Togashi

Togashi was the founder of the Dragon Clan, one of the Kami that fell from Tengoku when the stomach of Onnotangu was cut open by Hantei. He is one of the three Kami that did not participate in the Tournament of the Kami, the other two being Fu Leng and Ryoshun, declaring that he already knew the outcome. Togashi himself never died, though he changed identity every fifty years or so, and continued to personally rule the Dragon Clan for over 1100 years.

After the Fall
After the Fall of the Kami the other brothers and sisters of Togashi gathered many followers, but Togashi did not want any. After his lesson with Shinsei he retreated to the bleak mountains of northern Rokugan. where he sought to be alone. This turned out to be impossible as two humans had trailed him into the fastness of the north. These men were Mirumoto and Agasha, together the three built a temple to Amaterasu and a castle around the temple to protect the temple. Togashi and his two followers remained here for many years, and word of their temple grew, drawing more followers to the Dragon Clan. Many of Togashi's new followers went for Togashi's wisdom. Others showed promise with the sword and were trained by Mirumoto, and Agasha trained those remaining who showed insight into the ways of the elements.

Duty
All the kami were given tasks by their brother Hantei. Togashi was charged to "Watch the Emerald Empire. Through your eyes, the truth of history shall be known." Togashi knew that truth could not be known without separation from the mundane, as so he retreated up into his mountains. He remained in seclusion, studying the words of Shinsei, communing with the spirits of the Elements, and above all he watched the Empire. Records of Togashi's observances are kept in the depths of Kyuden Togashi. Every event from the birth of the tiniest sparrow to the death of the greatest Emperor is chronicled therein. They are written in a strange serpentine script that only the most erudite of monks can comprehend.

Seclusion
Togashi would rarely leave the mountains for over a thousand years. The few times he did venture forth marked tremendous changes in the Empire. Each time the destiny of the Empire hung precariously in the balance. His passings have coincided with storms, earthquakes and other natural phenomenon, none of which could be connected to him. At the beginning of the twelfth century his appearances in Rokugan began to increase, portending a major event to come, the Day of Thunder.

Gathering Thunder
At the height of the war, the armies of Fu Leng were pushing the defending Crab back slowly. None of the Kami were willing to confront their mad brother, and defeat seemed inevitable until a wise man named Shinsei appeared. He revealed that a small group of individuals could infiltrate the Shadowlands and defeat Fu Leng, but they would have to be mortals. Hantei, grievously wounded from a recent battle, declared that one individual from each clan be sent to join in this endeavor. Togashi put forth his own yojimbo Mirumoto as the Dragon Thunder. Shinsei assembled the remaining Seven Thunders personally, and joined them on the quest to defeat the Ninth Kami.

Day of Thunder
The Seven Thunders and Shinsei made their way deep into the Shadowlands, where they found Fu Leng and defeated him. The cost was heavy, as only Shinsei and Shosuro survived the fight. After defeating Fu Leng, they retreated north, with the First Oni and many other creatures on their trail. The timely intervention of Shiba allowed Shinsei and Shosuro to reach Rokugan, but at the expense of Shiba's life. Fu Leng had been defeated, but at a very high cost.

Togashi, Bayushi and Shosuro
Togashi saw the destiny of Bayushi's follower Shosuro, and to warned his brother that she would have to walk her own path alone. Bayushi was very angry with Togashi, and refused to believe his prophetic vision. After the events around the Day of Thunder, Shosuro fled the Scorpion Clan and sought refuge with Togashi in hopes the Lying Darkness within her could be stopped. Togashi was able her in a crystal prison, but she later escaped, now fully under the influence of the Lying Darkness.

Togashi's family
Unlike his brothers and sisters, Togashi never took a bride nor had any children (that, until recently, the empire knew of; see Togashi's Son). The Togashi family, which bears his name, is a family not of blood in the traditional sense, the Togashi are comprised of the Ise Zumi who came to follow Togashi (and now his grandson, Togashi Satsu). Though they were not descended from the Dragon Kami himself, Togashi used his own blood to add his power to their tattoos, so they are, nevertheless, connected to Togashi's blood.

Those who sought to follow him were pushed to their limits, mentally and physically. One such individual, Akodo Kaiteru, became one of the first person to bear the Togashi name after he almost starved to death in the Dragon mountains.

""You have sought out my wisdom, my guidance, and you shall have it. I see a Dragon on your soul, and I will paint it for all the world to see.""

- Togashi

Togashi's Son
Two centuries after the foundation of Rokugan, Bayushi Oshiso, then the Scorpion Clan Champion, decided to attempt to infiltrate the lands of the Dragon Clan. Oshiso sent his daughter Bayushi Kuninoko to gather information from the enigmatic Clan. Oshiso was not to see his daughter again for seven years, but when she did returne, hair was streaked with grey and completely blind. She also hed uncovered the secret for which her father was searching.

Oshiso's daughter told him that the man the empire knew as Togashi Kuzejiro, the Dragon Clan Champion, was in fact the Kami Togashi under an assumed name, still alive after two hundred years. She informed him that she was pregnant with the son of Togashi and that she was returning to Kyuden Togashi. Oshiso tried to stop her, but eventually he had to let her go, never to see her again.

The Scorpion Clan kept this information as it's most closely guarded secret until the Second Day of Thunder, when it became known throughout the Empire. The Bayushi were unsurprised afterwards when Togashi Hoshi revealed himself and attempted to take control of the Dragon.

Togashi was secretly proud of the progress his son made, hoping his son would help his clan prevail through the dark times he had foreseen.

Togashi the Dragon
Togashi was the first dragon to enter the world of men, but where the other dragons were the physical avatars of powers in the universe he was not. His form as a dragon represented the wisdom of the world, and the enormous potential it contained. When he first touched the earth he lost the immortality inherent in all dragons. In exchange, he gained the ability to see the world as it truly was. The other dragons refused to give up their immortality, and as such remained bound to their respective elements and could not view the world outside the confines that the elements presented. Togashi considered his immortality an fair trade for this wisdom. He would frequently speak with the other dragons, and his discussions with Osano-Wo were legendary within the monastic order of his family.

Togashi and the Gozoku
Like all Scorpion Clan Champions since Bayushi Oshiso, Bayushi Atsuki knew the secret of Togashi's existence and met him in counsel shortly before Atsuki and the rest of the Gozoku were preparing to assassinate the Emperor and take control of the Empire. The Dragon Kami advised Atsuki to kidnap the heir and control the throne from the shadows instead of killing him outright. After taking this as a sign of approval from a child of Tengoku, the Gozoku changed their plans and thus preserved the Hantei line.

Later, as Hantei Yugozohime prepared to take the throne from her Gozoku-controlled brother, Togashi ordered the Mirumoto family bushi to cut off the Imperial Lands, preventing the Gozoku from coming to the aid of their puppet heir. With Yugozohime's coronation as Empress, the Gozoku's power was at an end.

Kokujin
In 1120, Togashi realized that a confrontation with his brother was inevitable, began to prepare himself. Now the flesh bound Kami found that a thousand years in mortal form had left him vulnerable to such things as doubt and fear. Knowing that he could not show such weaknesses in the battle to come, he took the unusual step of nurturing two tamashii. Into one, he poured all his fears, doubts, anger and other negative emotions. Unfortunately, the act broke the mind of the tamashii, and despite Togashi's attempts to help him, he escaped and fled the Dragon lands. Soon this former Ise Zumi took a new name, Kokujin.

Scorpion Coup
Sometime prior to the Scorpion Coup in 1123, Scorpion Clan Champion Bayushi Shoju met with Togashi. The exact details of their conversation is unknown but it is believed that Shoju asked Togashi's insight on the Prophecies of Uikku.

Shortly after the Coup was set in motion, Hoshi wrote a letter to his father begging him to keep the Dragon Clan out of the events unfolding at the capital. Hoshi suspected the true motivations for Shoju's actions and felt the Dragon should allow the Scorpion, his mother's clan, to complete the task they had set before them.

Togashi's Death
Togashi died during the Second Day of Thunder by the hand of Mirumoto Hitomi. Hitomi was forced to kill the Kami after he became crippled by Fu Leng. The Twelfth Black Scroll was hidden within his beating heart, and Hitomi was had to retrieve it so that the Dark Kami could be finally defeated.

Togashi Satsu
Togashi guided his grandson Togashi Satsu to retrieve Togashi's Daisho from the mad monk Kokujin in 1159.

""Are you surprised? Were you not told that when you regained my swords that my wisdom would be yours as well?""

- Togashi

Judgement
Togashi's interference with Satsu drew the attention of the Seven Fortunes. They judged his interaction illegal, and forcefully removed him from Ningen-do.

Items wielded by Togashi

 * Togashi's Mask
 * Togashi's Daisho