Shimushigaki

The Shimushigaki was a powerful gaki returned from the Spirit Realms following the second rampage of Iuchiban. It was originally a powerful Bloodspeaker in the armies of the foul sorceror, named Shimushi. Bells of the Dead, p. 36
== First Appearance ==
In 830, twelve shugenja journey to Wall Above the Ocean mountains to investigate an outbreak of plague. They valiantly sacrificed their own lives to banish the gaki. Bells of the Dead, p. 8 A shrine was erected in their memory, and the monks of that shrine believed that so long as the Bells of the Dead ring regularily, the Shimushigaki could not return to the mortal world. Legend of the Five Rings; Third Edition, p. 16 Since that day Shimushi dwelled in agony inside a cave, where the realms of Ningen-do closely touched Gaki-do. Bells of the Dead, p. 34
== Second Appearance ==
In 1088 an Asako Inquisitor, Asako Nakiro, embarked upon a quest to study the Shimushigaki. Shimushigaki attacked him and the Inquisitor was almost killed. Instead the gaki had left a piece of itself in the centre of his soul which allowed it to control Nakiro almost completely. Nakiro once tried to fight this control, but his willpower to fight such a spirit was destroyed over many years. 
=== Dajan's Kolat ===
Nakiro allied with a kolat, Daidoji Dajan, and both formed a new group, the Dajan's Kolat. Dajan used extreme methods, including drawing upon the Shimushigaki's link to Jigoku to take the name of his lieutenants and bind them to onis. Bells of the Dead, p. 9 When seeking the Shimushigaki, Dajan had found a castle near the shrine, in the mountains, waiting for him. The castle did not exist, it was simply an extension of the Shimushigaki. Those who wandered through the mountains never would find it. Bells of the Dead, pp. 30-31
== Ritual ==
Dajan and Nakiro devised the ritual Life's Blood of a Hero to bring the Shimushi to the mortal world in corporeal form, which required several life offerings and the sacrifice of a hero. Bells of the Dead, p. 35 In 1123 they bargained with the Scorpion general Bayushi Tomaru. He would recover his pride, attacking and destroying the Hare Clan. In return he had to pass Dajan two of the Hare Clan Champion's children, Usagi Ozaki, the hero, and Usagi Tomoe, a proper sacrifice for the ritual. Bells of the Dead, p. 16 The plan backfired when Ozaki managed to escape. Legend of the Five Rings; Third Edition, p. 18
== Destruction ==
In 1125 a group of samurai and Ozaki managed to find the fortress, confronted Dajan and Nakiro, while they were conducting the ritual. Dajan was killed, and his death sealed the ritual, as Dajan as any other kolat considered himself a hero of the mortal men against the tyranny of the gods. The gaki took Nakiro's human form, but it was defeated by the samurai. Bells of the Dead, p. 34-36
== See also ==
* Shimushigaki/Meta
Category:Gaki-do
Category:Creatures of the Shadowlands