Artifacts of Jigoku

[Vutall]

Artifacts of Jigoku
Rokugani culture venerates ancestral belongings. Preserved artifacts are passed down from generation to generation. However, there are objects for which this tradition is dangerous. All things cast a shadow; if an artifact can be blessed, then it can be cursed as well.

Cursed Lineages
Within every object rests a latent spirit. This spirit is made of two parts: the shen, or benevolent side, and the kuei, the malevolent. For most objects, the spirit remains dormant, these aspects never realized. But when an object drowns in the foul deeds of its wielder or the corrupting touch of Jigoku, the item’s kuei awakens

There are a number of ways this can happen. Impure materials and methods can create unholy works—when Asahina Yanjiden unknowingly used Bloodspeaker rites taught to him by the disguised Iuchiban, he forged the infamous Bloodswords that went on to a carve a tale of woe. However, even impure thoughts are said to be able to befoul a creation. The creator’s mindset affects the item, so the smith fills their heart with negative emotion as they hammer the steel, ensuring it awakens angry.

The kuei can also awaken when it is used by an already Tainted being. An oni’s touch is often enough to corrupt an item’s essence, and the Lost of the Shadowlands gradually Taint carried possessions. Awakening items are like impressionable children, influenced invisibly by their wielder.

Finally, an item’s kuei awakens when it is used in an act so profane as to shame all involved. In this case, the intentions of the wielder do not matter. Even if the user is virtuous, even if “good” comes from their actions, resorting to a vile act will curse the item. One such instance was the deposing of Hantei XVI, the Steel Chrysanthemum, a tyrant of an Emperor who nearly destroyed Rokugan with his sadistic greed and paranoia. Even though slaying him freed the land and saved the Empire, felling a Son of Heaven brought down the direst of curses upon the sword

Carrying The Burden
Cursed objects affect their users in numerous, inescapable ways. The most subtle is also the most dangerous: cursed objects affect the personality and emotional state of the wielder. They may grow paranoid and dis-trustful, or ambitious and reckless, or bloodthirsty, or obsessed with revenge, or even enslaved by their own desires. The shift is slight at first but grows more severe every time the item is drawn. Eventually the wielder’s personality changes completely. Such enthralled warriors ultimately self-destruct, and then the item is passed to another unsuspecting victim for the horrid cycle to continue.

Those cursed items that are bound to the power Jigoku—such as those listed in this volume—are especially pernicious. Every time such a Tainted object is used, kansen flock invisibly to the wielder, tempting them to greater and greater acts of wickedness and destruction. The symptoms worsen over time, and are relieved only when the wielder obeys their Tainted item. Attempts to cast out the item cause the owner to grow sick and desperate—most end up seeking the item again eventually, if they survive the wracking pain of separation

Destroying cursed items releases their spirits into the world, creating foul entities, new curses, or other unpredictable evils. Thus, when these items are identified, they are usually hidden and kept under constant protection. It is a terrible burden, one carried by entire blood-lines, but containing the evil is worth any personal cost.

Legends exist of heroes whose virtuous deeds ultimately redeemed cursed artifacts, awakening the shen and silencing the kuei forever. But these instances are rare, and foolhardy samurai who believe themselves greater than a cursed artifact have done more harm in the Empire’s history than good.

The Penalty For Power
Carrying or using a cursed item warps the character’s personality.

Concealed Horrors
Just as the virtuous forge items to combat evil, so do servants of evil create objects that are like beacons to Jigoku. Many appear indistinguishable from everyday objects: a Tainted hairpin, a hand mirror with cursed runes hidden behind the polished glass, or a pillow book whose words are written in obsidian ink. Such is their insidious purpose, for one does not realize they are aiding Jigoku until it is too late

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The Anvil of Despair
Among the foulest artifacts to exist in Rokugan, the Anvil of Despair is also one of the most infamous. Its creator, Agasha Ryuden, used iron extracted from oni blood and sacrificed the entire Boar Clan to give it birth. Any item forged on this anvil awakens cursed and malicious, eventually corrupting its wielder. It played an invisible hand in shaping Rokugan’s history, and none can say how many evil blades have been hammered into being on its cursed back.

The Black Pearls of Fu Leng
When a particularly pure pearl or gemstone is exposed to the Taint, it easily picks up spiritual impurities. After being heavily exposed to corruption, especially by direct contact with the power of the Shadowlands, such a treasure becomes twisted and treacherous. Mahō users can offer these Black Pearls of Fu Leng to attract swarms of malicious kansen from miles around.

The Henge-Okuri
Mono Created by a mahō-tsukai, the cursed “shape-shifting gifts” are seemingly mundane household items, each depicting a different animal: the hawk hairpins, the silver origami cat, the wolf kimono, the boar sandals, and the dog fan. These trinkets can change their wearer into their depicted animal and back again, but each time, the user suffers gradually more Taint, until they are trapped in a monstrous version of their animal form, unable to change back

The Porcelain Mask of Fu Leng
As it is described only in thirdhand accounts of Sho-suro’s final words, it is not certain that the Porcelain Mask of Fu Leng even exists. It is said that when donned, the mask seals itself to the wearer’s face, detaching only after death. It can change its visage to any face the user imagines, and through its eyes, the mask reveals horrors normally hidden to mortals. If this artifact does exist, then surely its foolish owners were lost to what nightmares the mask reveals.