(Ancestral Empowerment | Art by Alexander Mokhov)

Each living soul in Rathe has a family, a purpose, a story. And so do our heroes. Through Tales of Rathe, we’ll get to meet each hero again, through a story from their perspective. Let’s take a look at Katsu and his story.

What would you do if you knew your clan was sentenced to a most horrible death?

What would you give to save all those innocent souls or at least to try and find a way out?

My clan, the Mugenshi Clan, was ridden with a horrible curse. The Seikan took lives generation after generation, and while we hid in the thick mist of the land, we couldn’t do much else. As clan leader, others looked up to me, but the answers I had to this growing problem fell on deaf ears. No matter how many times I spoke with the grandmasters, their answer was always the same.

“It is not time yet.”

It will never be time unless we do something. The curse will continue, tormenting our people until we are no more. But they do not listen. As clan leader, I could not just step aside, bow my head, and not look for the answers that we so desperately needed. 

Something had to be done.

I collected my supplies and stepped out, starting a journey to the outside. It had been ages since the Mugenshi Clan became a secret, but in those ages, we suffered. Enough was enough.

I searched for anything that could help, taking familiar roads and scouring landscapes far and wide. On the third night of my travels, I saw them. Eleven figures with pale masks stalking me. They recognized me as a Mugenshi clan member and wanted to know what I was doing outside of the village. They knew about us, they knew about me, and they continued asking question after question. Buying time with their words, they clutched their weapons, all while saying they “mean the Mugenshi no harm.” With the wind on my side, I started to cut them down, but soon crimson clothed figures emerged from the shadows, dealing with them swiftly. 

It was a group known as Crimson Haze. They said we were similar in a way – our goals the same. We wish for our people to be able to live the lives they deserve. I told them about the curse, the illness that plagues my people still.

“We may be able to help one another” they said. They would have me travel with them to a hidden location built by Aui’s Scales, the very group which just attacked me, to maybe find an answer that would help my clan.

This sounded… too good to be true. But an enemy of your enemy should be your friend, and I didn’t have much to lose. 

The Crimson Haze gave me instructions on how to get to the building. I expected artifacts, weapons, vials, any items actually. What I found in the illuminated chamber was… scrolls. Scrolls upon scrolls, dusty and old. Yet a few of them looked used and well maintained. There were six of them on a pedestal in the middle of the room, and just as I started thinking how I’m going to carry them back to the village, a person entered the chamber. A grandmaster, hands, feet, and face wrapped in cloth. I grabbed hold of my Kodachi just in time. He leaped toward me with the strength of a hurricane, yet his body seemed anchored, as if gravity itself was prohibiting him from moving anywhere he didn’t want to go. I focused all of my energy into my attacks, striking and swaying with the wind, taking advantage of the momentum. The grandmaster took a moment to hit a metal plate and alert practically every Scale in the building.

They rushed into the room in a matter of moments. By this time, the wind in the room turned into a tornado and with slice after slice, I took all of them out. In a moment of rest, I heard footsteps.

I knew it was too good to be true.

It was the Crimzon Haze, come to pick up the spoils of my dirty work. They slit the throats of everybody who lied on the floor. They demanded, no, they asked for the scrolls, politely and slowly, as if it were no serious matter.

They didn’t know.

I had felt the air in the room, the gust of wind blow more powerful, if only by a miniscule margin. I asked them to join us. The Grandmasters of our clan followed me here and the Crimzon Haze were now face to face with the four most powerful foes they’ve ever witnessed. With a scoff, they retreated to the halls.

The five of us exchanged looks – they’ve been following me since I left, and it was time to take the scrolls and go back home.

“When you decided to leave, it became the right time.” they said.

Further Reading:

How to Play Katsu in Classic Constructed

Is Flesh and Blood More Than Just a Math Game?

Setting Goals for Flesh and Blood

Valera

Valera tried Magic in highschool then forgot about it. Some years later, she fell in love with broken FaB heroes (like Data Doll MKII) and tribal commander MTG decks. A shapeshifter, collector, traveller, writer... Who needs free time?