Tatsuhito's Valor

After what appears an eternity of war, the mGya rKhar manage to overwhelm the defenses of Fenghuang, capital of the Phoenix Empire. Ur and his children rain fire down on the city, and hordes of nGiru and humans swarm through the burning streets. Men, women, and children are hacked apart indiscriminately, their still-raw flesh wolfed down by barely-human throats. The Unseen Lords themselves command the slaughter and cannibalistic rites, out of fear that without direct mental control Ur will break free and wreak his vengeance upon them.

One man, however, had other ideas. This was Tatsuhito, up to this point an unremarkable retainer of the Tsukimoto general Hayatomi. But destiny had now chosen him as its instrument. Somehow surviving this horrific slaughter, he and his comrades (his master and two other retainers) dragged their beaten and broken bodies onward, countless nGiru falling before them, even as they themselves dwindled in number. Eventually, only Tatsuhito was left. He could have fled into the streets, and out into the wilderness beyond, but he chose honor rather than life. He dragged himself before the unseen lords, and they, out of amusement, mockingly sent their greatest champions to crush him. Each champion and each hulking monstrosity was, somehow, cut down one after the other by the limping, broken samurai.

What happened next is disputed. Some say he cut down the Unseen Lords. Others say as he lifted his blade and gaze from the last of their champions, the cold fury in his eyes and his blood-spattered visage with the fire burning all around was so frightful it killed them then and there. Whatever it was, it was enough. With a mighty roar, Ur broke free of the shackles that had been placed on his mind, and soon the fire that had wrought such ruin for Qikuo was unleashed against the mGya rKhar who had sought to harness it.

What became of Tatsuhito, none know.