Interesting discussion. I'm certainly looking forward to seeing what wins the vote tomorrow evening.
But while we wait, I thought I'd share a bit of lore with those less familiar with L5R. Gather around, boys and girls, and I will tell you how the world was made. It was not from goodness and light or anything of that nature. No, all that exists was born of three sins…
In the beginning, before the universe was created, there was only Nothing. The Nothing that existed before the birth of all things was aware, and at some point during its timeless existence, it realized it was alone - and this experienced Fear. This unprecedented emotion was the first Sin, and created one third of the world. The realization of Fear also created in the Nothing a sense of loneliness and a desire for a companion. These sensations were the second Sin, Desire, and created the second third of the world. And when the Nothing realized what it had done, it experienced regret and a wish to unmake what it had mistakenly created. This was the third Sin, Regret, and it created the final portion of the world, completing it and ending the Nothing's existence.
The newly-made universe was chaotic and formless at first, like an egg whose white and yolk had been intermixed. Slowly, the primal elements of creation seeped through the empty universe, and the energies pooled, with the heaviest sinking to the bottom and creating different layers of reality. Above was the Celestial Heavens, while below the mortal realm was born, as were the various spirit realms and, finally, Jigoku, the Realm of Evil.
In the wake of the Nothing came three entities whose names have never been known by any living creature, mortal or divine, since that time. When they are spoken of at all, they are simply known as the Three Gods Whose Names Cannot Be Spoken. These three gods looked upon the new realms, particularly the mortal world, and recognized it must be given form and purpose, an act beyond their means. In order to give shape to the universe, the three gods sacrificed themselves to give birth to a single man and woman, two divine beings who could do what the three before could not, and being order to existence. Thus were born the Sun goddess and the Moon god.
Lady Sun and Lord Moon looked down upon the mortal world and were perplexed by its formlessness. Ultimately, they realized they could only give form to what existed there by giving names to all the things that could be found in the mortal realm. They entered the mortal realm and named it, and in doing so, they created names for themselves; Lady Sun became Amaterasu, and Lord Moon became Onnotangu. They began to name all they found there, such as stones, trees, deer, and all other things imaginable.
As the two gods walked the mortal world, Onnotangu noticed something Amaterasu did not: a tiny scrap of the primordial darkness that had once comprised the Nothing. Intrigued and deceptive, Onnotangu chose to not name this particular bit of existence, and did not bring it to Amaterasu's attention. In doing so, he allowed the living shadow to slink away and hide itself, where it would grow powerful as the world aged, and one day threaten the existence of the universe itself. Of course, Onnotangu could not know at the time that his act would have such dire consequences.
I will be.