of the Scarlet Forest

Those were dark times for the Sunrise Isles…
The seas turned red and crushed upon our shores. The mountains ripped apart, spilling death beneath them. The skies turned black with ash, and with no light, the land grew cold and destitute. Hunger came. But who was to blame? Some kitsune accused their kin for all misfortunes – some great offense, they said, committed against the heavens; others blamed the kami themselves. Yet kami and kitsune died alike. I, Takumi, tell you this – the cause of our misfortune we still know not, but what followed was our own doing.

With the passing of the Shogun, the old order fell. Their masks removed, all proprieties had been forgotten. Kitsune turned against kitsune. Always priding ourselves in our sophistication, we had become the very beasts we looked down upon. Each village for itself, alone against the world. Scattered, weak.
And then came the gaijin…

The gaijin arrived on our shores seeking plunder in fast wooden ships. With them, they brought their gaijin god – yakuna-kami – a yomi from hell, a god spreading plague. Scattered, hungry, still fighting each other for petty loot, and now sick – the kitsune fell easy prey to these foreigners. But as hardship and suffering brings out the worst in us, it too, at times, brings out the best. This was a time when great heroes began to emerge, aiding their fellow kitsune and showing compassion. The wheel had turned.

Amidst the ruins of the old order a new clan began to rise – the Scarlet Forest, and with it – the Sunrise Isles began to see hope. With Princess Fumiko at its head, the old weak kami were forgotten and a strong new power took their place. Inari. And soon the crops began to grow anew. Extending friendship to its neighbors, and generous aid where it was not expected, the Scarlet Forest received much gratitude. Many sought the clan’s protection, flocking to its ranks. The fight against the gaijin began.

Many battles were fought and much blood was spilled. Many great heroes died and many more were born. But when the dust cleared, the gaijin fled back on their ships, and those that remained lay dead.
After a long night, dawn had finally come to the Sunrise Isles, and with it – a new order. What does the future hold now? That, I do not know. I am but a mere poet. But it would seem that princess Fumiko would not be content with the Sunrise Islands remaining ignorant and isolated from the affairs of the gaijin beyond. The wheel turns.