Mumyō Sensō (mɯᵝmʲoː seɴsoː)

When buildings fall
Humbled by the stones and beasts
The architect failed
-A poem written by Ariwara Komachi, believed to be referencing the Mumyō Sensō

The island of Hoshimoto has long been a problem for the Empire of Wamato. It is close to their home island of Kojima, and is possessed of great mineral wealth, two facts which led to the Empire invading and conquering it generations ago. But the native people of the island, the Hoshimoto Utari, have never accepted the rule of the Emperor, and have prevented the Empire from fully exploiting the island's resources or integrating it into the Empire properly. Hidden in their mountain villages, the Hoshimoto Utari have waged an unceasing campaign to drive the Yanjin from their shores, using sabotage, ambush, and murder as their main weapons.

Kōsei Yabanjin

Emperor Ariwara Akihito appointed Akizawa Taketsugu as the Shogun fifteen years ago. The new Shogun wished to establish himself as one of the great generals of the Empire, and took up the quest to finally pacify the island of Hoshimoto and make it fully subservient to the Empire. He called his campaign the Kōsei Yabanjin, which means "The Correction of the Bestial Men". He believed that he would prevail quickly over the detested Hoshimoto Utari, and that he would return triumphant and glorious in a year's time.

His initial foray into the mountainous interior of Hoshimoto seemed to be a success. He burned a dozen villages and took hundreds of prisoners, which he handed over to work in the mines and as servants to the Yanjin of the coastal settlements. It had been over a century since the Empire had last made a serious incursion into the mountains of the Hoshimoto Utari, and they were caught by surprise during the first assault. It was the last time the Shogun surprised them, and the last time he had any sort of easy victory.

The Kamuytoka

The first attacks of the Kōsei Yabanjin came in the late spring, and during the summer the Shogun's forces held the land they had conquered without too much trouble. But they advanced little further into the mountains. The other Hoshimoto Utari sabotaged the paths and roads that led deeper into their territory, leaving no good routes for the Shogun's army to follow. What trails they did leave open were booby-trapped, and the Yanjin lost several units trying to penetrate the mountains that summer and fall. As winter came to the island, the Shogun pulled most of his forces out of the mountains, knowing that he could not supply a large force there once the snows came.

That winter, the Hoshimoto Utari planned their resistance. They formed the Kamuytoka, an organization devoted to defending the mountains from the Shogun's forces and driving the Empire from Hoshimoto entirely. They knew they were outnumbered and planned their strategy accordingly. Their greatest weapons were the mountains themselves, which they knew intimately, and their willingness to use whatever tactics worked against the enemy, regardless of how honorable or dishonorable the Yanjin might perceive them.

In the spring, the Shogun once again moved his troops into the mountains. He believed he would find the situation much as he had left it, and would be able to use his troops to clear the blocked passes and advance through the remainder of the native settlements before midsummer. This was not what happened.

From the beginning of that spring, every step into the mountains was paid for in blood. Traps had been laid on every path and in every village. Every shadow and cliff concealed an ambush, arrows driving down into the soldiers, and the archers gone before the Yanjin could respond. Any village they reached had been evacuated, and any food or drink left behind was either poisoned or befouled. Meanwhile, Kamuytoka raiding parties robbed the supply trains of the army, and attacked the coastal Yanjin villages, forcing the Shogun to dedicate more and more soldiers to defending these vulnerabilities. He was forced to call for reinforcements from Kojima in order to maintain his strength. The soldiers called that time the Hikan no Natsu, or Summer of Sorrow, even after the Shogun gave orders forbidding anyone to utter that phrase. When the first leaves fell, the Shogun again retreated from the mountains, and the Kamuytoka celebrated, believing that the Yanjin would now abandon their campaign to conquer them.

Mumyō Sensō

But the Shogun did not abandon his Kōsei Yabanjin. Doing so would have shamed him in the eyes of the Emperor and the Court, and that was more than he could bear. Instead, he became obsessed with the success of the campaign. He studied every report, every trap, and every map of the island's interior. He had his soldiers training constantly, and devised a dozen plans to use once the winter was over. And when spring came, he put those plans into action.

The third spring and summer of the war saw both sides prepared for the other, and they fought to a standstill. The Shogun could not take the mountains. The Kamuytoka could not drive him out. People on both side died, but nobody yielded. And so it was the fourth year, and the fifth.

In the sixth year, Ariwara Akihito died, and his son Ariwara Komachi ascended to the throne of Wamato. The new emperor was no fan of the Kōsei Yabanjin, and had privately dubbed it the Mumyō Sensō, or fool's war. But the Shogun's family was powerful and influential in court, and the young Emperor chose not to antagonize them right away by dismissing the Shogun from his post. Instead, he has spent the last nine years undermining the Shogun's reputation, and cutting away the support he has. The name Mumyō Sensō has become commonplace among those who support the Emperor over the Shogun, and many believe that the Emperor's political campaign is coming to its conclusion soon.

Meanwhile, the Shogun seems trapped by his own obsession. He cannot give up the campaign at this point without being so humiliated that he would be forced to die. Nor has any strategy he has devised dislodged the stubborn Hoshimoto Utari from their mountains. He has come to believe that only total extermination of the natives can succeed, and has begun seeking methods to do so, even reaching out to known mages who might be able to cast a spell of obliteration against them. He has long since become desperate to win the campaign, and it is unsure what he will do if and when the Emperor removes him from his position.

Conflict Type

Military Campaign

Battlefield Type

Land

Location

Hoshimoto

The God's War

While the Shogun and the Kamuytoka fight, the gods of the Yanjin and the Hoshimoto Utari are also in conflict. The Yanjin have lived along the coastlines of Hoshimoto for long enough that the Numina bound to those regions have become Kami, while the gods of the mountains remain Kamuy. This has led to the gods using their powers to aid their own sides, with Avatars and direct miracles intended to protect their worshippers or attack their enemies. Many of the gods have come to believe that peace can only come when the other side is exterminated, and have begun to lay plans to ensure that outcome. Plagues and natural disasters have begun to proliferate on the island, and while the two groups of divinities have so far canceled each other out, there is no telling what may happen in the future.

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