Bayushi Kachiko

Bayushi Kachiko was one of the most important Scorpion in the 12th century. She was the wife of a Scorpion Clan Champion as well as becoming the Champion herself later, became the Empress of Rokugan and was the Scorpion Clan Thunder on the Second Day of Thunder.

Birth
Kachiko was born Shosuro Kachiko, the first child of Shosuro Daimyo Shosuro Koshurin and elder sibling of Shosuro Hametsu. Despite being the firstborn, she was not the designated heir to the Daimyo because she was not male.

Childhood


Kachiko never liked her brother Hametsu and spent her childhood taunting him. She learned that she could manipulate boys, especially in physical matters, so she would cause older boys to taunt Hametsu.

Training
Kachiko was sent to the Bayushi Courtier school. She learned to use rokugani politness to her advantage, and all the courtier tricks of the school.

In addition to her charm, it was whispered that she had two other ways of obtaining secrets. She was said to carry a magical mirror, the Obsidian Mirror, as well as being able to use Divinatory Pools.

Kachiko had to stain the mirror with her own blood to use it. More than thirty years later a sliver of black glass of the mirror, which was broken at that time, retained her blood and it was used by Iuchiban to cast the Rain of Blood.

Appearance and Demeanor
Kachiko was always dressed in the finest silks and wore a thin veil as a mask. Her kimono were always cut to hint the sleek figure. Kachiko answered every question with another question or a cryptic answer. She was fond of flirting with the Rokugani aversion of touching.

Betrothal, Marriage and Lover


Kachiko had been betrothed to Hiruma Maruku as a child, until the Scorpion Clan Champion Bayushi Shoju saw her beauty and decided to marry her himself. Not seeing the hideous features of Bayushi Shoju, she loved him for the man he was underneath. Kachiko was only sixteen and just past her gempukku when Hiruma Maruku challenged Kachiko's father to a duel at court over the change in marital arrangements. The son of the Emerald Champion, Doji Hoturi, stepped in and defended her honor in place of her father, cutting the Crab duelist in two. Hoturi and Kachiko would later become lovers until she became pregnant, at which point she ordered her bodyguard Bayushi Aramoro to tell Hoturi he was not to see her anymore and that she didn't love him.

Bayushi Dairu
Kachiko secretly had a son with Doji Hoturi, who was named Bayushi Dairu. Shoju was aware that the child was not his, yet still accepted him as the heir to the Scorpion Clan and Bayushi family. Hoturi killed Bayushi Dairu at the end of the Scorpion Coup in 1123, as the allied forces under Akodo Toturi stormed the palace. Hoturi did not know that had slain his own son until his dying moments on the Second Day of Thunder five years later.

Bayushi Yojiro


Bayushi Yojiro was tasked by Shoju to keep a subtle watch on Kachiko, to make certain her indiscretions did not endanger the clan. Yojiro followed his daimyo's orders to the letter, staying close to the Lady of the Scorpion as often as he could. And while he was not immune to her allure, his loyalty proved to be a suitable shield to her dangerous charms. Such virtue was frustrating to Kachiko on more than one occasion.

Yojiro was later forced to plot the shame of Matsu Ino and the murder of his lord after Ino had made an accusation against Kachiko. Ino woke up the next morning, having no recollection of the night before alongside the bloodied corpse of his daimyo.

Imperial duty
In 1120, Kachiko was appointed the personal aide of Emperor Hantei XXXVIII. The position had little "official" political power, as she was mainly tasked with assisting the aging Emperor in reading and compensating for his failing eyesight. She was chosen because of her devotion to the Imperial court as a Scorpion courtier.

Scorpion Coup
Shoju, fearing the leadership and tactical brilliance of the Lion Clan Champion Akodo Toturi, enlisted Kachiko in a plot to eliminate Toturi. Kachiko used the geisha Hatsuko to lower Toturi's guard, and then ordered Hatsuko to poison Toturi shortly before the Coup began. Hatsuko, who had fallen in love with Toturi, could not kill him and fed him a paralyzing poison instead. Toturi survived and recovered, and led the united clans against the Scorpion Clan at the capital.

Clan War


After the death of Shoju during the Scorpion Coup, Kachiko convinced Hantei XXXIX to take her as his wife. In her heart she always remained true to her husband, and continued his work after his death. Her marriage was a ploy to manipulate the Emperor and be capable of aiding her hunted Clan from the very heart of the Empire. During the Clan War Kachiko did her best to meddle with other leaders of the clans as revenge for Shoju's demise.

Emperor's Illness
Kachiko slowly began poisoning the Emperor, which the Imperial Doctor incorrectly diagnosed as the plague that had been ravaging the lands.



Assassination Attempts
There was an assassination attempt made against Hantei XXXIX, at the onset of the Clan War. It was unknown who instigated the attempt or why, but the Emperor survived thanks to Kachiko, who was wounded in the process. It was secretly a plan of Kachiko's to gain favor in the court, and the assassin gave his life ensuring this plan succeeded.

Later, a second attempt was made when a ninja named Tantoko failed to kill Hantei XXXIX using one of the Jade Goblets of Taira as a weapon. Yasuki Taka supected that Bayushi Kachiko had been behind the plot.

Against the Empire
Hida Kisada came to the Imperial Court, but could not meet with the Emperor due to his illness. Meeting with Kachiko instead, she mentioned to him how disappointed she was that Crab had neglected their duty to guard the wall, because Kakita family lands were vulnerable to shadowlands invasion. She pointed out that if an army held Beiden Pass, the southern and northern Clans would be isolated from each other. Kisada later attempted to use this to his advantage, as Kachiko had planned.

Kisada's Ambition
In 1126 a tainted Seppun messenger irrumped in the Court and told the Emperor that Hida Kisada had raised an army against the Empire, composed by Crab warriors, oni, and minions of the Shadowlands, marching north toward the Beiden Pass. It was the beginning of the Clan War.

Against the Dragon
In 1127 in the month of the Goat, she offered Onnotangu's Hand to Mirumoto Hitomi, in exchange for her participation in the test of the Emerald Champion. The hand caused much turmoil within the Dragon Clan for the next five years.

Against the Crane
This year, in the month of the Monkey, when the Test of the Emerald Champion was held, she used the cursed nemuranai called the Egg of P'an Ku on her former lover Doji Hoturi because he had killed their son, Dairu. Making a copy of Hoturi, the False Hoturi masqueraded as him, nearly destroying the Crane Clan until he was killed by the real Hoturi.

Against the Lion
After the Battle of Beiden Pass the Unicorn were guarding Beiden Pass. As true followers of the Emperor, the Unicorn were used by Kachiko to bring pain and destruction upon the Lion. Shinjo Yasamura did not let to Toturi the Black's army pass, and as a result Toturi was obliged to cross Lion lands to reach the menaced Crane lands instead. Kachiko foresaw a bloody battle between the Lion and their fallen Clan Champion. Kachiko also suggested the Lion make a pact with the Unicorn: they would share the newly conquested Crane lands with them in exchange for their assistance in destroying Toturi.

Against the Crab
Shortly before the Battle at Beiden Pass, Kachiko gave the Obsidian Hand to Mirumoto Hitomi to aid her against Hida Yakamo. Kachiko's desire was that the Great Bear would be without a heir when the Clan War was over.

Black Scroll
Kachiko got the ninth Black Scroll, the Return of the Fallen Lord, from a Lion. She passed it on to Soshi Bantaro, though forbade him from using it.

Naga Aid Refused


Mirumoto Daini and a Naga arrived at Otosan Uchi seeking an audience with the Emperor. Hantei Kachiko explained that the Emperor was ill, and could not be seen. The Naga decided instead to lend their support to the first individual who shared their concerns about the rising darkness.

Return of the Fallen Lord
In 1127 after Bantaro read the Black Scroll, Shoju was summoned back to Ningen-do, as an undead. In Bantaro arranged for a meeting between Kachiko and her husband, but neglected to explain the circumstances of his return. When Kachiko met her undead husband only the presence of Bayushi Tasu saved her from Shoju's vile caresses in his attempt to seduce her into the land of the dead.

The Great Bear Invades the Imperial City
Hida Kisada converted his merchant ships into troop transports and loaded his army to sail along the coast to the Imperial Palace. Matsu Tsuko and a Lion army were there waiting for them, having been provided information about the plan by Kachiko herself. She had learned of the plot through the Great Bear and had passed it on to her ally in the Lion Clan, the Kolat Master Akodo Kage. Kachiko saw an opportunity to crush the Lion Champion's heart and destroy the Lion armies once and for all. So, just before the armies met, Tsuko received a message bearing the Imperial Seal. The message ordered her to stand aside and let her army fight by itself. Tsuko had no choice but to follow the Emperor's order. She rode her steed to a nearby ridge and watched as the Great Bear smashed her army.

Second Day of Thunder
The old prophecy had been fulfilled, the last Hantei Emperor would bring the downfall of Rokugan. The Emperor's body had become so weakened from Kachiko's poisons that Fu Leng had managed to possess him. When Kachiko realized her mistake she sought to join Toturi the Black to stop what she had started. She fled with fear in her eyes, a pouring rain covering her escape, but Togashi Yokuni stopped her on the Plains of Otosan Uchi and reminded Kachiko the duties of a Thunder. Kachiko returned to the Imperial Palace.

Commands to the Scorpion
When Kachiko's last hope, Hida Kisada, had been mortally wounded in the throne room, she panicked and wrote to the Scorpion Clan. She commanded them to flee to the Burning Sands, while she would remain behind to face the destiny Yokuni had told her about.

Confronted by the Emperor
The possessed Emperor, who now knew of his wife's betrayal, confronted Kachiko in her chambers. As he prepared to kill her she reminded him what Yokuni had explained to her; that every creature in the world had rules it must follow and her murder now would violate laws that were greater than even Fu Leng's power. He could not kill any Thunder until all seven were assembled.

Final Battle
Kachiko was the Scorpion Clan Thunder on the Second Day of Thunder in 1128. She used her knowledge of the secret passages of the Imperial Palace to guide the other Thunders to the throne room where the final confrontation with Fu Leng took place. Kachiko used her hair pins, which were actually the broken shards of the Bloodsword Ambition, and stabbed Fu Leng in the eyes. Toturi, together with Doji Hoturi, struck down Fu Leng. Hoturi was mortally wounded in the struggle, and the couple shared a last tearful goodbye as he died.

Hidden Emperor
Toturi I returned the Scorpion Clan to its seat in the Imperial Court, and Great Clan status, Kachiko continued to lead the Scorpion Clan after the Clan War and Second Day of Thunder.

The Hunt Begins
In 1130, the Emperor Toturi I disappeared and Kachiko knew that the Scorpion Clan would be exiled once suspicion fell upon them. Aramoro suggested the ninja Matsu Hiroru should be used in the search for Toturi. In a meeting in Otosan Uchi, Kachiko tasked Hiroru, aided by the ronin Ginawa, with the quest to find Toturi.

The Scorpion Exile
It was Kachiko and the Scorpion who were accused of abducting the Emperor. Emerald Champion Kakita Toshimoko had no choice but to exile the entire clan into the Burning Sands, their lands were put under Crane control and any children below twelve remained in the Empire to be cared for by the Crane.

Slavery
During their exodus in the Burning Sands the Scorpion were discovered and conquered in battle in 1130 by the Senpet led by Abresax. The surviving Scorpion were taken as slaves by the Senpet. Kachiko was believed to be an avatar of Selqet by the High Advisor and Sahir Nepherus, and Abresak took her with him, and so was somewhat spared too rough a lifestyle.

Prisoner
Their captors thought to put Kachiko in the harem of some rich noble, but the hatred in her eyes could shrivel any man's desire. Instead of it she was kept in the Senpet garrison at the Medinaat al-Salaam's edge. Kachiko began to plot against her captors. With the aid of a Cat of Many Tongues Kachiko could speak the native tongue of these lands, and she showed her abilities and the Senpet courtesan Asori became her enemy when she felt Kachiko was mockering her.

Manipulating Abresax
During months the Selqet and Abresax talked many times. She told of honor, duty, and other virtues of her foreign lands, but Abresax did not understand it too much. He became upset of the Immortal Caliph, her undead Khadi guard, so he shifted his loyalties and decided to help the Scorpion to be freed from their fate. Kachiko had told of Bushido, and the value a General as him would mean to the Scorpion Clan, if they returned to the Emerald Empire. Abresax willingly embraced the Rokugani philosophy of honor.

Assassination attempt by his brother
Seeing this as another case of Kachiko receiving praise and honor above him, Shosuro Hametsu attempted to poison his sister. The poison master's attempt failed, thwarted by a vigilant Senpet guard. However, his attempt was sufficient to prove to the Senpet that Kachiko was not the Avatar they sought. Instead, they found this Avatar in Shosuro Tage, who assisted in the freeing of the Kami Shinjo from a desolate prison where she had been trapped for centuries.

Reinstatement of the Scorpion
In 1132 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. At Kyuden Bayushi Kachiko met Bayushi Yojiro who had guarded Itsuwari, the Ancestral Sword of the Scorpion, since her husband Shoju requested him to do so before the Scorpion Coup. Kachiko cursed those who doubted the magistrate.

Shinjo and Toturi
After Shinjo purged the Unicorn Clan, she marched toward Otosan Uchi to destroy the corrupted Emperor. Toturi tried to bribe the Scorpion Clan, offering their lands and title returned for the death of Shinjo, but Kachiko refused his request.

Twenty-Seven Days of Darkness
Onnotangu was death and Amaterasu had fled the Celestial Heavens, beginning the Twenty-Seven Days of Darkness. In the nineteenth day Hitomi met Kachiko at Shiro Yogo. Bayushi Hisa was ordered to follow the Dragon Lady in her quest.

Fate of Kachiko
In 1132, Kachiko was warned by Bayushi of an impending attack from Shosuro who had escaped her crystal prison beneath Kyuden Hitomi. She commanded the Scorpion to seek and destroy the minions of the Shadow. Kachiko remembered what Yokuni had said her the day before the Second Day of Thunder:

""You are Shosuro, it is in your blood. We are all bound by the blood. One day, you will understand.""

- Togashi Yokuni

Kachiko decided to set a trap at the Lake of Dreams to see if the Shadow could be defeated.

Passing the Leadership
Kachiko passed leadership of the Scorpion on to Bayushi Yojiro before she made her way to the Sleeping Lake hidden beneath Kyuden Bayushi.

Shosuro
Shosuro was nearly lost to the Shadows, but while she shared part of her soul with Kachiko and was the Scorpion Thunder alive, Shosuro could not be truly consumed. She went after Kachiko to kill her and to replace Goju Adorai as the true avatar of the Lying Darkness.

Sleeping Lake
Even as the Clans were fighting the Shadows at the Battle of Oblivion's Gate in 1133, Shosuro found Kachiko at the Lake and attacked, but the spirit of the Kami Bayushi contained within the lake confused Shosuro long enough for Kachiko to help contain the Shadow-tainted essence of Shosuro by drowning herself. Kachiko merged her soul with Shosuro's. Their bodies would die but their spirits would be far from Darkness' reach. The returned spirit of Hoturi somehow arrived at the lake just as Kachiko died.

Surveying the Scorpion Clan
It was said that any Scorpion that fixed his gaze in the lake could see the the face of Kachiko in the water.

In 1159 her spirit talked to Bayushi Tsimaru, who swore to protect the current Scorpion Champion, Bayushi Sunetra, as his grandfather Abresax did with Kachiko.

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 Seven Thunders and decided to retreat.