Akasha

The Akasha was the hive-mind of the naga race. All naga were connected to the Akasha, as it held each of their souls. Because of this, all naga had a mystical connection to each other, always able to sense other naga, wherever they might be.
== Discovery ==
The Akasha was discovered when the Naga general Qatol led his armies to unify the Naga race. Qatol was known as the Warrior of the Bright Eye, due to the favor of the Bright Eye shining on him. As the other armies were preparing their last stand against Qatol a Naga boy approached Qatol and challenged him. Qatol laughed at first, but stopped when he noticed the favor of the Pale Eye shone upon the boy. Qatol offered joint rulership of the Naga to the boy, but the boy suggested they guide the naga rather than rule them. As the Warrior of the Bright Eye shook the hand of the Warrior of the Pale Eye all naga were gifted with a singular knowledge. Voices and visions filled their mind and the Akasha was revealed to them at last. The Bright Warrior
Other legends said the Akasha was created when the Pale Eye returned four of the five causes of War, as Svarbhanu, the first Naga, requested. The fifth cause was the sanctity of one's life which had been never taken from the Naga. The Pale Eye let the life of one Naga would be the life of all, and let the world they embraced, to embrace the Naga as well. The Akasha, the communal mind of the Naga, had been born. Way of the Naga, p. 6
=== Portals ===
The twin Eyes were considered the portals to the Akasha, necessary in order to understand the balance of all things. Way of the Naga, p. 19 The Naga Akasha was believed to exist somewhere in the Realm of Dreams. Rokugan, p. 176
=== Link with the Naga ===
When a Naga was born, their soul was taken from the Akasha, a collection of thoughts, memories and attitudes which were chosen seemingly at random. The egg, laid in a nest, matured for up to two years as the child-soul purified and readied itself for a new life. When it was finished, the egg hardened and split, and the hatchling was born. Way of the Naga, p. 25
== History ==
=== Creation ===
After the first Great Sleep the Naga race existed in the city Akasha, deep in Yume-do, superimposed over the Cobra city of Vyakarana. The collective racial soul, also named "the Akasha", laid at the heart of the city, in the Qatol's palace. Fortunes & Winds, p. 103
=== War Against Shadow ===
The Lying Darkness somehow had shattered the Akasha during the War Against Shadow. The Eternal Mind could still be reborn, listening to the Sun and the Moon. The naga had to seek peace in the solitude of the Shinomen Mori. The Burdens of the Clans, by Ree Soesbee
=== Second Great Sleep ===
The Naga in 1134 began the preparations for a second Great Sleep. The Naga Vedic performed rituals that would purify the Akasha, and two pearls were created by this process. A Golden Pearl and a Black Pearl, two facets of the Akasha, all that was pure, and all that was impure. The Qatol sent away both because they could disturb the rituals. The golden pearl was called the Legacy of the Naga, and gifted to the Empire. The black pearl lied in a Pearl Bed within the seas. Rulebook story (Forgotten Legacy), by Shawn Carman and Rusty Priske
=== Dark Naga ===
When the Thunder Dragon fell to the mortal realm in 1170, the Shahismael awakened and emerged, powerful and terrible beyond all imagining. The Shahismael abandoned its former identity and embraced a new one as the Dark Naga. Its power over the akasha was absolute. Siege: Heart of Darkness (Rulebook story) The creature exerted its full influence and reached the Akasha, twisting it. All who had been cast out from the Akasha, the Naar Teban, the Ivory Kingdoms abominations, those abandoned by the Naga through their history, all returned to the Akasha by the power of the Dark Naga. It would lead in 1198 in the War of Serpents. In 1199 the Imperial Legions driven the Dark Naga out of Rokugan. In response one thousand of the Naga were awakened, to avoid the Daak Naga ever returned. The Zenathaar bore the soul of the Warrior of the Bright Eye, leading the Naga race, and the Treaty with the Empire was renewed. Siege: The Heart of Darknes, by Shawn Carman
== External Links ==
* The Naga Akasha (Hidden Emperor 4)
* The Akasha (Siege: Heart of Darkness)
Category:Naga