Bayushi Nitoshi

Bayushi Nitoshi, the Poison Mask, was a member of the Scorpion Clan who lived in the late twelfth, early thirteenth century. He was the Scorpion Clan Champion and was the son of Bayushi Paneki and Bayushi Miyako.

Demeanor
Bayushi Nitoshi was known to be a graceful and delicate courtier always promoting the glory of his clan and the Emperor proper. Yet what was not known by many was the duality to his personality. Nitoshi had been seen to be cold, calculating and lacking empathy to any and all. He seemed to hold all in this regard even seeing his own clan mates as dispensable. His character had been compared to that of a sociopath and this relates to the obsession in finding and killing the zombie abomination which masqueraded as his father and was known as Paneki's Disgrace. One year before Nitoshi reached his gempukku, his mother Toturi Miyako already was aware of his true demeanor.

"I can see the teeth where you should have a heart, and they are long and sharp."

Scorpion Champion
Somehow his mother Miyako passed him the championship before 1193.

War of the Twins
The War of the Twins was engineered by Nitoshi, who in 1190 killed Asako Moeru, a Phoenix guest in the Scorpion Wall. The Scorpion guards, unkowning who was the assassin and fearing the dishonor it would bring to their clan, slaughtered Moeru's entourage. A breach of the wall was planted, and the deaths were blamed to the oni which escaped from the Second Festering Pit.

Winning the War
All the war happened to amuse Nitoshi. He had a direct action to play in the ending of the war. In 1193 he and the Phoenix Clan Champion were guests in the Winter Court at Kyuden Otomo, and they arranged to face ach other in the battlefield leading their respective armies. Shortly before the battle was to be fought Nitoshi and Tsukimi spoke to one another about the ongoing conflict. Nitoshi lured Tsukimi into a trap in the form of a honorable duel. During the duel the Scorpion used the gleaming sun's blinding of Tsukimi to land the first strike in the duel to first blood. This strike proved to be beyond normal measure as the blade was poisoned and led to the permanent loss of vision to Shiba Tsukimi.

Bayushi Miyako
Bayushi Miyako, former Scorpion Champion and Nitoshi's mother, was still alive in 1198. It was not known how or why she had stepped down from Championship, but she had ascendance enough to command the Shosuro Daimyo Shosuro Aroru.

Time in Court


Nitoshi was a darling to the courts, so much so that many did not question him. He was not known to, but did occasionally visit those who opposed him in the night to make his points clear and arrange his triumphs, as in the case of Otomo Teruken.

Seeking the Disgrace
After Nitoshi ascended to the Championship of his clan, he displayed all the locations where Paneki's Disgrace was seen in a massive map of the Empire. To find its track was the center of his life for many years. Nitoshi sent several agents to find clues about his father's location. Bayushi Misaki, a Dangerous Beauty, had found where the Paneki's Disgrace was, but Nitoshi did not knw that she had decided to conceal her discovery for a time.

Meddling
During the growning tensions in the colonies following the declaration of war between the Crane and Mantis the Scorpion were found on a difficult mission. On the orders of Nitoshi to be carried out by Bayushi Nomen the Scorpion were found looking into the capabilities of a new "Secret Weapon" being used buy the Spider Clan. As was yet unknown how the Scorpion Clan Champion was well aware of the Spider Clan's activities and had revealed this information to the Crab Clan. Nitoshi had also orchestrated the Lion Clan into "stumbling" upon the Spider Clan's activities.

Blaming the Lion
The Unicorn sought satisfaction among the court of the Second City, and they received the mediation of the Kitsuki family to see if the Lion struck them without provocation in the Ki-Rin's Path. In the Imperial Court Nitoshi sought a reprimand to the Lion on behalf of the Unicorn, requesting to know why the Lion attacked. The Empress Iweko I wished to remain the Lion motivations in secrecy, and allowed them to do their own duty without interference. It seemed that Nitoshi had not discovered the Yodotai threat. Nitoshi sent Shosuro Ietsuno to spy on the Lion activities on the Ki-Rin's Path.

Under the Eye of P'an Ku
The mad dragon P'an Ku put its eyes upon Nitoshi, and if he would fall to the influx of the wicked dragon Nitoshi would become another Fallen.