The Iryalen Declaration, 261 SA

[Fishy 2709]

The Iryalen Declaration, 261 SA

In effect as of the Year of the Nyazoku, 261 SA (560 Kamijikan)

 

 

 

PREAMBLE

Since our arrival upon Azuras, the Kurai-Kuni Shugonate has endeavored to dwell in peace with its neighbors as the lands were settled and our shinka cultivated. However, in spite of such efforts, trespasses against the Shugonate have repeatedly threatened the continent’s harmony, for which answers must now be sought. Toward this end, the Kurai-Kuni Shugonate formally issues an ultimatum to the Forests of Iryalen to resolve these matters. Should this ultimatum go unheeded, then all necessary measures will be taken to achieve our satisfaction. 

 

The deadline for this ultimatum is issued for one year from the proclamation of this missive, 262 SA. 

 

 

ULTIMATUM

 

Article I

The Forests of Iryalen have harbored subversives who sought the downfall of the Kurai-Kuni Shugonate. These hostile agents, under the influence of Seisho Ehiba, a breaker of oaths and spreader of sedition, were given shelter in a heretical temple known as ‘Rokudo’ and bestowed lands as a vassal of Iryalen. 

Toward this end, the Shugonate makes the following demands:

 

1. The Forests of Iryalen will recognize the Kurai-Kuni Shugonate as the sole cultural hegemon of all Oyashi, and will refuse and relinquish any and all Oyashi vassals and tenants.
2. The Forests of Iryalen will recognize the Kurai-Kuni Shugonate as Protector and Defender of the Farfolk. 
3. The Forests of Iryalen will turn over Seisho Ehiba should they once again appear, extraditing them to the Kurai-Kuni Shugonate as a traitor and fugitive of justice.

 

Article II

The Forests of Iryalen have allowed and permitted several druids of their circle to grievously harm other druids, made threats to other druidic circles, and have laid threats upon an Onna Musha of Kurai-Kuni.

Toward this end, the Shugonate makes the following demands:

 

1. Caius, known as the Bog Druid, be turned over for un-attunement for his violent and hostile actions, toward others and nature.
2. The Spore Druid, a known associate of the Bog Druid, be turned over for un-attunement and interrogation as to their relations with known necrotic entities. 
3. Arcelia, a known associate of the Bog Druid, be turned over for un-attunement and interrogation as to their relations with known necrotic entities. 

 

Article III

The Forests of Iryalen have overextended themselves in the maintenance of lands of Eastern Azuras. In this deficiency of control, non-state actors have taken root, organizing attacks on clergy of the Empire, esteemed allies of the Shugonate, and setting the stage for future conflict. If left to its own devices, this shall only foment future conflict and turmoil in the region. In the interest of peace and harmony, this cannot be left as is. 

 

Toward this end, the Shugonate makes the following demand:

 

1. The Forests of Iryalen will release the Western Forests [tile_black_forest_north_1] to the control and occupation of the Empire of Man.

 

SHUGO-SAMA Tsukinomiya Honda, Dai Yondaime, Yōbushi of Machiman, Father of the Land of the Heavenly Thunder, DEFENDER OF THE FARFOLK and the rightful Shōgun of Oyashima.

 

[Mallow 243]

Tsukinomiya Mikaze, while listening to his father-Shugo list off the demands to some druid, was distracted by all the mud huts for homes they had. "This is such a downgrade. ." 

[CelestialMochi 580]

"Siding with Azdrazis, taking in fugitives, and protecting Draoi..." Ichika shakes her head. "Sonna was my Guide...and this just makes me disappointed." 

[Phersades 1710]

"I have never met a larger pathetic group of people. The Shugonate has gone downhill terribly to force unattunement on Caius of all people." Murmured Vayan Vulnrith within her home in Caurost. "It is even funnier when you realize he hardly spends his time in Iryalen to begin with, not enough for this missive to matter to anyone. I do not even think the Spore Druid or Arcelia do either... They may as well be myths, but we both know how certain druii love to make assumptions based off of nothing. It is almost as bad as that time Caius had his entire home burned down.. You know the one hidden in the caverns. They pretended they had no clue who did it to the poor Bog, but yet they are such great investigators to pick out shadows to prosecute." 

"It is just another pathetic ploy to undermine Iryalen and to make themselves feel large as they once were in Du-Loc." The woman tore the page once "Iryalen had been on good terms with the Shugonate for so long, I wonder which sensitive bug Caius had poked too hard this time." She tore the pages again "I mean really.. and you have to imagine that this demand was only 'substantiated' by other Druii with weak stomachs, as they have always been. I can pick them out name by name." Once more the paper was torn a third time, and she'd drop the pieces on the table at her side. 

"Any thoughts?" She'd ask of her brother "Surely not, you are just as absent as the three Druii they picked from a hat." @Spoopy_Duck

 

Spoiler

I thought it was a joke but the metameme is true. "GUH HES A STUDENT (BLANK) WHOS A STUDENT OF (BLANK) WHO KNOWS (BLANK) IRP, WHOS ALSO ASSOCIATED WITH THE (BLANK) DRUID GAH GET THEM!!"

 

[Ardory 2978]

Raiko no Kami, the Kami of Raijima, watches as a discarded or wayside missive flutters and floats over the Summit of the Sky. The deity, still chewing a relatively large chunk of a GRUB BUCKET Soft-boiled Egg, watches the paper fly towards the great sea. He stops chewing, watching it drift until it is nothing but a speck onto the stormy skies, disappearing in the distant black clouds. For the first time ever, the Kami wondered, what else was out there?

[Reckless Banzai Screamer 15456]

"You should've never snitched on the Special Operations Force, you pink witch," seethes a violent and incredibly petty green shinobi putting the blame on them.

[Metamancy 1759]

An Cheong-Won, who had, in time, come to be a great Kurai-Kuni loyalist, gazed out at the sea as the rain on Raijima continued to fall.

Her feet spread out wide, her hair came undone from its usual bun, and her arms splayed forward. She lost herself in the worship of the storm spirits, for no one was watching - wild, free, and twenty-years old again.

 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

 

The woman, now in her mid-forties, gasped with heavy, heaving breaths as her yearly ritual came to a close. She wiped at the sweat falling from her brow, grinning wildly.

It was then that the memory tugged at her. The venture out to Iryalen, the demands made. Her smile widened as she gathered her things and made her way back towards the gates of Yorumachi.

Justice. That was what was being served.

She hummed a tune to herself, an anthem that had found itself in her heart, as she pictured the justice that would come to the wood elves.

 

For Kurai-Kuni.

 

"Arirang, ariyang, arayio. . ."

 

Spoiler

  

20 minutes ago, Phersades said:

I thought it was a joke but the metameme is true. "GUH HES A STUDENT (BLANK) WHOS A STUDENT OF (BLANK) WHO KNOWS (BLANK) IRP, WHOS ALSO ASSOCIATED WITH THE (BLANK) DRUID GAH GET THEM!!"

cope . . .

 

[jqsmlne 460]

Liriana wondered what a simple elf could have done to cause all this. You would think the man killed people!

 

 

[lemonke 6014]

"I had warned them. My sensei, Aspen-dono. Our arts will perish if politics become involved in this way; it is only a matter of time before aspects look upon our gifts with disappointment." An oyashiman now residing far away from Azura commented after a messenger had brought her this missive. She carried the red squirrel on her shoulder, sighing. That little animal was a memento of an era now past, though she wondered how this would land. How do her brothers and sisters survive through this? "My little Haven was no vassal, but if the world considers it as such, not much can be done, can it? Little squirrel?" She hummed along. "Much to build a place free from all politics and drama, only to be used as an enforced tool—to find a withered shard of what is union for them. A scapegoat for bloodshed. Ironic." A tear of sadness descended from her eye. The wrath and greed of man were beyond any recognition. She, who had spread no real secret, other than the name of an individual known by many, not out of malice, but because she entrusted this individual to teach her people and be calm, to help, but alas, mankind can be as paranoid as an ancient druid, thinking all will be your enemy for the sake to preserve something that will fade no less.  "Good luck, everyone. I only wish I could have resolved it without leaving a trace of chaos behind. For I never meant... war or to provoke the likes of Kurai. Still, I must move on, free. Never kneel to them."

[latte 2238]

Seiryu Hina, the Toad Onna-Musha was known for her questionable morals. Killing a hou-zi in the middle of Iryalen might've been one of those questionable choices. However, it activated her need for blood. She was ready to kill hordes of innocents, yet in the back of her mind a strange sort of guilt carried with her. This guilt was soon replaced by the insanely disturbing need for hyper-violence that was imbedded into her soul. "ten thousand Hou-zi to kill, ten thousand druids in tow! ....Perhaps we can cause a genocide of hou-zi out of this too!"

[Unwillingly 18096]

"How woeful, the folly of the Irrinites." Galahad laments upon hearing the news, an insipid sigh whisking from him as he sets a copy of the declaration aside. He tells a guard in his company, "The Oyashi have shown kindness to us in the past, and most honorably extended their good-will when our people similarly suffered political slight. I care little for the reservations others withhold. My best wishes to them both for a bloodless resolution." 

[Adelemphii 1766]

A lone girl moved through the undergrowth with the quiet certainty of someone who had long since learned to live without walls. When night fell, she chose a patch of earth beneath an old cedar and settled there, lowering her hood only once she was certain she was alone. From her satchel she drew a crumpled missive taken from the last settlement she dared approach. The parchment unfurled in her hands, moonlight tracing the ink as she read the ultimatum line by line.

Her expression didn’t crack. No fear, no guilt- only a slow, steady tightening of the jaw. They blamed Iryalen, blamed the druids, blamed Ehiba-sama… blamed anyone but themselves. The same men who invaded her temple twice, who hunted her like prey, now positioned themselves as victims. She scoffed quietly. These declarations were not justice- they were excuses. Excuses to chase ghosts, to seize land, to control anyone they deemed lesser. She saw it clearly now, with a clarity she would never have had a year ago.

Folding the missive, she tied it neatly and tucked it away. Whether hiding or wandering, she was still a student of Rokudo. Ehiba-sama entrusted her with survival- entrusted her with the temple’s future- and she would not bend to men who spoke of “harmony” with blood still on their hands. If they wished to hunt her to the edges of Azuras, then let them try. The girl rose, tightened the strap of her naginata across her back, and vanished into the trees- quiet, hardened, and utterly unwilling to kneel.

[craneia 232]

"Absolutely Not." Are the only words uttered by one elder druid, who then tosses the copy of the missive into the fire - letting it burn as she exits her family home. 

[Tav 4336]

 

Spoiler

 

 

♫♪♫ | Overheated

 

The Bog made an effort to disconnect himself to what the overgrown city spoke relating to his trial, though jaded, and claimed to be wicked, he was still mali’ame; nothing cleansed the mind and soul better than a hunt. It was only until the sky gloamed, and stars began to encompass the horizon, that he fatefully encountered the declaration, stamped to a post upon the lesser travelled paths. He searched for only his name, and when found, released a huff through the nostrils. “A shame,” is all he could spare. Troubling news, but that’s not to say it wasn’t expected; soon enough the century-old tales would resurface. Gods knew how much his so-called kin loved to gossip.

 

Needless to say, the trip back "home" was abandoned. 

 

[Junoix 2301]

Sonna laid back against a branch high in the trees, her legs kicking back and forth as she puffed on a pipe of green. The missive came to her by way of fox, and as she read the missive, she couldn't help but allow a bitter smile to cross her features. 

There would no justice now - Not on this plane, from her hands or the hands of the 'ame. How could there be, when they are so small compared to the armies of Man? No, this vengeance would be slow, and only at the hands of higher powers than hers.

 

All she had to do was wait. Luckily for the aged elf, she had learned to be patient.