Moto Chagatai

Moto Chagatai is the grandson of Moto Gaheris and is the current Unicorn Clan Champion. His father, also named Gaheris, was killed in battle with Hida Tsuneo's forces during the War of Spirits. Chagatai has long sought a greater deal of respect for his clan from the rest of Rokugan as a whole, and to the suprise of many is more than willing to achieve that respect through force of arms.

The Lords of Death
An elderly Gaheris was close to death after doing battle with an ogre outside his monastery, and his heir Chagatai knew that this meant that the old gods of the Moto family, the Shi-Tien Yen-Wang would come to claim him. The Lords of Death were furious with the Moto for abandoning them to follow the ways of Shinjo, and had for centuries haunted the family's khans, trying to trap their souls after death. The Moto avoided that fate by never staying in one place for any length of time, but now that Gaheris had made a home for his family in Rokugan they knew where to find him.

To prevent this fate, at the time of Gaheris' death Chagatai and Moto Chen entered Toshigoku, the Realm of Slaughter, where the Lords of Death now dwelt thanks to Naga magics provided by Akasha, the Child of the Golden Pearl. They met the departing spirit of Gaheris, and convinced him to fight against the Shi-Tien Yen-Wang. The three heedlessly entered battle against the Lords' undead hordes, and were given pause only by the arrival of Moto Tsume.

Tsume was a trap, however, laid by the Shi-Tien Yen-Wang centuries ago to capture the lords of the Moto once again. His corpse was given in service to Fu Leng upon his death, though his soul remained with the Lords. Chagatai challenged him, calling him weak and provoked Tsume to attack him, and deftly cleaved the head from the Dark Moto's shoulders. Chagatai then spoke to the Lords of Death, telling them that while they were forgotten gods now, this need not always be the case. They could return with Chagatai and be worshipped once again, but his price was releasing the souls of his ancestors. The Lords of Death agreed and returned Chagatai and Chen to the realm of the living, with the two Moto wondering just what sort of pact they had made but vowing that their clan would be strong enough in the future to deal with any reprecussions.

War of the Rich Frog
Toshi san Kanemochi Kaeru was given to the Unicorn Clan after their return to the Empire, who by and large paid little attention to the city save to collect its taxes on time. During the rise of the Four Winds, attacks by the creatures called the Tsuno became commonplace around the territories of the Lion Clan, and the city's leader Kaeru Tomaru became worried. He went to the Wind he thought would best understand what his city had to offer, and why its safety was important, Hantei Naseru. Naseru agreed, and brokered a deal with Ikoma Sume who sent the forces of the Lion to claim the city and make the Kaeru Lion Clan vassals.

Chagatai saw things very differently. The city was the Unicorn's in his mind, and so one day he would take it back. The Khan also saw this as an oppurtunity to prove the might of the Unicorn to the rest of the Empire, and thus began training his armies to eventually take Kaeru Toshi one day. However, Imperial law stated that a Great Clan could not war upon another without provocation but Chagatai believed he had a way around this stipulation as well.

A courtier by the name of Ide Tang, who was both clever and ambitious, pointed out the law forbidding violence among the Great Clans was drafted while the Ki-Rin Clan was away and thus technically did not include them. That was all the justification Chagatai needed, and he marched upon the former Unicorn city. That the Emperor ordered the Dragon Clan, under the command of Mirumoto Kei, to intervene and bring both sides to peace bothered the Khan not in the least.

The war was largely a back-and-forth affair, with the forces of the Unicorn and the Lion evenly matched. The Dragon focused on neither clan, instead sniping at them both equally in an effort to make the war too costly to continue. Chagatai ignored his failure to take the city quickly, and instead relished a lengthy contest against the Lion to better prove the might of the Unicorn against the Emperor's Right Hand. Even his trusted aide, Shinjo Shono, could not dissuade the Khan from his efforts. Chagatai felt that the greater the struggle, the more impressive the Unicorn would appear in the long run.

Eventually, Yasuki Hachi, the Emerald Champion at the time was dispatched to bring about the Emperor's edict to end the conflict. With only a limited amount of time remaining to him, Chagatai threw the bulk of his forces into defending Sukoshi Zutsu, a small village that had become a staging ground for the entire Unicorn war effort. Matsu Nimuro, in actuality the Egg of P'an Ku doppleganger Tamago, readily met the Unicorn there. The doppleganger sought only wild battle, and ignored his subordinate Ikoma Otemi's efforts to bring a sense of tactics to the battle. He met the Khan in single combat while the battle raged around him, and Chagatai killed what he thought was Nimuro. Tamago's conduct in the battle was nothing like what Chagatai expected of the Golden Lion, however, and the Khan found the victory strangely hollow.

The Khan then ended his campaign against the Lion, satisfied with his victory over the Right Hand and the village of Sukoshi Zutsu as spoils of war. This was not to be the last example of the Khan's ambition, however.

The Khan's Defiance
After the death of Toturi III at the Battle of the Tomb, Chagatai felt that the Empress Regent Toturi Kurako was unfit to rule. She had no blood-ties to the Imperial Family, and to the Khan Kurako appeared weak and a puppet of those around her. Chagatai decided to replace her with a more worthy candidate. Some time ago, he attempted to convince his old ally, the Shogun Kaneka, to take the role but the man once known as the Bastard refused. That left only one other suitable man left to be Emperor: Chagatai himself.

The Khan began laying the groundwork for this ambitious campaign months before he actually moved. The head of the Ide family, Ide Tang, used his merchants to hire ronin (who would then hire other ronin) to store caches of supplies throughout Lion lands on the way to Toshi Ranbo. The theory was that the Unicorn's forces would be able to move quickly and obtain the element of suprise since they had no supply trains to slow them down. Even moreso, the Khan was going to attempt what few would ever date attempt - a winter campaign. This would rely on the shugenja-heavy Baraunghar Army of the West and their specialty, magics that aid in movement.

Even rice was also used as a weapon in the invasion's opening stages, as the Unicorn's surplus was given to the Dragon Clan and the Scorpion Clan with the tactit understanding this would put them in considerable debt to the Unicorn.

The march of Moto Chagatai and his forces met with initial success. They took a few of the Lion's border outposts and then moved on to sack Shirinai Toshi. Their next target was Kyuden Ikoma itself. The fierce weather acted in the Unicorn's favor, as such a movement of troops was completely unexpected by the Lion. Lion Clan Champion Matsu Yoshino and Ikoma Otemi led the Lion's efforts in repelling the force, arriving at Kyuden Ikoma not long before Chagatai's forces. The castle had only a token assortment of troops, most of whom had been reassigned elsewhere due to the Unicorn's earlier probing attacks months ago, and the Lion were outnumbered nearly two to one.

It took only little more than an hour for Kyuden Ikoma's gates to be brought down, so that the Unicorn troops could storm the courtyard. Unbeknownst to them, however, Otemi had hidden himself and fifty men in peasant homes near the kyuden and were lying in wait for the Khan and his personal retinue to arrive with the intent to attack the shugenja and hopefully disrupt whatever spells were aiding Chagatai. Otemi's men were able to account for nearly twice their number before their moment started to falter. Chagatai himself sent two arrows into Otemi, grievously wounding the Ikoma. Otemi was spared death only thanks to Yoshino's bold move of collapsing the castle's gates to cut off the Khan's forces and so his own could assault Chagatai's command elements. The Lion were able to retreat to regroup at Bishamon Seido. The Unicorn moved onward from Kyuden Ikoma, towards the Imperial City itself. They stopped, with the Lion only an hour from their position, so that the Baraunghar under Iuchi Lixue could start to perform an enormous ritual. The Khol held against attack while the shugenja worked their magics. To Roshi Ranbo's sentries' shock and dismay, Moto Chagatai's armies were teleported just outside Toshi Ranbo.

The gates of the Imperial City fell unexpectedly quickly, thanks to assistance from the Mantis Clan. The Unicorn swarmed the city streets, encountering stiff resistance from the Lion and Crane Clans. Chagatai himself made a point of making his presence known, to draw out his old ally Kaneka, in the hopes of once again convincing Kaneka he was the most worthy candidate for the throne. Kaneka refused as before, and the two men attacked each other. Kaneka gained the upper hand over Chagatai, injuring the Khan's leg and was about to finish his task when the Shogun's brother, Isawa Sezaru arrived in a very dramatic fashion.

The Khan was saved a finishing blow by the arrival of some of the Moto White Guard, which Kaneka easily finished off but bought Chagatai the time he needed to kill the Shogun. The rest of the Unicorn's war effort did not go so smoothly, and they were held at a standstill by the forces of the Lion and Crane, despite being aided (albeit somewhat indirectly) by the Mantis. All hostilities ceased when the arrival of the Phoenix armies. The magic of the Phoenix armies sought out combatants throughout the capital, holding them at bay and preventing them from engaging eachother. Above the city, in almost the same place where Sezaru had been only moments earlier, Isawa Ochiai used the Egg of the Void to summon the Fire Dragon in a show of support for the Phoenix Clan's desire. The Khan and his ally Mantis Clan Champion Yoritomo Naizen were brought before the present heads of the Great Clans, though perhaps suprisingly was spared execution on his grounds that he was simply trying to ensure the Empire had a strong leader thanks to Naizen's words. It was decided that the knowledge that Chagatai had been defeated and would now be forced to go home in shame, along with the reputation of being an ambitious failure of a barbarian was punishment enough. Matsu Yoshino swore before the court that the Khan would die, however - in a year's time, in honorable combat, when the Lion claimed Shiro Moto for themselves.