Shiba Shizuma (TCG)

Nasu no Shiba Shizuma was the general and chief advisor of the Tsume Daimyō Tsume Retsu.

Appearance and Demeanor
shizuma wore his greying hair in a traditional topknot. He was a devout follower of Shinsei's teachings.

Yōjimbō
After Tsume Retsu came to the assistance of the besieged Phoenix Clan at Nikesake castle, Shizuma swore his fealty to Retsu and was given permission by his lord to become Retsu's yōjimbō, to help unite the Phoenix and Crane in the Kintani Valley against the Damasu family, vassals of the Akodo family.

General and Chief Advisor
Shizuma struggled to counsel Retsu toward peaceable resolutions, because Retsu was a cruel, ambitious and ruthless samurai. To shore up the Crane Clan's logistical lines to Toshi Ranbo Lord Tsume Retsu besieged the Kyotei Castle, a castle belonged to the Damasu family. Retsu eventually overcame its defenses and slaughtered every member of the Damasu family. In 1120 Retsu was assassinated and his sensitive and aloof son Tsume Takashi was made the new Daimyō. Shizuma feared that Takashi would fail to uphold everything Retsu sacrificed to attain. In 1123 Takashi committed seppuku shortly after fulfilling his last duty as lord in marrying Shiba Itsuyo. Takishi had met his former and lost lover, the geisha Reika, who was slain during a plot devised by her which revealed Reika as the last member of the Damasu. Doji Kuzunobu, husband to the Crane Clan Champion and one of the wedding's guests, accepted her oaths of fealty to the Doji family and recognized her as the new lord.