Essence of Fire

This spell was originally developed by the Asahina to prevent magical tampering with iaijutsu duels. In the Crane view, iaijutsu is a test of the duelist’s own inherent skills and talents, and using the kami to aid in a duel violates its proper nature as the sacred judge of right and wrong. (The Crane also suspected certain other clans, such as the Scorpion and Dragon, of "cheating" with magic during duels.) This spell ensures that no magical effects will dilute the duel’s test of skill. In Crane lands it is traditional for shugenja to invoke this spell as a blessing on an iaijutsu duel, and the custom sometimes appears in other clans and families as well - particularly the Seppun. When this spell is cast, a flow of Fire kami race through the chosen targets and drive out any other active kami on them, immediately ending any ongoing spell effects they may have on their persons. The Fire kami remain until the end of the duel, protecting against further interference - any spell which targets either duelist before the duel concludes will suffer a -3k0 penalty to its Spell Casting Roll In modern times, a few shugenja have developed a more controversial variant of this spell which also uses the Fire kami to interfere with the targets’ memories and suppress their knowledge of bushi Techniques. This tactic is especially popular with shugenja from clans which do not focus on dueling, since it makes a duel purely a test of raw skill with no advantage to those descended from Kakita or Mirumoto. Casting the spell with this additional effect requires 4 Raises.