Rimoshi and Daihini were young sons of a small minor Phoenix samurai family whose lands bordered on the Crane. Nestled in a tiny secluded valley, the Matasuuri lands were very rich in proportion to their extent. The family ensured their security by cultivating special resins and essences from their farms of rare trees, herbs and flowers. Over many generations, they had mastered the art of translating these effects into fine perfumes which found great favor in the halls of power. For hundreds of years, the family had prospered quietly in their valley. And they had served their clan with perfect devotion - many of their gains had contributed to the care-taking of the Isawa Libraries. Through their journeys selling their wares, family merchants also had helped acquire many of the texts that filled the impressive Isawa collection. Sadly though, the family had never risen high in the ranks of the clan. Among the Phoenix, respect was gained for learning and magical prowess - traditions which had eluded the Matasuuri.

Underneath the Matasuuri valley, there existed deep caves known by a select few to contain great riches of silver. These caves, known as "the Caverns of the Silver Moon," were sacrosanct to the family. Deep within, an underground stream coursed for several miles. At the flow's source was a sacred spring - the site of the shrine to the ancient Matasuuri ancestors. Visions from the ancestors had long ago made it clear that the caves must never be desecrated or there would be a terrible price to pay - so the caves were never mined and the secret of the entrance was closely guarded.

Apart from the ghostly warning, there was another reason to guard the secret of the caves. Should the entrance be discovered by outsiders, the family lands would surely become subject to the whims of greater powers eager for the promise of untold riches in silver; the Matasuuri would be brushed aside and forgotten like a grain of sand.

Any hope for a future would be lost.

The threat came from more than just other clans. Centuries ago, secure in their position, the greater Phoenix families of the Shiba and Isawa secretly worried about a possible change of heart by the Matasuuri regarding the mining of the Caverns of the Silver Moon. To warn against this, the Isawa shugenja raised a magical breed of sparrows to fill the Matasuuri valley and spy upon its inhabitants. Among their number, many Isawa yearned for greater power and hoped this would lead to their own discovery of the cave's entrance. At the same time, the bushi of the Shiba were not unaware of the aspirations of their spellcasting cousins - for the Shiba had long served by their side. After secret council, they decided to warn the Matasuuri of the plan before the release of the sparrows. Their only concern had been to maintain the balance of power.

Upon receiving audience to the Shiba messenger these many years ago, the Matasuuri daimyo was said to have smiled knowingly. "Such actions," he was heard to say, "should be expected of the great powers." Armed with the knowledge of the Isawa sparrows, he ordered his own shugenja to prepare a defense. The entrance would now be concealed by more than brush and leaves.

And so the white sparrows arrived and took up residence in the bluffs around the valley's rim. The Matasuuri feigned wonder and surprise. They even held festivals welcoming the birds as a gift from the Fortunes. Behind closed doors however, the truth was shared and the creatures were quietly cursed. All the while the Isawa spied - unsuspecting that their agents had been revealed, they quested for that which they would never find.

The secret of the caves was long held by the Matasuuri. However, confidences such as these do bear like a heavy weight upon men's souls. Some are able to carry the burden with pride. Others find solace in the practice of sacred duty. This had been the case for all the years that the family had existed. The secret had been maintained. But as Shinsei tells us, all things change in time.

Centuries later, high in the family ranks, the family karo - Matasuuri Toju - had been scheming. He was an older man, bitter from the lack of respect that he'd gained from the other clan leaders and eager for power. While paying court to the Crane, he struck a deal. In return for the family's lands, knowledge of the entrance to the Caverns of the Silver Moon, and an oath of fealty, the Crane would ensure his place as a leading merchant among their ranks.

By spring of the following year, Toju's betrayal was complete. Early in the season, he had exposed the family daimyo, Matasuuri Sadato, to the taste of opium - a taste which soon developed into a dark addiction. This achieved, it was a simple matter to unfurl the man's plight before the Phoenix court. The entire family was disgraced. Sadato himself disappeared shortly after his humiliation and never again surfaced to restore the family's honor.

Some weeks later, the Crane sent a large diplomatic delegation to the Phoenix and began an intense negotiation for ownership of the Valley of the White Sparrows. Given the current favor of the Matasuuri and the magnitude of the Crane offer, an agreement was quickly reached. The lands would be handed over and the family would relocate to one of the Phoenix Mountain districts. With Sadato unaccounted for and dishonored, his wife - Matasuuri Uona - took command of family affairs. Uona offered everyone the option to relocate, but none accepted. The choice was unthinkable. The caves had to be protected at all costs. It was a solemn duty everyone understood and honored.

That summer, a Crane army arrived to take possession of the lands - led at the head by the former Matasuuri karo. They arrived in the main village surprised to find it still occupied. Promptly, the Crane general and his retinue stopped at the family manor to discuss the situation with whatever leaders which remained. Toju followed in tow, empowered by the presence of his new clansmen. At the door, Matasuuri Uona welcomed them and insisted upon a tea ceremony to celebrate their arrival. Wishing no disrespect, the Crane acceded to the old woman. What did they have to fear from an old smiling matron blind in one eye and walking with a cane? Overcome with confidence, they did not notice her deft hand movements as she dosed each cup of tea with the white powder of a strong sedative. As the ceremony reached conclusion, she drank satisfaction from the look of confusion and surprise on the faces of the Crane officers and her former karo.

"The light you see rising around us comes from the fires being set all around this building by my loyal kinsmen..."

Blinking and confused, the Crane general raised his fist, "You will never get away with this. The Crane will avenge our deaths and your people will be wiped off this earth."

The daimyo's wife nodded and smiled, "Perhaps, but we will have been true to our oath to our ancestors."

"What??" came the sputtered reply. All around, the Crane were slumping to the ground as their eyes glazed over. The old karo's face - a mask of hatred and rage - was sweating and pale from the strain of the toxin and the approaching heat.

The old woman stared into the Toju's eyes. "You will never pass the secret of the caves, my sweet brother. That I can never let you do." "And what then would have we become?" With a sudden rush, the flames rose and enfolded them all in a blazing embrace.

Outside, fires had sprung up all around town as the villagers tossed burning brands upon their own homes. Beyond the town walls, the fields of exotic trees and flowers were already alight. The heady aroma of the resulting smoke lofted through the village streets, leaving an eery scene of sweet grey fog mixed with heat and flame. As the Crane army mixed about in chaos and confusion, the army officers left outside became enraged. Fully comprehending the Matasuuri affront, they ordered all the family and their retainers put to the sword. It was a terrible bloody night, filled with murder, screams and distant shouted oaths.

"No Phoenix survived that night," said the Crane commander who reported to his daimyo later that season...

During the burning of the fields and village, a resounding crackling boom echoed from the hills above - the sound of the entrance to the caves being destroyed by the last two samurai of the family. As they gathered the brush around the remains of the entrance and scraped away the last vestiges that it had ever existed, the terrible sight of the fires and carnage below them was etched into their memories.

That was the last day either one spent upon Matasuuri lands - owned by the Matasuuri no longer.

The Crane scoured the valley that year to no avail. They upended boulders, dug trenches and searched the landscape with hundreds of men - all with no success. To this day, they never found a way into the Caverns of the Silver Moon. Throughout the empire, the existence of the caves slipped into the realm of folklore - quiet wondering tales shared over cups of sake and rume.

In their hearts, Rimoshi and Daihini left as ronin, forsaken by their clan, the last members of their family devastated by the Crane. Left with no kin allegiance, they turned to the emperor, for their duty and loyalty to the empire still remained. With the aid of members of the Shiba family sympathetic to their cause, they gained a commission in the Imperial guard. Not long after, they rose in the Imperial ranks and became widely recognized for their fierce loyalty and great devotion to their duty.

One year to the day after the two left the Valley of the White Sparrows, the two young samurai found themselves encamped in the mountains as part of a mission to escort an Emerald Magistrate to the Dragon lands. That very night, Daihini had a dream. He dreamt of the valley, now quiet and empty except for a few rice farmers working their fields at the dawn of a new day. In his dream, the farmers looked up at some sound from above. Scanning the bluffs overhead, they exclaimed in horror as they witnessed a massive cloud of black birds flow over the edge of the valley rim. As waves of the large birds swarmed in, huge flocks of panicked white sparrows rose up from the cliffs and sought escape. In minutes, the sparrows were gone and replaced with hillsides filled with the ominous black forms of thousands of ravens. Seeing this, the farmers were overcome with fear. They left their fields and fled the valley with their families.

The next morning, Daihini told Rimoshi of his vision the night before. Each man shook his head and could make nothing of the images of the ravens. Both were left confused and troubled throughout that day's march while they pondered various meanings.

Later that evening after making camp, haggard from his travels, Rimoshi sought to wash his clothes in a neighboring stream. Alone by the water as the sun was setting below the mountain horizon, a huge black raven flew out of the forest shadows to alight beside him. He tried to frighten the bird away, but it would have none of it. The raven settled on a rock by the bank as he finished his washing and then followed him back to camp - flying from tree to tree as he walked the path back through the dimness.

Returning to camp, Rimoshi pointed the bird out to Daihini and expressed his wonder at its strange behavior. Upon seeing the creature, Daihini's eyes widened and he fell to his knees in supplication. Rimoshi was mystified. He asked his cousin why he was acting this way.

Daihini looked up. With a shaking hand, he pointed to the bird, perched on a rock next to their campfire, "Did you not see?"

Turning back to view the raven with trepidation, Rimoshi withheld a gasp. Illuminated by the flickering light of the fire, he could make out the magnificent bird in every detail. It was thus he saw the tiny form grasped in the raven's talons and came to face the creature as has he hadn't before. As the bird pecked at its meal - a small white sparrow - it raised its head to meet his gaze with its one remaining good eye.

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