint, helped cleanse his own clan, and led Crab armies to the gates of Otosan Uchi on the Second Day of Thunder. Although the power of the Jade Hand was immense, it served Yakamo little as Fu Leng used Yakamo's connections to Jigoku through the monstrous Yakamo no Oni to incapacitate the Hida. Yakamo survived the combat, eventually returning to the Crab to lead the clan for a short time. [8]
Death[]
During the Siege of Kyuden Hiruma in 1132 Yakamo traveled alone towards the Kaiu Wall to call reinforcements. He was captured in the Shi-Khan Wastes by Moto Tsume, the Hand cut off and discarded. Yakamo was imprisoned at the Sepulcher of Bone and was tortured and later killed by Kuni Yori. [9] Tsume still had the Hand and casted it in the Black Finger River, near the shattered corpse of Yakamo. [10]
Rebirth of Yakamo[]
When the naga Qamar knew that Yakamo had perished after his people abandonment of Shiro Hiruma, he commanded the Shashakar to locate the Jade Hand with his magical divination powers and dispatched Oseuth to recover it. He returned with an unexpected prize, the corpse of Yakamo. [11] The Shashakar sacrificed his life to the Child of the Pale during a magic ritual that merged his mind with Yakamo and restored the Crab Clan Champion to life. [12] [13]
Ascension[]
When Yakamo was resurrected by the Naga, the Jade Hand was still a part of him, influencing his movements and guiding him to his final destiny: as the second to Lady Amaterasu at her jigai, he ascended to become Lord Sun. [14]
Appearance[]
It was a left hand, wrist and partial forearm composed of segmented jade plates that when attached function as a normal gloved hand. The Jade Hand was known to be used as a replacement hand, but it was theorized that it could also be worn as a normal glove. [15]
Use[]
The hand could chose to attach itself or not if placed to a stump of a left arm. The Jade Hand functioned as though it were his biological limb. Once it was attached, the only way for a mortal being to part himself from the Jade Hand was to die, after which the Hand could be severed from his corpse. If it did attach, it would painfully burn away all Taint from the wielder, and rendered the person unable to be Tainted so long as the hand remained in place. It was made of eternal jade and never could be tainted or rot. [16]
New Jade Hand[]
Following the fall of Yakamo, and the ascension of the Jade Dragon as the Jade Sun in 1170, the Oracle of Jade Omen became the Voice of the Jade Sun. He began travelling across the empire to reach the capital, but on his journey he encountered Matsu Benika. Omen gifted Benika the Hand of the Jade Dragon, [17] which was not the same hand as the original. [18] [19]
Fate of the original Jade Hand[]
The Crab found the place where Yakamo fell, his body turned to a giant cache of jade. [17] Kuni Daigo, the Jade Champion, used the piece once was the Jade Hand to cleanse the ground around the previously unredeemable Tower of Fear. This piece must remain forever in the earth outside the Kaiu Wall, or the Tower would begin to regrow where it once stood. [20]
Wielders/Owners of The Jade Hand[]
- Kuni Hohiro
- Togashi
- Hida Yakamo
- Togashi Mitsu (Thousand Years of Darkness timeline)
Parallels[]
Jade was the purity of Lady Sun in Rokugan, and Yakamo eventually replaced her. Similarly, Mirumoto Hitomi acquired the Obsidian Hand, the essence of Onnotangu's evil in Rokugan, and eventually became the new Lady Moon.
See Also[]
External Links[]
- The Jade Hand (Imperial)
- The Jade Hand Exp (1000 Years of Darkness)
- The Jade Hand (Siege: Clan War)
The sources relating to this article are in conflict with each other. |
| A Hero's Death claims that Jade Hand was cut from Hida Yakamo's arm by Moto Tsume after Shiro Hiruma was stormed. It is not clear how the Jade hand remains with him following the resurrection. |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Time of the Void, p. 77
- ↑ The Jade Hand (Siege: Clan War flavor)
- ↑ Time of the Void, pp. 77-78
- ↑ Magic of Rokugan, p. 79
- ↑ Winter Court: Kyuden Seppun, p. 82
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Hitomi and Yakamo
- ↑ Firelight, by Rob Vaux
- ↑ The Two Deaths of Yakamo (Time of the Void story Cards)
- ↑ A Hero's Death
- ↑ Hidden Emperor, p. 41
- ↑ Hidden Emperor, p. 52
- ↑ Clan Letter to the Naga #11 (Imperial Herald v3 #3)
- ↑ The Empty Pyre (Honor Bound flavor)
- ↑ Legend of the Five Rings: Third Edition, p. 23
- ↑ Time of the Void, p. 78
- ↑ Prayers and Treasures, p. 118
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 The Sun & Moon, Part II, by Shawn Carman
- ↑ Hand of the Jade Dragon (Path of the Destroyer Title)
- ↑ Vacant Throne, p. 117
- ↑ Vacant Throne, p. 118
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