Daylight Castle

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Daylight Castle
For over four hundred years, Daylight Castle—also known as Shiro Hiruma, or Hiruma Castle—has been a sinister beacon shining from the Shadowlands, a constant reminder to the Crab of their greatest failure. Once, it was the heart of the clan’s defenses against the Shadowlands. In the eighth century, however, it fell to the Shadowlands, and it remains mired there still.

The History of Daylight Castle
In the earliest days of the Empire, Hantei, the first Emperor, ordered his brother Hida to defend against incursions from the vile realm known as the Shadow-lands. Hida and his followers created the “First Wall,” a belt of fortifications—watchtowers, palisades, and bulwarks—designed to block attacks from the forces of Fu Leng. Foremost among Hida’s followers was Hiruma, a skilled hunter and scout. Hiruma and his own followers proved so adept at preventing, detecting, and defeating attacks from the Shadowlands that Hida elevated Hiruma’s family in status within the Crab. In the heart of the lands granted to him, he established the Hiruma family’s seat of power, a powerful edifice that became known as Daylight Castle.

A Glorious Early History
Daylight Castle became a linchpin in the First Wall, a center of command and logistics for the Crab defenses. Although small and unadorned by Rokugani standards, it was nonetheless a powerful fortress in its own right. For centuries, it served as the core of the Crab defensive efforts against the encroaching corruption of the Shadowlands.

In 314, a powerful army of horrors, facilitated by the treachery of a Kuni shugenja named Kaigen, attacked Daylight Castle. Only the timely intervention of a group of nezumi, convinced to help by the bravery of a young scout named Hiruma Kazumi, saved it from disaster. This impromptu alliance marked the beginning of a friendship between the Crab—the Hiruma, in particular—and the nezumi that has lasted to this day.

In 375, Daylight Castle was again attacked, this time by a force led by a powerful monster known as Usu no Oni. While the oni had the castle under siege, most of the Shadowlands force pushed on, plunging deeper into the Empire. Finally, a Crab army reinforced with the Imperial Legions, which the Emperor himself led, defeated Usu no Oni and its horde at the gates of Kyūden Hida. The joint Crab-Imperial force then marched on to Daylight Castle.

The Crab Clan Champion and the Emperor expected to find Hiruma Castle in ruins; they were surprised to see it not just intact, but still engaging a large army of foes. The castle was soon relieved, with the Crab Champion declaring that, had the defenders of Day-light Castle not mounted such a stubborn resistance, Usu no Oni’s offensive may not have been stopped

A Fall Into Darkness
Daylight Castle’s long years of glory were not to last. The First Wall, while formidable, lacked the integrated, contiguous defense of the later Carpenter Wall. In 716, the monstrous oni lord now known only as the Maw assembled an army of a size and power not seen since the time of the First War against Fu Leng. Under the Maw’s cunning leadership, this horde revealed the First Wall’s shortcomings. Fortress after fortress fell to the unrelenting offensive. On Last Stand Plain, the bulk of the Hiruma army was lost to the Maw’s forces.

At that point, the only major fortification standing between the Maw’s horde and the rest of the Crab lands and the Empire beyond was Daylight Castle. The defenders grimly prepared for a long siege, complacently believing that the conflict would play out as it had every previous time. However, the Maw employed demonic allies to corrupt and reanimate the corps-es of the fallen. Each defender who fell immediately rose again as a new attacker. The battle rapidly turned against the Hiruma, until only a handful remained. It is said that these final defenders were somehow saved from the awful fate of their comrades, but Daylight Castle finally fell. Triumphant, the vast army of monsters raged on, farther into the Empire

Mounting a desperate defense, the Crab finally stopped the Maw and its army at the River of the Last Stand, defeating them in what would become known as the Battle of the Cresting Wave. This time, however, there would be no triumphant relief of the troops at Daylight Castle. The castle, along with all of the Hiruma lands, was swallowed by the Shadowlands and now lies outside the Empire, beyond the Carpenter Wall.

The Hiruma would not rest while their ancestral home lay in the clutches of demons. As the family recovered from its grievous losses, they launched the first of numerous attempts to reclaim Daylight Castle. In 747, and again in 819, Hiruma forces did manage to retake the castle. In both cases, their victories were brief, measured only in weeks, before the ruined for-tress was reclaimed by the Shadowlands. The Hiruma remain determined, however, to one day drive the corruption from their ancestral seat of power. Until that day, it remains a locus of evil power and a lasting reminder of bitter defeat for the Crab Clan.

Important Locations and Features
While it was never as large or elaborate as the ancestral family castles of the other Great Clans, Daylight Castle was, nonetheless, an imposing structure, exuding a sense of grim strength and purpose.

Surroundings
Before its fall, Daylight Castle sat, in the manner typical of Rokugani castles, amid a thriving sprawl of farms and villages. Unlike typical Rokugani villages, most of these focused on defense, Many were small fortifications in their own right, surrounded by stout palisades and overlooked by watchtowers.

While the First Wall stood against threats from the Shadowlands, farms and villages near the castle would be overrun and razed, only to be built again. When the Maw attacked, however, the Hiruma lands became corrupted by the Taint of Jigoku. The once-fertile lands around Daylight Castle withered, becoming bleak and barren, the hard earth riven by great fissures or punctuated by pools of brackish water and pits of sucking, tarry muck. Those who venture close to the castle some-times find poignant remnants of the once-vigorous hinterland around it: fragments of pottery, rusted farm tools, even the battered remains of children’s toys. Such sad scraps only underscore the ongoing tragedy that is the fallen Hiruma Castle.

General Layout
Most Rokugani castles combine the attributes of a fortification with a variety of nonmilitary functions: political courts, elaborate gardens, and elegant, stylized architecture. As Daylight Castle was on the front line of the war against Fu Leng’s numberless minions, for the most part its construction is stark and functional.

A Place Of Horror
Those brave enough to make the arduous journey to Daylight Castle find the castle generally conforms to the description above—but only generally

The reality is far more horrific. Four centuries of immersion in the corrupt energies of the Shadowlands have permeated Daylight Castle with terrifying evil. The castle seems to possess a malign will of its own, shaping its horror according to those forced to experience it. It can be as disturbingly inconstant as the Shadowlands itself, with individual rooms and corridors appearing and then vanishing or changing shape. Even this pales in comparison to the very personal malignance Daylight Castle imposes on those who enter it.

There are as many tales of what lies within the castle as there are stones in the Wall. Many concern the locations of fabled creatures such as the Siren, the Watcher, and the Wounded Bushi. Here are but a few of them, some based on ancient scrolls depicting the castle’s original layout, some based on historical passages about events at the castle, and some based on reports from those few who survived their time there:

The dōjō, where Crab warriors trained to hone their martial skills, is located adjacent to the keep. During the final battle, many Crab fell there, along with their enemies, and their bones are said to rise to combat any who would enter their lair.

A gloomy staircase leading to the keep’s lower levels may actually be a massive gullet or may lead into a labyrinthine network of huge tunnels dug beneath the castle by...something. The scout who related this tale died soon after escaping, her having blood turned to bile.

Several of the larger rooms are strewn with garbage and noisome filth, the air thick with a rank, bestial stink. Some speculate this is the barracks of a pack of Shadowlands creatures.

The daimyō’s chambers, located at the top of the keep, are the most heavily Tainted area of the castle. This is an insult against the very heart of Hiruma ancestral power.

The headless stone statue that seems to guard the front entrance sometimes appears to groan and shift, as if it might come to life one night.

One room contains a huge mass of roiling flesh pulsating within, unable to escape but eager to capture the unwary to add to its bulk.

There are numerous hidden tunnels under the castle, long believed to be overrun with goblins but now home to hordes of outcast nezumi.

A Glimmer Of Light
A flame of hope does flicker from Daylight Castle. Candle Temple, in the main keep, houses a shrine to the Fortunes—particularly Osano-wo, Fortune of Fire and Thunder—and more generally to Tengoku, the Celestial Heavens. Corruption has utterly failed to penetrate this holy place. The few courageous souls who have dared enter the castle report that this small oasis of righteousness remains a sanctuary to this day, inviolate and secure against effects of the Shadowlands.

The Importance Of Daylight Castle
Daylight Castle is important in two fundamental ways: first, in terms of the role it plays in the Shadowlands, and second, in terms of its importance to the Crab.

A Hub Of Terror
Though in ruins, the castle is still an imposing fortress and one relatively near the Wall, making it useful as a staging ground for attacks against the Empire. Its position, though, is as shifting as its contents; the castle rarely is where ancient maps would indicate it should be. Scholars debate whether the castle moves across the Shadowlands like some beast or the land tricks travelers as part of the suffering it inflicts.

The castle also appears to be the focus of a complex and shifting political jostling among various evil factions exist in the Shadowlands. Scouts have noted that the creatures in and around the castle frequently change. Sometimes, it is infested by swarming goblins. At other times, massive ogres prowl among its ruined stonework, or Lost samurai guard its crumbling battlements. On one occasion, a patrol witnessed what appeared to be a ferocious battle between factions of terrible monsters over the ruins. Sometimes, scouts see no apparent evidence of the place being inhabited at all. Even so, one Hiruma patrol claimed that the seemingly abandoned ruin exuded such an intense aura of terror and dread from something lurking within that even those brave warriors had to withdraw.

A Place Of Burning Shame
There is no place or thing in the Emerald Empire that represents the shame of failure more acutely than Daylight Castle—especially for the Crab Clan, and even more so for the Hiruma family. But the ominous significance of the corrupted fortress extends beyond the Crab, being an expression of failure for the entire Empire

For eleven centuries, creatures from the Shadow-lands have plagued Rokugan, inflicting tremendous harm and loss. But the Empire has always eventually prevailed, reclaiming land that was lost even while somberly commemorating the bravery and sacrifice of those who stood against these corrupted foes. Daylight Castle is different. Despite repeated attempts to reclaim it, the castle remains stubbornly mired in the evil and horror of Fu Leng’s minions. It mocks the Empire, the Crab, and the Hiruma, daring them to try yet again to retake it, risking the lives and souls of more loyal samurai in the process.

But the Crab, and the Empire, will not relent. The existence of Candle Temple, a small beacon of purity, offers hope that Daylight Castle could, perhaps, be reclaimed and purified. Some even say the structure may be a test of faith for the Empire, a trial whose significance lies not in overcoming it, but rather in continuing the attempt to do so.

Legends Of The Castle
There are extensive tunnels underneath the castle. Some claim that a huge, bur-rowing worm creates them and devours anyone it finds.

A Hiruma scholar of the occult is certain that a powerful goblin priest has an unholy shrine here and seeks to create a new gateway to Jigoku.$Hidden in the castle is a secret armory filled with jade and crystal weapons that have never been wielded.

When Tainted Hiruma perish, they are reborn in the castle as revenants.

The castle shows everyone an intimate, individual manifestation of horror and evil. It could be the shattered sword of a dishonored ancestor; a statue or painting of a lost love weeping miserably or glaring at them with hatred; one of their own, terrified children being carried off into the darkness by some-thing monstrous; or themselves, dying alone and forgotten in some dark, dismal place

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Denizens Of The Castle
It is possible to encounter virtually any sort of creature in Daylight Castle, especially goblins, lesser oni, and other monsters. There are several notable ones, however, that seem repeatedly drawn to the place or perhaps make it their home. They were named by the Crab; whatever their actual names may be are generally unknown.

The Siren
The Siren is an insidious, shapeshifting creature, thought to be an especially vile kansen and capable of assuming various forms. These guises can include that of a dying samurai, a lost scout, or someone else who appears harmless and in need of aid. Its true nature is to delay and confuse its targets, to more egregiously expose them to the corruption of the Shadowlands. If the Siren's true nature is revealed, it devolves to a greyish form, and it tries to flee farther into the castle to await new visitors.

The Watcher
The Watcher is usually encountered at a high vantage point in Daylight Castle. Kuni occult scholars believe it to be an low form of oni, but there is much disagreement on the topic. It resembles a man in a tattered kimono, but its pale flesh is punctuated by dozens of eyes that blink in waves that ripple across its body. Because these many eyes can apparently see, it is almost impossible to take the Watcher by surprise. It attacks its prey in an especially horrifying way: the eye sockets in the standard location on its face appear empty and black, but they can gape wide, revealing themselves to be wickedly fanged mouths. These bite at its opponents’ eyes; if successful, not only does it gouge out its victim’s eyes, blinding them, but new eyes appear on the Watcher’s body

The Wounded Bushi
Assumed to be some type of undead creature or oni, the Wounded Bushi is usually encountered in the armory or the dōjō. It appears as a large and powerful warrior in heavy samurai armor so battered and spattered with blood that its heraldry, if any, is obscured. Visible through gaps in the armor is flesh riddled with festering sores and infections. Worse, the various parts of its body are mismatched, as it is an amalgam of segments from multiple bodies. When encountered, it is invariably missing a hand or arm; its furious attacks are clearly intended to sever and steal the missing limb from its opponent. If defeated, the Wounded Bushi collapses into a pile of disarticulated limbs. Eventually, however, it manifests again, plaguing future visitors