The smallest of the clans, the Kioku keep to the snowbound northern territories. For most, they are the personification of longevity and lives well lived. Clansfolk reach venerable ages, and during their long lives accumulate vast amounts of knowledge, which they curate and preserve through the building of countless libraries to house their tomes and scrolls.
The libraries are almost as wondrous as the wealth of history and wisdom they store. Many outsiders will brave the savage frontier with its brutal temperatures for nothing more than a tantalizing glimpse of the Kioku snow gardens, convinced that whatever mystical herbs they grow within the confines of these beautiful snowscapes surely holds the secret to their long life.
Indeed, there is one rare flower, known only as the Yukisaku, or the snow poppy, which grows nowhere else on the isles, and is worked into the emblem of the clan itself, suggesting the links between the two go deeper than mere horticulture.
Philosophy & Hierarchy
The Kioku clan harbors a dark secret deep within the sanctuary of their inner circle of Elders: fearful of losing the secrets they hoard, Kioku clan elders undergo a ritual that traps their immortal soul within the shell of their flesh. It is known as the Nagaiai Matsu, or the Long Wait, where their soul lies dormant within its cage of bones, waiting for the call to return. The elder can be summoned during the hour of dire need and take possession of the body of a younger, more virile, clan member.
This second chance at life comes at a cost. The borrowed flesh ages rapidly and will rarely last a full year before failing forever. The elder’s soul is not free when this vessel fails, but denied an afterlife once more as it returns to the cage of bones that was once its original body. There it lingers once more, awaiting another brief reincarnation.
Why would anyone do this to themselves willingly?
Because it must be done. These revered elders possess long forgotten knowledge, ancient skills, and experiences that are unmatched, even today. For instance, there is Jiro Yamamoto, known to his enemies as the Butcher of Summer. Jiro was perhaps the most brilliant tactician to have ever walked the earth, a man skilled beyond measure in the art of war and understanding one’s enemies. The Kioku know what other clans do not: strife will come, and Ikaiguchi needs every advantage if it is to survive.
The Kioku have always been lorekeepers, harboring the hard-won wisdom of the clans so that what has been learned once will not be forgotten. It is a task they take seriously, devoting their entire lives to guarding that arcane knowledge.
History & Background
The Kioku are the oldest clan, formed during the First Age, when the Shin’rei Tengoku Amare gave one of his followers, Kanoku Ueno, the gift of Kotoba — the Word of Tengoku Amare. The Kotoba is the first recorded creation story known and tells of the Beginning of All Things, of the war that was fought between Shin’rei and Norowareta as the first tree was taking root and the lifeblood of the first river began to flow.
The Word is the greatest treasure of the clan, kept under constant guard in their clan house on the mountain known as Kūsho Shinzō. It is said there is not a secret of the world that the libraries — and thus the librarians — do not know.
In their quest for knowledge, the great explorer Kazu Tani, left the sanctuary of the Kioku clan house and undertook a journey unlike any other, traveling the length and breadth of Ikaiguchi cataloging all manner of flora and fauna he encountered and recording them in his compendium, the great bestiary.
So many years have passed since Tani’s voyages that all manner of creatures found within the pages of his work that no longer exist. Many believe the great explorer lost his wits during his travels, for his recordings include claims of gateways to another plane of existence. It is said of the explorer himself that he wandered so far he lost all links with the mortal world and crossed over into a shadow mist realm, never to be heard from again.
Locations
Kūsho Shinzō is the greatest of the Seven Blind Brothers—seven brutal mountains that rise all across the land. It is the home of the Kioku’s greatest vault, where the most precious of their secrets are cherished, and closely guarded. The library itself looks like nothing more than a temple built on the side of the inhospitable mountain, but once through its gate, the building descends deep into the mountain. The deeper one delves, the more ancient the knowledge and treasures to be found. There are catacombs here that have not been explored in generations, so vast is the library.