History
Nine-hundred years ago, in the Kaminaga sea, the battle was not panning out as the commanders of the Toyosaki clan had hoped. The very tide had abandoned them, the waters swallowed their vessels, one by one, in agonizing howls of flame and smoke. A fleet of a mere thousand ships could never brave the sheer numbers of the Imperial Military of the Shuzora Regime - artillery felled the heads of helmsmen and rowers, hurling thousands downstream.
The 10th Emperor of the Shuzora Regime, then still known as prince, displayed the head of his enemy in the centre of a storm of artillery fire and sinking fleets. His declaration of triumph brought an end to the Upheaval of Shinkiro, a dispute that began as a simple border conflict. The 10th Emperor’s army drove back the Toyosaki into their homeland, the isle of Nagara-shima, and took control of the east.
After the death of the Emperor, the Shuzora regime completely fell apart: There were no living heirs save the late Emperor’s five-year-old son, and a confidant of the Ake Shuzora clan was entrusted with the regency of the throne until the boy was of age.
Numerous skirmishes between the five branching Shuzora clans defragmented the final hold of control the regime held over Ashihara. In the 11th century, the Asa Shuzora which had defected several years prior, violently uncrowned the remaining imperials during the Fall of Yorigai Palace.
Seventy-thousand soldiers left behind a trail of smouldering forts and battlements after passing the Akabashi river. The deep rumble of their march, thunder and fire, closed in on the capital. After months of suppressing civil revolts, the imperial army was exhausted, and brutally overpowered by the revolutionaries.
The central authority of Ashihara had fallen into utter ruin. Bereft of their lords and masters, the regional powers clamoured to seize as much territory as possible, whether they were revolutionaries or loyalists. They fought uncontrollably for control over land and influence. This was the advent of the three-hundred-year war.
The reality was, on the contrary, quite simple: in spite of frequent civil unrest, life and business continued on as usual for the working citizen. Whilst the warring clans slashed each other to pieces, merchant guilds and civilian-owned businesses took advantage of the movement of their armies, benefitting from the toll and tax revenues put in place by regional lords.
The imperial lineage was left alone to fulfil a figurative and symbolic role. The Emperor was to devote himself to the worship of the Kami, Ame-no-asashi-no-hiruma-no-mikoto, and like many shrines of the era, was largely left alone in fear of divine rebuke. Any form of government during the following two-hundred years was a caricature of itself. The decades during these years were defined by many clans declaring themselves the effective ‘ruler’ of Ashihara, even though they were just as quickly stomped out and replaced.
An opportunistic partnership between prolific Asatera clans of the Yorigai region and the Hōyama clans of the Raga-Shisato territory shook the status quo. Being a major supplier of ore in the early 15th century, the Hōyama clan’s contributions lead to the invention of the Hinawajū (火縄銃, "matchlock gun"), an early form of firearms. The Asatera declared the Hinawajū to be a sacred contribution to their armies.
The coalition between the Asatera, Hōyama, Akeshina, Amanowara, and Minawata clans won several campaigns and managed to take control of the west. Through intimidation, bribes, or methods standard to most warlords of the time, many independent clans submitted to the authority of the Asatera.
As though fate were by their side, the clans of the Asatera banner subjugated the last independent clans during the middle of the 15th century, and moved on to control Imperial Capital.
No historian can deny that the Asatera employed Onmyoji to aid in their campaigns. During the warring ages, the San-meike was the sole educator of Onmyodo and loaned the services of Onmyoji, priestesses and scribes to many clans.
The San-meike distinguished themselves as the only independent clan that the Asatera couldn’t subjugate, and no sensible clan dared to challenge the emissaries of the Zōka Sanshin. A powerful information centre was born from allegiances made between these Onmyoji and the warring clans; the San-meike’s archived documentation of many clans survives to this day.
Employing these masters of the Go-dai became common practice throughout the warring ages. With the founding of the centralised government, the San-meike immediately imposed stricter requirements for Onmyoji to teach disciples.
Nearing the end of the 15th century, the Asatera government founded the Nakatasukasasho and began taking strict measures against violent conflict. The Public Safety Department was put in charge of keeping crime in check, and as of the establishment of the Onmyoryo, Onmyodo can only be taught and practised by licensed Onmyoji.
All that remains of the 10th Emperor’s reign are the ashes of his regalia and other belongings, enshrined in Shōhō Jingu, the ancestral shrine of the former imperial family. Despite there being little to no living relatives of the Shuzora Regime, the shrine is well taken care of - in necessary, but desperate, efforts to appease the fallen souls of the clan.
Ashihara as a sovereignity faces other challenges today. Most relevantly, unsafe strides in technology, the decentralisation of labour, and the social upheaval which results from it. Civilians aggressively criticise the need for the monarchy and the relevancy of the Go-dai in their lives. But it stands to reason that the Go-dai today are more relevant than ever. And it falls to the Renritsuin to observe this solemn fact.