Sanzo

Sanzo was a ronin samurai without a daisho who rode a horse that was better kept than himself. This former samurai of the Dragon Clan interested Miya Yumi so much that he took on Sanzo as a yojimbo and took this time to study him. Yumi was so moved by Sanzo's story that she replaced Sanzo's missing daisho.

He had a son, Hozumi.

Early Life
Once known as Mirumoto Sanzo, this proud samurai was the protector of a remote mountain village. One fateful day, a band of marauding ogres and ronin attacked Sanzo's home. He returned to his village too late to prevent the attack, too late to do anything to aid his people. Overcome by fear, he could not bring himself to fight. He watched in mute horror as his wife and daughter were murdered, while all those he had sworn to protect died at the ogres' hands. He watched as the leader slung his father's swords over his back, swords Sanzo had left behind rather than carry them into the fields with the workers. The beasts trudged into the wilderness, and Sanzo could do nothing. Later he met the ronin who had destroyed his village, but fled from them in fear once more, missing his chance for revenge.

Clan Wars
During the Clan Wars, by pure chance, he fell in among a group of others outcast by circumstance -- Tsuruchi Ichiro, Miya Yumi, and the mysterious Koan. Beside them, Sanzo learned some small part of what it meant to be a hero and helped prevent a terrible tragedy from befalling the Empire. Still, he never forgave himself for his failure so long ago. For years he chased death with blind fury, never relenting against the creatures of the Shadowlands.

Hidden Emperor
Sanzo found the lair of the ogre who killed his father, and the Sanzo's family sword was in the hands of the beast.

Ambition
In 1132 Sanzo found the broken shards of the Bloodsword, Ambition. After forging them into a wakizashi, he set out to hunt the ogre that had murdered his family. After a long hunt, he finally confronted his adversary and gained the revenge he had long desired. Sadly, indulging in his bloodlust also gave the bloodsword a measure of control over him. The sword drove him to find and slay the one responsible for the duel that led to its destruction -- Emperor Toturi I.

At the time, Toturi and Isawa Kaede were hiding in Phoenix lands as Kaede struggled to help Toturi overcome the Lying Darkness' hold upon him. Sanzo 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.

He wandered the Empire as a madman for some years before finally succumbing to death. Phoenix shugenja discovered his body and realized that the curse of the Bloodsword had overcome him. The sword and his skull were placed in Gisei Toshi for study, but the fate of Sanzo's spirit was never known. None had been able to commune with his soul in Yomi, nor any of the other Spirit Realms.

Legion of the Dead
Sanzo joined the Legion of the Dead to fight against those responsible for the forging of the Bloodswords. He was instrumental in the defeat of the Legion of the Blood, attacking Kuni Yori at a key moment so that Hida Kisada, the former Crab Champion and Fortune, could pass through Oblivion's Gate. He now wanders the Realm of Forgotten Destiny, which has been named "Maigo no Musha" after his horse.

Seiden Sanzo
The spirit of Sanzo was revered in Seiden Sanzo.