Toku

Toku was the son of a farmer who decided to become samurai. Over time, his shame was forgiven by Emperor Toturi I and his decision was made official. After his death, Toku was named Fortune of Virtue by Toturi III.

Beginnings as a Samurai
A peasant village was attacked by bandits. Seven samurai gathered to defend it - Ikoma Hidemasa, a ronin formerly of the Lion Clan, an Otaku family magistrate, and five other ronin. They trained the peasants, and were impressed by the heroic spirit of one of the heimin boys, whom Hidemasa nicknamed "Toku," which means "virtue." During the fighting, all the samurai were killed, but Toku slew the bandit chieftain and thus saved his village. Following the battle, he left the village to take up the life of a ronin to honour the courage shown by Hidemasa. He took with him a suit of armour too large for him, taken from twelve different bodies; the Otaku's stallion, though he could not make it stop once he had made it start; Hidemasa's copy of Akodo's Leadership, even though, being illiterate, he had to have others read from it to him; and the daisho of the bandit leader.

Topaz Championship
Toku was a contender of a Topaz Championship the same year than Doji Kuwanan.

Life as a Ronin
Toku wandered the empire, experiencing life as a samurai. Much of his knowledge was gained in Dragon lands, where a Mirumoto samurai, impressed by the young ronin, taught him the essential skills of warfare and culture that a samurai need to possess. This training was accidentally spotted by a Crane courtier, who goaded the Mirumoto into sending Toku to the prestigious Topaz Championship in Tsuma Village. Much to the Crane's horror, the Dragon did indeed sponsor Toku for the tournament, where Toku performed with great honour - winning no event, but coming second or third repeatedly. This was a seminal moment for Toku, when he realised that it was the actions of a man, not their birth or status, that determined their destiny. It was also here that he met Akodo Toturi, then Clan Champion of the Lion.

The Clan War
Following the Scorpion Coup, Toku sought the now-ronin Toturi. When he found Toturi in Dragon lands, the two discussed the state of the empire for some time. It is implied that it was Toku's questions that inspired Toturi to follow the course of action that he had been planning - to forge his own army of ronin to fight against the darkness that threatened Rokugan. It is likely that Toku became a member of the Twelve Ronin, Toturi's elite bodyguard. He fought at the Battle of Beiden Pass, where he slew an oni. During the war, Toku was entrusted with a piece of Iuchiban's heart by Naka Kuro. He hid it in a Shrine dedicated to his idol, Ikoma Hidamasa, in the Lion Clan's Hall of Ancestors. During the last days of the war, Toku was left behind to guard Nanashi Mura while Toturi led his forces to the Second Day of Thunder. When Nanashi Mura was attacked by Fu Leng's armies, Toku rode for reinforcements and lifted the siege of the village.

The Founding of the Monkey
In 1129 the position of Captain of the Imperial Guard was offered to Toku by Emperor Toturi I as a reward for his actions during the Clan War. Toku declined the offer and finally revealed to Toturi how he acquired his katana - that he was, in fact a heimin. Toku requested permission to repent for this great crime by committing seppuku, one last act as a samurai. However, Toturi pardoned Toku for his crime and offered the position a second time, as well as minor clan status upon Toku and his followers. In this way the Monkey Clan was founded. Initially their holdings were within the Imperial City, Otosan Uchi, but after the exile of the Scorpion Clan to the Burning Sands, Toturi decreed that they would have their home in the Scorpion lands, funded by Crane koku.

Defending Kyuden Hitomi
When Takuan pledged aid to the Dragon Clan in defense of Kyuden Hitomi, it fell to Toku as the Captain of the Imperial Guard to help defend the castle against the attacks of the Naga and Brotherhood of Shinsei army. The mad Kokujin took one of his guards and threw it to the Chamber of Crystal, where the Shadows was contained. After the return of the kidnapped Toturi, he enacted an Imperial Edict which 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 Monkey army marched and fought the Naga, who retreated from Dragon lands, but Toku stood aside searching for the reason behind the Emperor's brutal command.

The Shadows manifested
In 1132 the Great Sea Spider allied itself in with the Lying Darkness and Onnotangu weaved a web of Shadows over Otosan Uchi. Onnotangu summoned an avatar in the city, the Champion of the Moon, who stroke dawn those who could challenge the maddened emperor. Minions of the Darkness infested the city, slaughtering any rokugani they met. The avatar rose to claim Toturi, to drive the Shadow into him and claim him forever. Hasame turned from his place at his master's side, and stepped between Toturi and the avatar of the Moon. Hasame took the blow, perishing instantly while saving the Emperor's soul. Toku carried the body of his comrade away.

Family
Toku married then-Shosuro Inao and had four children: Toturi Miyako, Toku Kyoji, Toku Koto and Toku Kiyuko. He was fondly known throughout the empire as "The General".

Kyoji's Gempukku
Toku engineered a unconventional gempukku for Kyoji. He gave him and Koto a box to be delivered to Aoki, the elderly sensei of Little Tower. The gempukku complicated when Lord Hayato and his bandits ambushed his sons. They made their way to the Tower were Toku and Monkey samurais had defeated the rest of the gang.

Retirement


Toku contemplated retirement for a time, but those plans were promptly abandoned. His daughter Miyako was not yet old enought to lead the Monkey Clan, and follow the death of Toturi I and the empty throne Toku remained vigilant.

Kaede's Return
In 1160 the Empress and Oracle of Void, Toturi Kaede had returned to the Mortal Realm at Kyuden Seppun. She comanded to gather the Four Winds at the city to defeat Daigotsu and to destroy the City of the Lost with its Temple of the Ninth Kami, channel of the Shadowlands worship to Fu Leng. Toku was present as one of the most prominent and powerful samurai in the Empire when the Winds were gathered and prepared the Four Winds March. Miya Hatori asked him who was the chosen, but Toku kept silence.

Rain of Blood
After the Rain of Blood covered the Empire in 1165 Toku began to hunt bloodspeakers. He was joined by Mirumoto Kenzo and Mirumoto Mareshi in the Phoenix lands, where cultists had been seen.

Hidden City
The enemies they found were animated dead. Doji Midoru, who was part of the army, took an amulet who was in a small shrine. It was the Emma-O's Amulet, and the Crane told it belonged to Akodo Tadenori, tainted in the Rain. The army received a dove with a message from the Master of Earth, Isawa Nakamuro. He requested their aid to protect the secretive city of Gisei Toshi, unknown for the Empire until that moment. A Bloodspeaker army was marching to assault the City, led by Yajinden. The battle had fared badly for the Phoenix during three days until the arrival of Dragon and Monkey forces. The defenders were able to open the gates time enough to permit their entrance. Toku's son, Toturi Kyoji, had sent a messenger to Toshi Ranbo informing that the Bloodspeakers marched on the Phoenix lands, but he asked for no reinforcements. They were all trapped there, outnumbered, with little hope of aid, in a city that did not exist.

Black Scrolls
In the City were kept two Black Scrolls that should not be taken by Iuchiban. Toku decided to left the city with them. When the Scrolls had been hidden among their saddlebags, Toku had requested that Nakamuro not place one in his own bags, but to put them in his son's.

Death
Toku perished during Iuchiban's attack on Gisei Toshi. In a death reminiscent of the Kami Akodo, Toku's final act was to lure the Bloodspeaker Yajinden from the battle and collapse a mountain pass upon them both. As a result of his actions, only one of the two leaders of the Bloodspeakers was present for the majority of the battle.

Fortune of Virtue
After his death, a temple in Ryoko Owari Toshi was erected and dedicated to his memory by Emperor Toturi III himself, who also proclaimed Toku to be Fortune of Virtue.

The temple had a massive statue crafted by the finest Kakita sculptors. It depicted a young man in rough and ill-fitting armor. He held a ready sword in his right hand and had a thick, worn book clutched beneath his left arm. His keen eyes burned into the distant horizon, staring into the future without fear. On his back was mounted a sashimono, a banner depicting a black wolf – the symbol of Toturi’s Army. It was Toku as he had been in his youth, as he had been when the Emperor’s father first met him. At the bottom of the statue were carved a single line of characters. “Toku, Fortune of Virtue – named by the Righteous Emperor, Toturi III.”