Toturi I

Akodo Toturi was the Lion Clan Champion before the Scorpion Coup. In response to his actions following the assassination of Hantei XXXVIII he was cast out by Hantei XXXIX. He became the ronin Toturi the Black. When the emperor was consumed by Fu Leng, Toturi and the other Clan Thunders battled him. With the Hantei family thought extinct, Toturi was crowned Emperor Toturi I. Toturi led the Empire for three decades until his death in 1158.

Childhood


As the first son of an Akodo and a Matsu, Toturi's life was one of balances. Before his birth, samurai from the Akodo and Matsu families were not allowed to marry, not only because of the competition between the two houses but also to prevent the strife a child could create. When his father married his mother, they agreed that any male children would be raised as Akodo, thus when Toturi was born, the Matsu, expecting a girl, turned on him and branded him weak.

At the age of 5 Toturi was taken to a dojo to be trained in kenjutsu, but his training proved to be disastrous for Toturi was meek, and full of thought. Despite the many sessions of instruction, Toturi seemed to have no interest in martial pursuits and Akodo Daio began to agree with his wife Matsu Sodohime, and they sent Toturi to a monastery within the Phoenix lands where he lived for more than ten years. There, he dedicated himself to the study of tactics, strategy and the Tao.

His mentor was an Acolyte of Water in the Brotherhood by the name of Master Suana. Occasionally, Akodo Kage would visit the monastery and teach Toturi the basics of kenjutsu and bushido.

Study with the Unicorn
At the age of 19, in the year 1118, Toturi spent a summer with the Unicorn Clan at the request of Akodo Kage. He wrote a letter to his mother detailing how he had been allowed to ride one of the Unicorn mounts. He was thrown at one point, lucky to not be trampled by the horse.

Toturi and Arasou
Toturi's brother, Akodo Arasou was born three years after Toturi and quickly became his parents favorite, displaying an aptitude and liking for violence that Toturi lacked. After his first major victory against the Unicorn Clan, Arasou was proclaimed heir to the Akodo. Toturi and Arasou met only rarely, usually when Toturi was home for festivals and other formal occasions.

When Toturi became twenty, Arasou was engaged to Matsu Tsuko the daughter of the Matsu daimyo. For a year Tsuko and Arasou put off their wedding, with Arasou promising his bride Toshi Ranbo wo Shien Shite Reigisaho, but Arasou was killed trying to take the city from the Crane Clan. Toturi's uncle, the Lion Clan Champion was wounded, and died later, causing Toturi to be recalled.

Appearance
Toturi was a pale man, with his long mane of hair dyed gold. He stood nearly six feet tall, and rarely wore armour, instead preferring the robes and kimono of monks. His attitude and courtly words caused the Lion to uncomfortably mutter, but his intelligence gained a reputation both on the battlefield and in the courts.

Akodo Daimyo
Although Toturi was not ready to be a daimyo or a war leader, he threw himself into his tasks applying the wisdom he gained from Master Suana, and although Toshi Ranbo wo Shien Shite Reigisaho was never retaken, the Lion thrived.

Scorpion Coup


Fearing Toturi's sucessful leadership, Bayushi Shoju sought to eliminate him shortly before the Scorpion Coup. Shoju's wife, Bayushi Kachiko used the geisha Hatsuko to gain Toturi's trust. But when Hatsuko was ordered to poison Toturi, she used an insufficient amount of the poison given to her by Kachiko, a weak dose which merely paralyzed the Lion Clan Champion. Toturi recovered and led the united clans against the Scorpion Clan. The united clans proved too much for the Scorpion Clan to withstand and Shoju retreated to the Throne Room where he waited for Toturi to confront him. Shoju was the better swordsman of the two, yet in a moment of perfect clarity he realized his actions had ultimately been wrong. He shattered the Bloodsword Ambition by breaking it over the Imperial Throne, and Toturi seized the moment and slew Shoju. This action would weigh heavily upon Toturi's mind for many years.

Fall from Grace
With the Emperor dead and his heir believed to be dead, Toturi saw no other alternative than to claim the throne himself so as to prevent the clans from fighting for it. Unknown to almost all, the heir Hantei Sotorii had been saved by Isawa Kaede, and he was returned at the head of the Phoenix Clan army. The true heir was crowned Hantei XXXIX, and the new Emperor promptly dissolved the Scorpion Clan and took Bayushi Kachiko as his wife. Toturi spoke up against this action, whereupon the Emperor punished him by dissolving the Akodo family and making Toturi a ronin for his failure to prevent the coup.

Now Toturi the Black, Toturi began roaming Rokugan gathering followers.

Toturi's Army


While wandering Rokugan, Toturi amassed an army of ronin Ashigaru and Shugenja. In addition to those that followed Toturi directly, he allied himself with the Dragon Clan and Unicorn Clan when the threat of the Crab Clan became clear.

Naga Allies
Sometime shortly before the Battle of Beiden Pass in 1127, Toturi sent Mirumoto Daini to the recently awakening Naga to ask them for assistance in defeating the Crab Clan army that was allied with the Shadowlands. The Naga agreed to aid Toturi, if Toturi promised he would not seek to take the Emerald Throne for himself.

Beiden Pass
Toturi led the allied army of ronin, Dragon, Unicorn and the newly joined Naga at the Battle of Beiden Pass. Here they successfully defended the gap against the vastly superior numbers of Crab and Shadowlands forces.

Second Day of Thunder
Toturi was the Lion Clan Thunder on the Second Day of Thunder in 1128. He reunited the Lion Clan Armies that had begun to fight amongst themselves over whether to support Fu Leng (who had consumed the Emperor) or Rokugan. Toturi, allied with Doji Hoturi struck down Fu Leng in the Imperial Throne Room. He was declared Emperor to prevent the clans from struggling to gain the throne.

Emperor Toturi I
After the death of Hantei XXXIX he was proclaimed the new emperor, Toturi I. Ruling from a newly crafted jade throne, he oversaw a brief period of relative peace and cooperation between the clans as they worked towards the common goal of rebuilding Rokugan anew after the war.

The Disappearance of Toturi
In 1130 in the month of the Hare, the Emperor's chambers were found ruined, his sleeping mat empty and bloodied. A thorough search of Otosan Uchi turned up clues implicating the Scorpion, and Bayushi Kachiko was summoned to the Imperial City to answer for her clan. Numerous courtiers and nobles were assembled to bring testimony against the Scorpion. The Emerald Champion Kakita Toshimoko called in the aid of the Kitsuki, thereby acknowledging the Kitsuki method of evidence for the first time in history. The Kitsuki found nothing implicating the Scorpion and sadly, nothing implicating anyone else either. As the Scorpion were unable to refute the testimonies brought against them, the acting Regent Takuan ordered them exiled to the Burning Sands and that all Scorpion children under 12 to be fostered to the Crane.

The Lying Darkness


In 1132 Toturi was found shackled and beaten in the ruins of Morikage Toshi by Unicorn scouts. The forest and castle were filled with apparitions and shadows the Naga termed The Foul. The truth was revealed that Toturi had been held by the Lying Darkness which was trying to push the Empire into chaos. The Unicorn, led by Otaku Kamoko brought the weak and sickened Emperor back to Otosan Uchi, lighting a small flame of hope in a dark Empire.

The Madness of Toturi
After his torture and detention by the Lying Darkness, Toturi was never the same. He began a systematic cleansing of Otosan Uchi in 1132 of everyone he deemed to be a Kolat (a word nearly unheard of). On even the sketchiest of evidence people were executed. Among the dead was Isawa Osugi. Takuan, horrified by his lords actions commited seppuku.

In a new example of madness Toturi ordered the Emerald Champion Seppun Toshiken to "silent" (slaughter) the Imperial Court. Toturi wanted to stop all complaining about the outgoing wars.

The Gift of the Emperor
In 1132 Toturi held a contest, the winner to recieve a boon from the Jade Throne. All clans were invited to compete, each sending one candidate. The winner of the contest was a ronin candidate sent by the Dragon Clan who turned out to be Bayushi Aramoro. As his boon, he requested his clan be allowed to reoccupy their lands. The Scorpion were then restored to their place in the Empire.

The Lucid Moment and First Death
In 1133 Toturi broke free of the hold the Lying Darkness had over him. In this moment of clarity he realized that if the Darkness took the soul of an Emperor the Empire would be lost also. In a hasty ceremony, he married his fiancee Isawa Kaede, committing seppuku shortly afterwards with Matsu Hiroru as a second. In dying, he denied the Lying Darkness his soul. With no named heir at the time this left Kaede as the Empress, and as the Oracle of Void the Lying Darkness could not touch her.

Kaede's regency followed. War began again with the Lying Darkness. Toturi returned from the dead at the Battle of Oblivion's Gate, together with many other spirits including the Steel Chrysanthemum. Once the Lying Darkness was defeated, Toturi reoccupied the throne and Kaede bore him three heirs; Toturi Tsudao, Toturi Sezaru and Toturi Naseru.

There was peace for a time, until the returned spirit Hantei XVI decided to claim the throne for himself, which began what was later called the War of Spirits.

War of Spirits
The War of Spirits raged for over a decade, a bloody civil war that touched all Rokugani. The War halted in 1150 following the defeat of Hantei XVI's spirit army at Beiden Pass. As a part of the peace treaty, Toturi's son Naseru took the Hantei name and studied under the Steel Chrysanthemum. Five years later, in 1155, Naseru returned from one such study trip to missing his right eye. Naseru would not explain what had happened, only revealing that the Steel Chrysanthemum was now dead. The event was covered up sufficiently so that no blame was accrued to Naseru.

Kaneka
Sometime after the War of Spirits the Lion Clan announced that one of their samurai, Akodo Kaneka was the bastard son of Toturi. Kaneka had been born to the geisha Hatsuko, saved by the Dragon of Water and held in stasis for almost a decade.

Second Death and Legacy
In 1158, as Toturi was travelling to Ryoko Owari Toshi to meet with Kaneka, the procession transporting the Emperor came under attack from the Onisu Fushin. It was rumored Toturi went there to acknowledge Kaneka, but there was no real proof. Having not declared who his intended heir was, the empty throne sent Rokugan into a state of Chaos. Toturi's wife, the Oracle of Void Toturi Kaede held the throne as regent until the succession could be clarified, causing a great upset in the celestial balance. For two years the Four Winds, Toturi's heirs, struggled to ascend the Imperial throne.