Isawa Akuma

Isawa Akuma was a shugenja from the Phoenix Clan who lived in the 3rd century. Obsessed with the power of names, Akuma found himself drawn to the study of the oni of the Shadowlands. He went as far in his studies as to capture an oni, which proved to be his undoing. The oni stole Akuma's name, forcing him to wander the Shadowlands insane, until he was killed by the Kuni.
== A Plan Conceived ==
Akuma was obsessed with discovering the secrets of identity. He spent many years studying the records of the finest libraries in Rokugan, but was not satisfied with the results. His studies eventually led him to the Kaiu Kabe, where he spent time observing the foul creatures of the Shadowlands firsthand, especially the monstrous oni.
Akuma eventually came to realize that the answers he sought were not to be found within the Empire. Feeling his studies in the libraries of the empire were at an end and that his time on the Carpenter Wall had run its course, Akuma set out into the Shadowlands to attempt to discover the answers he so desparately sought. His plan was labeled suicide by his comrades within the Crab Clan, but Akuma could not be swayed.
No one would ever see Isawa Akuma again. Way of the Phoenix, p. 72
== In the Blighted Lands ==
Isawa Akuma traveled in the Shadowlands for several years. He would capture smaller oni for interrogation and study, but he carefully avoided the larger and more dangerous creatures that roamed those lands. His time with the Crab had convinced Akuma that the secrets for which he was searching could be found in the oni. Way of the Phoenix, pp. 72-73
== A Plan Foiled ==
In the year 283 Secrets of the Phoenix, p. 10 Isawa Akuma eventually found the secrets which he sought. He underestimated the power and cunning of an oni that he had captured, and the oni stole Akuma's name and escaped. Because of his search, Akuma had lost the very thing he hoped to find. According to recorded history, Akuma's mind was shattered from the event, and he wandered the Shadowlands until he was killed as a madman by one of the Kuni who had warned him of the foolishness of his quest. Way of the Phoenix, p. 73
Uncoincidentally, the year of Isawa Akuma's death was also the year in which Oni no Akuma first made its appearance. Legend of the Five Rings; Third Edition, p. 11
While official history marked both the demise of Akuma and the birth of the Oni Lord happening within the Shadowlands, the reality was that both events happened in hidden Gisei Toshi. The oni was summoned indeed to answer the questions of the Isawa family about the Underworld. The Book of the Shadowlands, p. 100
== Return as a Dark Fortune ==
Upon the death of Akuma no Oni in 1173, the Spider Clan claimed the spirit of Isawa Akuma was elevated as the Dark Fortune of Power Afthermath, Part 2, by Shawn Carman by Daigotsu, shortly after the Dark Lord became the Master of Jigoku, in the month of the Goat. Imperial Histories 2, p. 254
== External Links ==
* Akuma's Power (Seeds of decay)
Category:Phoenix Clan Members
Category:Dark Fortunes