Illusion

The greatest masters of the wind can create illusions of such beauty and clarity that those affected by them might truly believe they were somewhere else. You can completely alter the appearance of the terrain within the area of effect of this spell. You can make a miserable swamp loo, sound, and smell like a beautiful garden, or vice versa. Although these illusions can be extraordinarily intricate and completely convincing to all other senses, they still have no substance and cannot be touched.

The prayer commonly known as Castle of Water protects the caster by creating a physical barrier of water kami to obstruct attackers. The Castle of Air, by contrast, protects the caster by creating a cunning illusion that confuses and bewilders attackers. The Air kami create a circular barrier of false sounds and images, making it incredibly difficult for attackers to actually perceive the correct location of anyone within the bounds of the Castle of Air. An attacker may believe he is striking at the caster when he is actually swinging at empty space.

the kami can see into the hearts of mortals, and can use that information at a shugenja's request. You manifest the kami as an illusion of the thing your target fears most in the world. It may be an individual (the man who killed his father), or an item (A cursed blade that brought ruin to his family), or even a vista of some sort (an image of an enemy slaying his family). This effectively generates Fear 4 that the target must overcome. Only the target can see the specifics of the illusion; others see only a hazy outline that appears to be a small fog cloud.

This illusion was originally devised by the Soshi family, but similar prayers have since been developed among other clans who spend time in the halls and gardens of Rokugan's courtly palaces. The spell entices the Air kami to subtly enhance the target's physical attractiveness, emphasizing his or her fest features and smoothing away any imperfections. The Air kami find this a delightful game and will often be quite creative in the tiny tricks they play to improve the target's appeal.

A skilled shugenja can petition the kami to create incredibly elaborate illusions to obscure one's identity and appearance. You may use this spell to adopt the appearance of any humanoid creature of approximately the same size, up to one foot taller or shorter than you. You could use this spell to assume the guise of a kenku, for example, because they roughly the same size as humans. A goblin or an ogre would be impossible, however, because they are too short and too large, respectively.

Originally developed by Asahina shugenja, this spell found its way into the hands of the Soshi and a few other orders after several minor incidents in court. It is sometimes considered to be a dishonorable spell, but in fact its uses need not be for subterfuge. Rather, much like the Crane courtiers' technique of Cadence, the spell allows discretion in communication in situations where this would not normally be possible. It relies on the playfulness of the Air kami and the subtleties of language.

This spell, crafted to facilitate initial relations between groups, is easily twisted to nefarious purposes. It calls the kami to create a subtle aura of suggestion around the caster, one that does not disguise the caster but rather causes others to perceive him as slightly more benevolent than perhaps he truly is. For the duration of the spell, your Honor Rank is considered 3 ranks higher for the purposes of any Lore: Bushido rolls made to determine your Honor Rank.

With greater fluency with the kami comes the ability to craft increasingly convincing images from the stuff of the wind itself. You may create illusions of any object, individual, or image that you can imagine. These images are stationary, and they must fit within the spell's area of effect, but they can be as simple or complex as desired. These illusions are visual only, with no auditory component, no odors, etc.

The kami of the wind can carry whispers for great distances, and can even create them if properly entreated. You can petition the kami to create a false sound, either a voice or a natural sound such as an animal's growl or running water, for example. The sound can be no louder than a normal speaking voice, and cannot impersonate a specific person's voice. If used to create the sound of a voice, the spell is limited to twenty words.

Air kami are mischievous and capricious, and enjoy anything they perceive as a joke. You may call upon them to create a subtle illusion, altering your facial features just enough that you appear to be a different person. This spell does not allow you to impersonate specific individuals, or even people radically different from you. You appear as a person of the same age, build, race, and gender. The differences are subtle, enough so that you could be mistaken for your own brother or cousin.