Ninja Island

The ninja of the Gathering Cloud Clan make their home on Ninja Island itself, where they train in disciplines mental and physical, seeking to attain the true “invisible blade” mastery of the ninja.

Gathering Cloud ninja are known to be able to disappear at will, to pass through walls and to leave no trace in a crowded room. They are serious and relentless, and can be hired (at a very steep price) as supreme spies or assassins. The clan masters assure success in any such enterprise, and rumours tell of waves of Gathering Cloud ninja sent after especially recalcitrant targets. Once they have taken the money, it is said, nothing can stop the Gathering Cloud.

“You come before us seeking justice, and perhaps vengeance. Remember that justice is rarely satisfying, and vengeance is never just.”

Kindly and with a twinkle to his eyes, Grand Master Izawa seems like a friendly grandfather, not a deadly master of chi energy, nor a stern judge of violent ninja conflicts.

And yet that is exactly what he is. He may laugh at simple jokes, and flirt harmlessly with young girls, but Grand Master Izawa is the leader of the Everlasting Moon Clan, and has mastered their secret techniques of projecting bolts of deadly energy at their enemies, stunning or even killing at a distance. When forced to fight, Izawa’s fists glow with an eerie radiance, and those he faces usually back down before he is forced to unleash the terrible power within him.

But he is also a member of the tribunal that oversees all affairs amongst the clans, ruling from a court on Ninja Island and helping to keep peace between the unruly ninja clans. Such a position requires a careful balancing act between honour and practicality, and so far Izawa seems to be managing. Respected throughout the clans as a fair adjudicator and a potent warrior, Grand Master Izawa remains popular, and he still laughs as much as he ever did.

Not every ninja is perfectly behaved. Young ninja sometimes clash with their clan leaders, or prove troublesome or ill-disciplined. Usually the clans deal with such youngsters themselves, but sometimes clan leaders decide that a particularly irksome ninja-to-be requires stricter discipline, and more direct supervision than most clans can supply. Such children are sent to the Ninja Island Correctional Academy.

This graceful, and securely walled, campus sits on a high promontory overlooking the port town on Ninja Island. It includes dormitories for the students, lecture rooms, training halls, an excellent library, archives, laboratories and temples of all descriptions. Over the years the Academy has become not only a school but a sort of museum and research centre shared by the clans, and supporting various facilities is a point of pride among the wealthiest clans.

The Academy is run jointly by the clans, and instructors are drawn from many different clans. Grand Master Izunosuke Izawa of the Everlasting Moon Clan, for example, teaches history and tradition, while Grand Master Leng of the Heavenly Blades Clan teaches ritual (and serves as the Academy’s president). The school administration is run by Chamberlain Wong Sah-Min, also of the Heavenly Blades Clan, who oversees all school activities with a stern eye, determined to see these wayward children learn to behave with proper ninja decorum and discipline.

There are several hundred students at the Academy at any time, living in shared dormitories, usually. They spend their days in class, and most of their “free” time is spent either on homework or various duties around the Academy. And getting into trouble — these were mostly bad kids before they came here, and they often continue being bad upon arrival.

But most smarten up quickly. For students, there are only two ways out of the Academy: either their instructors agree that they have learned the necessary discipline and character, or they are expelled. Getting expelled from the Academy is very serious; such students are cast out of the clans completely, and forced to leave Ninja Island, never to receive help or shelter from any clan ever again. Their names are removed from the roster of the clans, and should they ever claim to be a ninja, or use their ninja skills, they will be hunted down and killed.

As most ninja grow up knowing no family other than their clan, and have no skills for getting by in the world, this is a terrifying prospect. Being cast from the clans is a fate worse than death for most ninja.

Wong Sah-Min, of the Heavenly Blades Clan, serves as the chief administrator of the Ninja Island Correctional Academy. He was appointed to this lofty role by the president of the Academy, Grand Master Leng, who rules the Heavenly Blades Clan. Grand Master Leng is rarely involved in school affairs, however, and leaves the operation of the institution to his loyal lieutenant.

Chamberlain Wong grew up in the great Jade Court of the former Empire, and fled in the chaos of the Bureaucrat’s Rebellion thirty years ago. He was assisted in his escape by Grand Master Leng, and thus came to Ninja Island and joined the Heavenly Blades Clan there. His experience running the tangled hierarchies of the Imperial Court have made him very useful in the foundation of Ninja Island, and keeping the clans speaking with one another. He is sometimes a little too zealous in his love of officialdom, but he is respected throughout the clans for his wisdom and his canny political skills.

In running the Academy, Wong has shown his true gift, and the reputation of the school is a cherished achievement of his. While he is often impatient with the unruly students, little satisfies the Chamberlain more than witnessing the graduation of young ninja who are ready to rejoin their clans, obedient and respectful.