Isawa Tadaka

Isawa Tadaka was an enigmatic and sinister person, scarred by dark magics and with a burning desire for revenge against the forces of the Shadowlands, especially Oni no Akuma, the stealer of his ancestor's name. Tadaka was the Phoenix Clan Thunder, and died on the Second Day of Thunder in 1128.

Isawa Tomo
Tadaka was close to his brother, Isawa Tomo. As children often do, Tadaka and Tomo once decided to run away from home and to the Shadowlands. Because of Tomo's influence, they did so by way of the Seikihi River. The two managed to slip away from their sister, Isawa Kaede, and successfully avoided discovery for nearly two months.

Their adventures came to an abrupt end in the lands of the Scorpion Clan when they were captured by a group of bandits. The rogues intended to sell Tadaka and Tomo as slaves to a foreign merchant caravan. They were rescued only by the timely intervention of a young Yogo Shidachi, who helped the boys escape. Shidachi then took the pair with him into the civilized lands of his family. The Yogo contacted their father, Master of Void Isawa Ujina, to return the wayward children. Ujina, who had been beside himself with worry for the two months of their absence, was very relieved to have his sons back.

Tadaka quickly moved past their experience, but for Tomo, their misadventure was a turning point in his life.

Isawa Kaede
Tadaka always shared a special bond with his older sister, Isawa Kaede. Kaede was always considered a prodigy as they grew up; she had obvious skill, and she was managing to master the extraordinarily difficult intricacies of the Void. Despite Kaede's well earned celebrity, Tadaka loved her just as much as any of his clansmen, and possibly more. Though Kaede was older, the two were close enough in age that they shared many interests and studies and they had many common friends. The two remained close until Tadaka chose to spend a year studying in the lands of the Crab Clan, and even then, couriers would regularly carry letters between the two.

Acolyte
Tadaka worked as magistrate of his Clan during his time as Acolyte of Earth. He met a couple of warriors, the Lion Karo Ashiryo Hijiko and her yoriki Ginawa. A bloodshed had happened there, and Tadaka recognized the sword the ronin wielded, one of the infamious Iuchiban's blades. The sword had set Ginawa in a frenzy state, so Tadaka used his prayings to purify the ronin's madness, allowing him to recover his center.

Ninja
Tadaka moved with the couple to the state of their Lord, Ashiryo Ataka, where they reported to the governor the outcome and events during the battle. Before Ataka could give any command he was killed by a shuriken, threw by a hidden ninja. Tadaka and Hijiko did not react quickly, being under a spell cast by the Ninja, which slowed their will, while more shurikens followed, being Hijiko wounded in her arm. Ginawa took Revenge, found the hidden assassin above them, and threw the bloodsword to kill the assailant.

Isawa Akuma
Tadaka was a descendant of the reviled shugenja Isawa Akuma. Tadaka took it as a personal insult that there existed a beast within the Shadowlands that, centuries earlier, had stolen his ancestor's name in order to secure its own existence. Tadaka had devoted his life to finding and destroying Oni no Akuma.

While studying with the Kuni family, the spirit of Akuma appeared to the young Tadaka. The apparition was bound and silent, but Tadaka understood that the poor soul was begging for his help to restore his name. This is the point at which Tadaka's obsession with Oni no Akuma began. His letters to his sister became less and less frequent, and it came as a surprise to no one when he asked to extend his stay with the Crab.

For years, nearly the entire period between his gempukku and his death, he spent every available moment -- and many he should not have spared -- to studying the Shadowlands, discovering the rituals of its denizens, observing the creatures there, and attempting to find the oni that stole his ancestor's name. He had risked everything -- his body, his life, his mind, and his soul -- in his quest.

Master of Earth
After having spent far more time with the Kuni than originally planned, Tadaka was called truant and tracked down by no less than the Master of Earth, Isawa Rujo. Rujo found the wayward shugenja, challenged his research, and even questioned the validity of his quest. Tadaka was furious and challenged the Master to a duel. The stakes he set were high: the loser would renounce his fealty to the Phoenix Clan and become forever ronin, and the winner would be Master of Earth. Rujo agreed.

Tadaka handily defeated the Master. Rujo was cast from the Phoenix, per their agreement, and Tadaka became Master of Earth in his place. The Council of Five was somewhat shaken by the outcome, but in the end, they were not disappointed. They saw Rujo as arrogant for entering a duel that he lost, and were not upset at his departure because of that. Tadaka saw his new position as an opportunity to more fully search for Oni no Akuma, which led him to be absent from the rulership of the clan quite frequently, allowing the Council to continue greatly in the manner to which they had already become accustomed.

Corruption
Tadaka's time in the Crab lands and his drive to understand the Akuma no Oni led him down a dark path of research, one that ultimately led to his own Taint.

As the Council of Five continued their attempts to understand the Shadowlands and the dark influences spreading across the Empire they send Tadaka into the Shadowlands to discover the source of the evil presence. He did not return for months.

Stealing into Yogo Junzo's stronghold, Tadaka was able to recover several of Isawa's Twelve Black Scrolls.

When Tadaka returned, he had changed considerably. His eyes were now filled with a black fire, and his body burned with energies he had never encountered before. There was a force in the Shadowlands and they had to gain an understanding of this energy source to destroy it. In order to do that, they would have to embrace its energy and take it within themselves. The corruption of the Phoenix Clan began. He came with three Black Scrolls from his journey.

The Tadaka's blood had stained the Black Scrolls he retrieved. The blood poured in the Iron Citadel would be used more than thirty years later by Iuchiban to cast the Rain of Blood.

Four of the five elemental masters, Isawa Tsuke, Isawa Tadaka, Isawa Uona, and Isawa Tomo opened several Black Scrolls, causing cataclysmic changes in both the Phoenix territories and their own physiology. Tadaka, drawing on his Earth magic and perhaps on his own powerful soul of Thunder, resisted the worst of the corruption, but the seed was planted.

Continuing to research the forces of Jigoku, Tadaka gave his name to an Oni, creating a creature physically weak but with immense magical power and knowledge of the Shadowlands, the Tadaka no Oni. The creature gave the Council fundamental knowledge of Jigoku, but further corrupted the Phoenix Thunder and his brethren.

Tadaka's Children
Shortly before Tadaka went to Otosan Uchi to face his destiny, he made the Tadaka's Children, clay soldiers who created to battle the darkness. Being present his brother Tomo, Tadaka kept the magical creatures into a closed cave to be used in the future when the Phoenix would not fight against Phoenix.

Assault of Otosan Uchi
Tadaka and Shiba Ujimitsu confronted the taint maddened Master Isawa Tsuke, who had killed Isawa Tomo and Isawa Uona. During the ensuing fight, Tsuke threw Ujimitsu from the ramparts of Otosan Uchi, killing him as he hit the ground far below, and mortally wounded Tadaka, who was to be one of the Seven Thunders. Their sacrifice was not futile, however, because the pair also managed to mortally wound Tsuke. The Master of Fire died as their fight waned, leaving Isawa Osugi to help Tadaka walk to the other Thunders and finish his duties as a Thunder before he also perished.

Seven Thunders
Tadaka died during the legendary battle with Fu Leng in the Emperor's Throne Room. His initial assaulting magics against the kami were rebounded by the might of the Dark God, striking at the corruption inside the fallen Master of Earth instead. Tadaka collapsed for the majority of the fight, watching as Otaku Kamoko and Hida Yakamo were quickly dispatched. When Fu Leng attacked Bayushi Kachiko, the distraction she caused allowed Tadaka to gather enough strength to magically levitate the Emerald Throne and attack the kami with it, a blow that allowed Toturi and Doji Hoturi to finish the Dark Kami once and for all. Tadaka succumbed to his wounds, dying before he could be reunited with Shiba Tsukune. He was burned on pyre. Kuni rituals had purged his body and soul of the Taint even as they took his life, allowing him to enter Yomi uncorrupted.

War against the Shadow
Tadaka, Doji Hoturi and Toturi led the army of spirits who were fighting in Jigoku against the shadows, during the Battle of Oblivion's Gate. While Toturi crossed the rift, Tadaka remained behind to fight the Shadows in Jigoku.

Invasion of the Celestial Heavens
In 1160 the Invasion of the Celestial Heavens was halted when the words of Hantei Naseru tricked Fu Leng into distrusting Daigotsu, whose faith was the source of Fu Leng's power. Taking advantage of this moment of weakness, Bishamon deprived Fu Leng of Emma-O's Spear, and Hoshi pushed him back to the gates of Tengoku. Fu Leng was once again confronted by the Seven Thunders and decided to retreat.

Legion of the Dead
In 1166 with the Empire threatened by users of dark magic again, and his former comrade and enemy Tsuke already standing among the Legion of the Dead, Tadaka answering Matsu Goemon's call to fight the Legion of Blood. As the two forces initially battled for control over the newly forming realm in 1166, Isawa Tsuke released a massive explosion intending to stop the First Oni, but it also disrupted the realm and knocked everyone in it into private memories of critical choices in their lives. The Realm of Thwarted Destiny was testing each of them, to see if they would embrace their destines or reject them. The realm could become a place where those who failed their destinies could repeat their failures for eternity or a place where those who failed could embrace their fates and find redemption.

Lost in the Mists of the new Realm
In the Realm of Thwarted Destiny, Tsuke was faced with his action on the Second Day of Thunder. He again made the choice of killing his kinsmen and the Masters. Tadaka found him once again, and attempted to battle him once more, though Tadaka refused to fight the again-fallen Master. Upon realizing Tadaka's forgiveness, Tsuke was overcome with grief and fled into the mists of the Realm. Tadaka offered a prayer for the eventual salvation of his old friend, but Tsuke's fate since then is unknown.


 * Way of the Phoenix pp. 75-76.