***** THE SOUTHERN PROVINCES
TO THE YELLOW SEA in the East lay an old island nation ruled by a militaristic administration called the Ashikaga. Its inhabitants called it “Nihon” otherwise known in the Middle Kingdom as Riben. The country was simmering with civil unrest and had grown ripe for full-scale civil war. An elite warrior class natively called “sa-mu-rai” governed the provinces. Their swords were legendary, curved, and extremely sharp, wielded by a martial finesse honed through many years of continual combat. As the sovereignty of the ruling Ashikaga military administration in the archipelago began to weaken, the warlords of the various states raised armies to fight for the seat of power. Out of the brewing chaos of their civil war, many defeated members of the dishonored warrior
