Night of the Sacrilege

“Takeno, Samurai General”
by Matt Cavotta © Wizards of the Coast

Standing in front of one of the windows in Daimyo Konda’s throne room, on top of Eiganjo Castle, General Takeno was watching the vast and desolate Araba Plains. As far as he could see, they were nothing more than dry wastelands with deep cracks and craters. They hadn’t always looked that way. Towabara had been a lush and prosperous region covered with fields and quiet villages. The people had lived safely and in peace everywhere in the kingdom that Lord Konda had built.

“ Hisoka, Sensei of Minamo ”
by Donato Giancola © Wizards of the Coast

Then, that fateful night had come. Takeno still remembered it perfectly in spite of the twenty years that had gone since then. The ritual had taken place in this same room, with Hisoka the wizard and one of those treacherous Soratami present. When the wizard had finished his long incantation, the smoke that swirled from the brazier had taken a golden hue and then condensed in a shining sphere, looking like an opening to another world. Konda had thrust his hands in the smoky portal, eyes wide open in spite of the blinding light, and had taken from it a molten stone disk so hot that the three other men had moved away.

“ That Which Was Taken ”
by Adam Rex © Wizards of the Coast

Hisoka dispersed the golden smoke, the Daimyo had placed the disc over an altar. It had hung in the air, hissing and crackling while cooling down. Then, with a strange mesmerized look in his eyes, Konda had ordered Takeno, Hisoka and the soratami to leave him alone near what had been up to then the Myojin of the Cleansing Fire. That same night, the Daimyo’s concubine had given birth to his only daughter, Princess Michiko. But Konda hadn’t even considered seeing her. He was more interested in the ritual he had just accomplished, a ritual that he thought would bring eternal glory and peace to his realm.

“ Eiganjo Castle ”
by Wayne England © Wizards of the Coast

However, the future had revealed the opposite. During the following months, for the first time in history, hostile spirits had manifested themselves. They had taken form in the physical world and had attacked their own worshipers. The Towabara Plains had been quickly turned into a wasteland, and fear had spread over Kamigawa, a sinister era brought upon by those who until then had been the bearers of hope. Only Eiganjo Castle had been spared so far, and Takeno believed he knew why.

“Konda, Lord of Eiganjo”
by John Bolton © Wizards of the Coast

A familiar whistling noise drew him out of his reverie. He turned and saw the Daimyo, transfixed in front of the altar. Still suspended in the air, the stone disk seemed to have heated again. Seated cross-legged at the foot of the altar, Konda had his eyes set on it as if he were hypnotized. Takeno looked sadly at the person to whom he had sworn allegiance. The Daimyo had been a benevolent lord, guiding his people with strength and wisdom but, after that tragic night, madness had claimed him and he had turned away from his kingdom to focus only on the altar.
Whatever the ritual Konda had accomplished twenty years earlier, Takeno was certain that it was the reason for the wrath of all spirits, and the origin of those cursed times. Perhaps a kami had been imprisoned by Konda in this disk, and his brothers were trying to free him? Maybe the only way for Kamigawa to live again would be to shatter the stone disk to appease the kami?
But all those questions were empty for Takeno. As long as he would live, the General would serve his Daimyo, even if he had lost his sanity and had taken all Kamigawa with him in his madness.

Glossary (click on the chosen word to return to the text)
Towabara (“Eternal Fields”): The name given to the great plains of Kamigawa, united by Konda in a single kingdom.
Soratami (“Sky People”): A race of humanoids with light blue skin and long hanging ears. They are also called moonfolk. The graceful and civilized Soratami are wizards, seers and scholars. They are a very secretive people, and, according to the legends, they live in a fantastic city hidden in the clouds.
Myojin (“Shining God”): The five Myojin are the most powerful spirits on Kamigawa, and each of them represents one of this world’s powers: justice, knowledge, power, passion and creation.
Kami (“Spirit”): All things in the material world, from the smallest to the biggest, have a corresponding kami, their representation in the spiritual world.

Text © P.O. Barome

Illustrations © Wizards of the Coast

This story was inspired by the Kamigawa™ cycle trilogy of Magic: the Gathering™ official novels,
by Scott McGough.