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, the Splendid Emperor. Toturi led the Empire for three decades until his death in 1158.

Family
Toturi was son of Matsu Daio, formerly Akodo Daio, and Matsu Sodohime. He had a younger brother, Akodo Arasou.

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.

Betrothal
Toturi was engaged to marry Isawa Kaede, when both were infants.

Brotherhood
Toturi was sent to a small monastery near the Ki-Rin's Shrine, in the Dragon lands. There 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. Another monk, less famous, Keya Xi, tought him about that the mortals had a relevant place in the Celestial Order through the tale of Sakura, the wandering teacher.

Akodo Kage
Akodo Kage, who had lost his wife, was meditating in the same monastery Toturi was studying. Kage visited and taught Toturi the basics of bushido and kenjutsu during ten years. When Kage was summoned back to the Akodo family lands, he asked the Champion for a once in a lifetime boon - for Toturi to be recalled so Kage could continue tutoring him. His boon was refused, even when the old champion died - and Akodo Arasou inherited, over Kage's protests.

Ikoma Tsanuri
Ikoma Tsanuri was born with exceptional omens, and when child she was offered to choose her future. Instead other possible ways Tsanuri chose to follow Toturi, and both went back to the monastery to continue with their studies.

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 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.

Lion Clan Champion
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 in 1120. Toturi's uncle, the Lion Clan Champion was wounded, and died later, causing Toturi to be recalled. The new Lion Champion returned with Tsanuri, who served as his Karo.

Appearance and Demeanor
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. He dressed in modest clothes, had a deep voice, his body language was min­imal, and his eyes were piercing and dark.

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. He made changes in the Lion Clan Army, introducing the Uma Ite or horse archers in the Kaisha Nanatsu, the Sixth Company, making it a totally reformed company, the Kaisha Kimabusha, a cavalry company. He was contested by traditionalist Rikugunshokan, and some of them resigned. Matsu Agetoki was the first to step forward and accept his new commission.

Murder at Tsuma
The Badger Clan Champion Ichiro Akitomo was found murdered at Tsuma, while the Topaz Championship was held. Toturi was present when one of the witnesses, Bayushi Sugai, claimed it was a ninja assassination, while another, Otaku Shiko, accused Sugai as murderer. Sugai challenged her for the slight and cut Shiko down.

Saving the Hantei
In 1120 Kyuden Isawa hosted the Imperial Winter Court, where Toturi and the diplomat Ikoma Shotai thwarted a plan to asassin the Emperor. When they found the assassin about to kill Hantei XXXVIII in his chambers, the ninja turned his poison weapon on Toturi, but Shotai intervened, taking the strike. Shotai healed from the poison, but his mind was never the same.

Winter Court - Kyuden Seppun
Toturi and Tsuko came to winter court at Kyuden Seppun in winter 1122-1123. Other Clans saw the disdain the Matsu showed to the Akodo.

Scorpion Coup
In the first day of the Scorpion Coup Toturi vanished in the Outer City, and had been plaguing the Scorpion defenders with a small band of skilled bushi ever since. The Scorpion attempted to flush him out of hiding burning large section of the Tsai district.

Hatsuko
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 escaped the city to lead the united clans against the Scorpion Clan.

Leading the Clans
The united clans proved too much for the Scorpion Clan to withstand and Shoju retreated to the Imperial 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.

While dying Shoju whispered a forewarning:

"The Empire will fall by the hand of the Last Hantei, and one day soon you will see what I have seen - a future where the Empire is ruled by blood and the Taint of the Shadowlands."

- Shoju's Last Words

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.

Ronin
Now Toturi the Black, Toturi began roaming Rokugan gathering followers. He had seen the deterioration of diplomacy between the Great Clans, the growing discontent of the people, and the injustice and tyranny wreaked by the Imperial Legions in the name of Hantei. No one from the Clans rose up to unite Rokugan under the new Emperor, so he would form the Toturi's Army because he believed that someone must do something.

Toturi's Army


While wandering Rokugan, Toturi amassed an army of ronin Ashigaru and Shugenja. In 1125 rumors of his army reached winter court at Kyuden Kakita. His Twelve Ronin elite cavalry unit were renown harassing the infamous Yugoro's Hordes.

First Battle of Beiden Pass
In Autumn of 1126 Toturi hold off in the Beiden Pass a bigger Crab army led by Hida Sukune, who retreated south of the pass.

Dragon and Unicorn Allies
In the last days of this year Yokuni conferred command to Toturi of a large Dragon army, and disappeared. Toturi set up camp near Nanashi Mura. Toturi himself then led a small troop towards the Crane lands, seeking to reach Beiden Pass through their territory. Shinjo Yasamura's cavalry joined him when the threat of the Crab Clan became clear to Shinjo Yokatsu. Daini appeared with a token force of Naga warriors.

Battle of Beiden Pass
Toturi led the allied army of ronin, Dragon, and Unicorn to the Beiden Pass. A Phoenix force led by Shiba Tsukune destroyed a Lion army which was seeking to destroy the Fallen Lion. Following the battle, Tsukune and her men found Toturi in his way to the pass and joined them. The Battle of Beiden Pass was successful, and Toturi defended the pass against the vastly superior numbers of Crab and Shadowlands forces. Toturi left Yasamura guarding the pass with the Unicorn forces.

Naga Allies
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.

Iyosha Hill
Toturi advanced on the Crab lands, relying on his quickness and ferocity to bring him victory over the retreating Sukune. He never saw the ambush of Crab cavalry waiting just out of sight. Crab took the upper hand in the Battle at Iyosha Hill. Toturi made a quick retreat, falling back to save his tired army from the fresh Crab cavalry, only to find himself cut off from his Unicorn ally at Beiden Pass by an army of Shadowlands creatures led by the Crane Champion, Doji Hoturi.

The False Hoturi
A small ronin, Akiyoshi, acting under Yokuni's orders, delivered the barely-living body of Hoturi to Toturi's camp at Beiden Pass. After hearing the tale of the False Hoturi, Toturi led a large portion of his forces into Crane lands to stop them. Yasamura was left in control of the pass.

Blocked in the Beiden Pass


When he reached the Pass Yasamura would not let him by. Toturi refused to draw his sword on Yasamura, and he was forced to move his army north through the provinces of the Lion, the Clan which ousted him. The Emperor through his wife, Bayushi Kachiko, had ordered to the Unicorn Clan not let Toturi to pass. And beyond that, Lion Clan had made a bargain with the Unicorn: If Unicorn assisted Lion in destroying Toturi, Lion would give them half the Crane lands they would capture.

Akodo Kage assured Toturi that his army would be provided safe haven in Lion homeland.

Akiyoshi approached the Toturi's Army with a slight and sickly Doji Hoturi. He said his name was Akiyoshi but when Toturi first saw him, he called the samurai by another name. Yasamura gave Hoturi passage through the pass to Crane lands.

Isha went to the East
The naga army finally joined Toturi. He divided naga army in two, one remained with him, and the second was sent to the East to assist the Crane, commanded by Isha and Daini.

Toturi blocked in Lion lands
Toturi was trying to move his own forces through Lion territory to aid the Crane Clan. Because he had sent secret messages to his sensei Kage, Lady Kachiko was fully aware of his position and movement. Every time he made a maneuver, the Lion general Ikoma Tsanuri, the young samurai maiden who had once been his finest pupil, cut him off.

Kage unmasked as Master Kolat
Toturi initially did not believe the accusation of Akodo Kage being the Master Kolat, and his betrayal of Toturi to the Bayushi Kachiko, but he eventually came to believe it.

The Death of Tsuko
Matsu Tsuko came to the Toturi the Black's camp and begged for his return. She promised to pass him the Lion Championship, but Toturi refused. Tsuko committed seppuku with Toturi as her second, releasing those Lion who would follow the spirit of their family's ancient vow and protect the Empire, rather than the corrupted Emperor.

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. He gave Imperial Charters to ensure renewed attention to their ancient duties to the empire, which each clan accepted, but of the Phoenix there was no word.

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, two guards laid on the floor, and a Scorpion's bloodstained scarf. 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 Otaku Kamoko, Balash, Isha, Malekish, Otaku Xieng Chi, Tsuruchi and the bloodspeaker Jama Suru. They fought against the Goju who outnumbered them, and Kamoko made a bargain with Suru to give safe transport to the Emperor. Suru with the Thunder's blood casted a maho spell who teleported the sorcerer, Toturi and xieng Chi out of the castle, into the Morikage Forest and they were found by Unciorn scouts, and they left the forest. 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. Toturi quickly issued several edicts to restore order to his Empire.

The Three Imperial Edicts
The first edict declared the peace between Naga and the Empire dissolved, and commanded Toku and the Monkey Clan to lead the Imperial Legions to aid the Dragon Clan against the Naga. The second edict stepped down the Lion as the Right Hand of the Emperor, and the Unicorn Clan would take this role instead. Toturi ordered the Unicorn courtier Ide Tadaji to punish the Lion for threatening the Crab, as well as to destroy the Kitsu for their corruption. Kuni Sensin questioned Toturi and was ordered to commit seppuku. The Third edict appointed Seppun Toshiken as the Emerald Champion, breaking the tradition of its ancestral contest.

Revelation of the Kolat
Toturi began a systematic cleansing of Otosan Uchi in 1132 of everyone he deemed to be a Kolat (a word nearly unheard of), and the first to fall was Isawa Osugi. On even the sketchiest of evidence people were executed. Among the dead was Isawa Osugi. Takuan, horrified by his lords actions commited seppuku.

Toturi's madness continued until he finally ordered the Emerald Champion Seppun Toshiken to "silence" the Imperial Court. Toturi wanted to stop any who were complaining about the ongoing wars.

At Shadows command
Toturi could not resist the Darkness' commands, but he excuted them in savage and unpredictable way. He hoped one of his servants might realize something wrong and act against him, and to be murdered to save the Empire.

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 not restored to their place as a Great Clan until later, but the Scorpion returned control of their ancestral lands to the leadership of the clan.

Shinjo and the Reinstatement of the Scorpion
The Kami Shinjo herself returned to Rokugan at the head of the exiled Scorpion Clan after having been freed from her imprisonment in the Burning Sands. The Scorpion Clan was reinstated by force of deeds. Even when the Emperor did not remove its status as exiles, nobody opposed the return of a Clan led by a Kami itself.

Ginawa and Hiroru exiled
Ginawa and wounded Hiroru had been apprehended for murder. They were imprisoned for weeks in the Imperial Palace, being Hiroru still not recovered from his wounds. Ginawa and Hiroru came to the presence of Toturi I, who in his madened state hardly recognized his old friend Ginawa. Toturi ordered them into exile, and Ginawa saw he was the real Toturi, but something had entered the Emperor's mind. The Emperor had been found but not yet saved.

Shinjo and Onnotangu
After Shinjo purged the Unicorn Clan, she marched toward Otosan Uchi with Moto Gaheris at her side, to destroy the corrupted Emperor. They clashed against the Imperial armies while the Great Sea Spider weaved a web of Shadow in the Imperial City, Onnotangu manifested a mortal avatar to defend the Emperor and the minions of the Shadows spread over the city. Takao, leader of the Brotherhood of Shinsei engaged the avatar and defeated him, weakening Lord Moon as a result. Toturi tried to bribe the Scorpion Clan, offering their lands and title returned for the death of Shinjo, but she refused his request.

Mortally Wounded
Hitomi killed Onnotangu in the Celestial Heavens shortly after his avatar was defeated, breaking the shadow's control over the city. Ginawa was able to confront Toturi in the Imperial Palace, but he could not kill him. Instead he smuggled the mad Toturi to an outskirt where Hiroru where recovering from the wounds Doji Shizue caused to the ninja. Isawa Kaede, the Oracle of the Void, appeared there, healed Hiroru and transported Toturi to Shiba lands, hidden in a house in the mountains near the Village in the Valley. Sanzo, a ronin consumed by the death of his family at an ogre's hands, was driven by the wish of revenge of his blade, Ambition. Sanzo in 1133 found and attacked the Emperor, wounding him grievously. Sanzo regained his control before he could strike the killing blow and fled. Kaede arrived to find Toturi mortally wounded and Sanzo gone.

The Lucid Moment and First Death
Wounded into death, Toturi was tormented by nightmares. In 1133 in the Month of the Dragon Hiroru and Ryoshun reached Isawa Palace, to meet Toturi. The Tenth Kami explained Toturi what was necessary to be done. 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.

Shortly after Toturi committed seppuku 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. Before the seppuku Toturi had revealed the plans of the Lying Darkness to Kaede, sensed throught the nightmares. Kaede told them to Ginawa and Hiroru.

Kaede's Regency
Toturi was burned in a funeral pyre and Kaede's regency followed. War began again with the Lying Darkness.

Returned Spirit
Ginawa reached Toturi's hand and pulled him through to the Empire as the Oblivion's Gate was sealed by Goju Adorai. Toturi returned from the dead at the Battle of Oblivion's Gate, together with many other spirits including the Steel Chrysanthemum. Some of the Thunders, as Tadaka, remained behind guarding Jigoku from the Shadow.

Joining the Battle
They found themselves in the inner city of Volturnum, with the gates closed. Those who came out of Oblivion's Gate more than half died fighting Goju within the city's heart, and the others became tainted the moment they set foot within the city. The Council of Five opened the gate of inner Volturnum and the Spirits from Yomi and Toshigoku began to emerge from it in great numbers. The spirit army escaped the inner city to fight this day only because of Isawa Hochiu's bravery, and that of the Elemental Masters. The Masters closed again the gates to remain the Goju could not enter the outer city. The armies charged past the city gate, launching themselves from the hopeless battle in the city down toward the great plain where Shadow and Shadowlands alike fought to destroy the armies of the Empire.

Children
Once the Lying Darkness was defeated, Toturi reoccupied the throne and Kaede bore him three heirs; Toturi Tsudao, Toturi Sezaru and Toturi Naseru.

The refused Gift of the Naga
A Naga delegation visited Otosan Uchi to offer a great gift to Toturi, but were inadvertantly turned away by the courtier, Miya Arugo. The gift was a giant pearl, known as the Legacy of the Naga, the last remains of an ancient race who were being called to a final Great Sleep.

Conflicts with the Returned Spirits
In 1136 Toturi ordered all the returned spirits had to undergo a ritual to sever their connection with the Spirit Realms.

War of Spirits
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 in 1138.

Ivory Kigndoms struggle
In 1147 Toturi secretely ordered the Mantis Clan Champion Yoritomo Aramasu to sail to the Ivory Kingdoms and assist the ruling maharajah against an aggressive rebellion by the Cult of the Destroyer. The Mantis were largely successful, and Rokugan avoids a new threat from overseas.

End of the War
The War of Spirits had 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.

Hantei XVI's Death
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 Toturi was travelling to Ryoko Owari Toshi, supposedly 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 as his son, but there was no real proof.

His corpse was recovered by the Scorpion after a hard fought battle.

Part of his blood was taken, and seven years later it was used by Iuchiban to cast the Rain of Blood.

Designated Heir
Toturi's wife, the Oracle of Void Toturi Kaede held the throne causing a great upset in the Celestial balance. When she realized her mistake departed the Mortal Realm. Having not declared who his intended heir was, the empty throne sent Rokugan into a state of Chaos. For two years the Four Winds, Toturi's heirs, struggled to ascend the Imperial throne.



Toturi's Shrine
Toturi's soul was honored with a shrine in Otosan Uchi, named Toturi's Shrine.

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 the Emma-O's Spear, and Hoshi pushed him back to the gates of Tengoku. Fu Leng was once again confronted by the Toturi and the rest of the Seven Thunders and decided to retreat. Toturi after his death had gathered his forces in secret and traveled the Spirit Realms, to bring each of the Thunders back the Celestial Heavens to face Fu Leng again.

Legion of the Dead
In 1165 the soul of Toturi met the recently dead Matsu Goemon. The Legions of Yomi prepare to ride but they needed a leader, one who had died only recently and knew the ways of the modern Empire. Toturi named Goemon Fortune of Heroes and General of the Legion of the Dead.