Year 3124 came to an end with fire and flames sweeping across the empire, though not in the field of battle, but in the dreams of priests and artists. Potters, smiths and other artisans working with kilns and forges would all remember hearing the same ethereal voice roaring with triumph, many waking with a soul-scorching need to create, others tearing apart their earlier works in a frenzy of destruction. Shugenja, able to hear the voice of the elemental spirits, could hear the jubilant chorus of fire kami announcing the arrival of a seemingly new elemental entity. The spirits have many names for the being when questioned, referring to it as the Shining One, the Fireborn, the Forgesunderer and other names beside. Shugenja across the empire determine to resolve the mystery. What had awoken this entity? Where had the entity laid before its awakening? What was the true nature of the elemental spirit?Communing with the fire kami revealed little, the spirits able to reveal that the entity had been bound to a realm beyond realms. That it had slumbered for a time longer than any spirit could fathom. The best and the brightest fire tensai could pry yet another name from the exultant and euphoric spirits. Kagutsuchi.

Just as the Kagutsuchi had made itself known to artisans, it made itself known to the shugenja across the stars, many plagued by nighmarish scenes of ever hungry flames, primal energies tearing entire worlds apart. Many tried to summon the entity, beckoning it to make itself present so that its intentions could be studied. None succeeded. With the nature of the elemental an open question, the priests began to debate its nature. When the Brotherhood heard of a new, possibly divine, spirit, their various sects joined the discourse. With the Empire of the Emerald Stars having no true unified theological theory and with the Brotherhood allowing multiple interpretations of the nature of the elements to exist, the debate regarding Kagutsuchi soon expanded into wider theological schism. Some insisted that the new elemental entity should be worshiped and placated, arguing that it had to be divine. Others refuted this, noting how none of the sacred texts mentioned the entity. Some assumed Kagutsuchi to be a representation of Osano-Wo or Kikyo, but various institutes of practical theology were able to refute the so-called proxy-theories. Everyone could agree that the newly awoken spirit was an entity of its own, even if the debate regarding its divinity only grew more and more strident.

The year 3125 dawned with the Empire's various religious authorities squabbling among themselves, with neither the Isawa nor the Brotherhood managing to agree on core questions such as: whether Kagutsuchi should be venerated and acknowledged as divine or whether the entity should be considered something akin to houhou - a powerful elemental spirit belonging to ningen-do alone. With the shugenja unable to determine the nature of the spirit through direct methods, various monastic sects drew conclusions of their own, through heated arguments, carefully reasoned deductions, consulting omens, and various other methods of insight. Several newborn sects have emerged from these schisms; with the Order of Eternal Fire splitting off the Order of Rebirth and the Order of the Burning Word splitting from the Temple of Heavenly Wisdom, both preaching the so called Creed of Fire that beckons communities to purge themselves to ensure that no malign influences can disturb the heavenly harmony. As months passed, the theological and theoretical debate spilled into the streets and slums of the empire, with heimin populations starting to lose some of the cohesion knitting them together. While the Brotherhood has been loathe to condemn the nascent sects, many daimyo have taken action, imprisoning and exiling monks they consider agitators to quell civil unrest. With the matter of the Kagutsuchi unresolved and with the political pressure growing, the Brotherhood has 'agreed' to hold a council on a neural ground.

Banner V will focus on the events of this council and the theological consequences of the outcome.