Dairya

Isawa Dairya
Isawa Dairya was the son of Isawa Nesan, the Master of Fire. He was his mother's prize pupil, and a certainty to take her place upon her resignation. Unfortunately, when he was twelve years of age, the Scorpion Clan attempted to control the young shugenja, using him as a tool to strike against his mother, and using him to grant them some power over the Council of Five.

The Scorpion began tutoring him, increasing his power, teaching him not only of spellcraft, but also of weaponry and even poison, and granting him knowledge that even the Council did not possess. Unfortunately for the Scorpion, Dairya's abilites flourished to the point where the young man believed he no longer needed their help to take his mother's place on the Council.

Angered by his arrogance and unwilling to let him simply take the secrets they had shown him, teh Scorpion began a plot that three months later resulted in the murder of Isawa Nesan at the hands of he son. Dairya never denied that he killed his mother, but insisted it was the result of a Scorpion plot. Either not believing him or not caring about the resons, the Council of Five subjected Isawa Dairya to The Forgetting then cast him from the Phoenix as a ronin.

Dairya, Ronin Duelist
Dairya began to wander Rokugan learning the ways of the bushi. He became a very adept duelist, studying under any sensei that would train him. His greatest loss was to Kakita Toshimoko, who took Dairya's eye in a duel. Dairya, enraged at his loss, swore revenge on the Grey Crane. He began by killing Toshimoko's finest student. From that day forth, Dairya wore an eyepatch fashioned from the tsuba of the student's katana.

During the Battle of Oblivion's Gate, Dairya faced Toshimoko for the final time. In the middle of the battle against the Lying Darkness, Dairya found his nemesis and attempted to force him into a duel. Dairya killed Toshimoko, slicing him in half with a single stroke. But the Grey Crane had refused to draw his sword, robbing Dairya of a true victory.

After the battle, Dairya's body was never found. It is said that his soul is trapped within the weapon known as Dairya's Cackling Skull. (APC, Dairya's Cackling Skull)

Major References

 * Way of the Phoenix Pages 29-30.