Suzume Tabito

Suzume Tabito was a tainted samurai of the Sparrow Clan.

Marriage Arrangement
Tabito was a young samurai who in 1165 was introduced by nakodo at Musume Mura to Hida Ikuyo. Her father Hida Ogai was a brave defender of the Kaiu Wall, who had but a single child late in life before his wife's tragic death during the War of Spirits. Ikuyo was born with the gift of the kami and was trained in the Kuni Shugenja school. Growing up beside her father on the Wall, she inherited the brash manners of a Crab. She wished to be a warrior, not a housewife, and her stern demeanor and brash temper ruined many likely matches. Tabito's sincere demeanor and boundless patience seemed to have won Ikuyo's heart, as did his promise to take the Hida name and fight the Shadowlands in her name so long as he drew breath.

Tainted
Tabito vanished during the Rain of Blood. He had inherited a large debt to a local gambling house upon the death of his father seven months ago, and his fear that Ogai would learn of his gambling debt and call off the marriage allowed the Taint to seep into his soul. Even so, his love for Ikuyo and his promise to always fight the Shadowlands in her name allowed him to resist Iuchiban's call. Ikuyo concealed Tabito's existence from everyone, hoping against all possible hope that she would find a way to cure his Taint. A local criminal lord, Yasuki Naosuke, had been hunting such corrupted souls for months. Naosuke suspected that Tabito was corrupted in the Rain, and his agents would slaughter him without mercy if he was found. Ogai requested a group of samurai to seek Tabito if he was alive, unbeknownst of his corruption.