In 1132, the Lady of the Dragon Clan, Hitomi, ascended to the Heavens as the new Moon, beginning a new era with Mankind ruling the Heavens. In 1170, following the Will of the Dragons, her reign was cut short. With Lady Hitomi no longer in the Heavens, the monks of the Order of Odoshi, whose prayers were meant to protect Hitomi from the influence of the Lying Darkness, now pray to honor the sacrifices that she undertook for the Empire. Every year since then, the monks held a memorial service in Reihado Hitomi, not only honoring her, but asking for her guidance.

With war raging in the North and South of the Empire, the monks have found a new purpose: Hitomi’s guidance must be shared with the rest of Rokugan. And so, this year the Hitomi Memorial will be open to every Clan, and for the first time the monks will honor not only the Dragon Thunder but all those who have given their lives for the Empire, in hopes that the teachings of Lady Hitomi and the guidance of these brave souls will bring victory to the Empire.

A monk, Hitomi Shujyo, has traveled on behalf of the Order of Odoshi to each of the Clans of Rokugan, asking their Champions to nominate those souls who have given their live for the Empire and their Clan, so that they can be honored alongside the Lady Hitomi. Prayers will be given to those chosen and an Iaijutsu tournament will be held in honor of the bravery and skill that Lady Hitomi and those chosen represented so well.

Strangely enough, the monk has also reached the Fingers of Bone, and was allowed an audience with Daigotsu. Will the Spider be allowed to honor one of their fallen? In the same manner, there is a rumor that he has been searching to honor those long gone, but never forgotten; would the Order wish to honor a ronin, a Naga or even a Nezumi?

Who would your Clan choose to honor? And who among those presents will be deemed worthy of Hitomi’s blessing?

To Honor the Fallen

The monks of Odoshi have requested that only those who were blessed by Lady Hitomi’s light be nominated. Therefore each Great Clan (and the Spider) will be asked to nominate 5 personalities who have died since Gold Edition and whom the Clan feels have died in their service. The Unaligned factions will also be allowed to nominate 5 personalities which can be drawn from ronin, the naga, the nezumi, or a Minor Clan. These nominations will be done through the Clan Forums. More details and clarification will be provided in the Forums.

Sometime during October, we will be asking members of all the Clans to come here and select from the list provided. Only the nominee with the highest votes for each Clan will be honored during the Hitomi Memorial. There will be a special prize for the Clan that is the most active during this vote.

Tournament Details

Storyline Prize

This year, the Hitomi memorial will be a Winner’s Choice. The winner may select one of the flavor traits listed in the Winner’s Choice page, which will then appear on a personality card aligned to the Clan used in the tournament in a future expansion.  The winner cannot choose a personality, only one of the traits, and as the traits get chosen, they will be removed from the list, thus no longer available for future events. The current list (which will be updated as traits are selected and/or added) is:

• Blessed of [Fortune]
• Bounty Hunter
• Dragon Child
• Fist of Iron
• Half-Naga
• Head Librarian
• Immortal
• Moon-Blessed
• Poison Fan
• Shadowspawn
• Silk Fever
• Sun-Blessed

Additionally, the winner of a Winner’s Choice tournament will gain 2 Glory points he can keep for the Clan he played or donate to the Empire. The second place player will gain 1 Glory point he can only keep for the Clan he played.

Additional Prizes

• The Winner of the Hitomi Memorial will also receive a Digital Sketch* of his/her Legend of the Five Rings Persona/Character alongside the personality chosen to be honored by their Clan; done by an artist commonly know as Steve Argyle!*The art piece will be requested once the tournament winner has been decided. A description of the character can be provided by the winner, which will be forwarded to the artist. Additional requests regarding pose and other details can be done, and will be forwarded to the artist but it will be in the artist’s sole discretion whether or not such request will be considered.  Standard time for the creation of such a piece must be waited, and the winner will be contacted once the art is finished. All communications between the tournament winner and the artist regarding the prize must go through the Legion of the Coqui. Other conditions, restrictions and considerations may apply.
• The top player of the Clan whose selected personality to honor received the most votes will also receive a prize (to be announced soon).
• Other unofficial events might be announced as we near the tournament date!