Moto Chagatai

Moto Chagatai was the grandson of Moto Gaheris and was the Unicorn Clan Champion following the death of his grandfather Moto Gaheris. 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. He led a couple of campaigns against the Lion Clan, and even caused great uproar by assaulting the Imperial Capital Toshi Ranbo.

Family
Chagatai was cousin of Moto Hanzhi and uncle of Moto Chen and Moto Chaozhu.

Youth
Chagatai and his friend Moto Chen when children saw Crab children attacking a young girl. The Crab were son of a Hiruma sensei who lived in the city, and she would not say anything, being merely a poet. Chagatai did not allow Chen to intervene. He found a stray dog and penned it up, training it carefully to attack anyone wearing Crab colors. One day, he took the dog where the Crab children played and let it go. When Chen asked him if he was sure, Chagatai said Chen the dog was free to do what it wanted.

""The dog had no place in my home, it is free to do as it wish and that its actions were of no interest to me.""

- Moto Chagatai

Legacy of the Naga
The early years of Chagatai's service was spent one of the guards to the golden pearl known as the Legacy of the Naga, which had been given to the Unicorn by the Naga in 1135.

Khol Commander
Before being the Khan Chagatai was commander with the Khol.

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 worshiped 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 repercussions.

The Khan
After the dead of Gaheris, Chagatai became the Khan. The Empire saw the Unicorn Clan like some sort of barbarians, and its new leader as a fool, a simpleton. Chagatai knew he had to show his strength with deeds.

Result of Winter Court in Kyuden Miya
Chagatai had send Ide Tadaji to the Winter Court at Kyuden Miya at the end of 1158. His possible reward was the allowance to open trade routes beyond Rokugan. After the failed court, Chagatai informed Tadaji that such allowance was not really neccesary, because Unicorn were already trading with gaijins.

Armies
In 1159 Moto Chen was appointed as Junghar commander by Chagatai over his older brother Moto Chaozhu. Iuchi Lixue, already commander of the Baraunghar was still in the Kaiu Wall. The Khol was still under direct command of Chagatai.

City of Night
The same year the Unicorn found a city under the Great Crater in the Seikitsu Pass, the City of Night. Chagatai decided to keep the city and its magical artifacts secret from the rest of the Empire. The Khan commanded Moto Vordu to unlock its secrets.

Allegiance to the Shogun
The Unicorn led by Chagatai supported Akodo Kaneka's bid for the throne. Chagatai was one of Kaneka's closest friends and most trusted commanders. This surprised movement shocked the Empire, and as Kaneka's general Chagatai wanted to change the Clans had about him.

Yasuki Lineage of the Bastard
In 1159 because of the Chagatai support on Kaneka's claims over the Yasuki lands, he had to fought the Crane Clan.

Broken Sword
In 1160, when Kaneka's inner circle broke their wakizashi to be reforged for a katana for Kaneka as a sign of loyalty, Chagatai was the third one to break his sword, after Shosuro Higatsuku and Akodo Ijiasu. In this same incident, Kaneka decided to abandon his claim to the Yasuki lands, and take on the title of Shogun at the suggestion of Chagatai. Later, Kaneka would reveal to Higatsuku that he and Chagatai had planned to declare the Shogunate all along, and that Higatsuku merely provided a convenient opportunity to do so. Shogun's cavalry was supplied with the finest Unicorn steeds.

Seikitsu Pass
The Seikitsu Pass had been highly disputed, but control had been claimed by the Unicorn Clan after the discovery of the City of Night.

Chagatai ordered Moto Chen to blockade the pass, showing its strength to the rest of the Empire, being the pass the most important crossroads after the Beiden Pass was destroyed in the War of Spirits. The blockade on earth was part of the Kaneka's strategy to get the Throne, and Chagatai would be at his side. The same year the Lion Clan were granted to freely cross it, to curry Lion's favor with the Shogun.

Chen Disgraced
Chen had publicly accused the Imperial Chancellor, Bayushi Kaukatsu, of sponsoring an illegal and dishonorable act, in the Naseru's Court at Ryoko Owari, witnessed by the horrified Unicorn legacy. At Shiro Moto Chen swore he was not the man who accused Kaukatsu, but without evidences. Chagatai dismissed him from all his duties to compensate the insult to the Scorpion and appointed his second, shinjo Shono as Junghar Commander. The words used by Chagatai ressembled the ones he used when they were children and had an incident with Crab children, and Chen knew his Lord trusted him and allowed to seek and destroy whoever was involved in the plot.

Baraunghar stationed with the Shogun
After the Kaiu Wall was retaken, except the Tower of Fear, the Baraunghar were stationed with the Shogun's forces.

Kaede's Return
Chagatai was in the siege of Ryoko Owari and was present when a Miya Herald sent by Toturi Tsudao arrived the camp, and informed that the Empress and Oracle of Void, Toturi Kaede, had been summoned Kaneka to Kyuden Seppun. Kaneka told he had first to deal with his brother Naseru and dismished the messenger. The troops of the Shogun finally seized the City of Lies, and Chagatai sought the Anvil.

War of the Rich Frog
Toshi sano 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.

Kaeru Join the Lion
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.

In 1159 Sume visited Kaeru Tomaru, the ronin leader of the City of the Rich Frog and made an agreement, becoming the Kaeru family a vassal of the Ikoma, and the Lion annexed the city.

Engineering the Attack
In 1165 Chagatai was with one of his chief advisors, Moto Kouang, near the City of the Rich Frog. Kouang suggested it was the time to retake the City from the weakened Lion Clan. Chagatai had cemented an alliance with the Crane and the Mantis, and they would aid in the incoming campaign. The Kaiu had begun negotiations with the Unicorn to extend the Kaiu Wall further south. It would be called the Barbarian Wall and shall protect the Empire not only from the Shadowlands, but from all who might threaten it.

Chagatai saw things very differently than the Lion. 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. Chaozhu represented the Khan at the Imperial Court, and beat any Lion or Imperial attempt to actively intervene in the conflict. 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 Crab stood neutral, being the Lion and the Unicorn both allies of the Crab.

Scorpion Intervenes
Moto Kumari, the general of the Unicorn armies, sent correspondence regarding Scorpion increased activity along the border. He did not deserve good opinion about their intentions. He did not know Bayushi Sunetra, the Scorpion Clan Champion, had been engineered to increase relationship within their pact with the Unicorn, offering to join him with the Scorpion forces. It would make Kumari to look like a fool, diminishing his chances to command the combined forces, a station the Scorpion expected could get Bayushi Tsimaru. The Crab also were his allies, and Hida Kuon himself offered a legion of his veteran samurai to support the Khol in Kaeru Toshi.

Campaing
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.

In 1166 the Dragon Imperial Legions led by Mirumoto Kei had crushed the Baraunghar Advance Guard. Chagatai was personally in the area and ordered Shono to find and destroy them. The Khan did not want any interference in the incoming battle at Sukoshi Zutsu. His Scorpion allies told him the Lion were aware of the Unicorn plan to move the greater part of thier forces into the small village and use it as a staging ground for a war against the Lion.

Emerald Champion Intervention
Eventually, Yasuki Hachi, the Emerald Champion at the time was dispatched to bring about the Imperial 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 False Nimuro, 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.

End
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 war made him believe that there was nothing he could not take if he wished, nothing could stand in his way.

Chagatai's Dark Secret
Chagatai had bargained with Bayushi Sunetra the ownership of Ryoko Owari in return for the Scorpion's aid in the war. He guessed the Scorpion had manipulated Lion and Unicorn into this war out of a secret desire to ultimately control both Kaeru Toshi and Ryoko Owari, dominating the hidden smuggling networks of the Empire. The City of Lies returned to Scorpion control, in return to remain secret the existence of Chagatai's lover, Mio, who had several children with the Khan. Chagatai let Lion Clan to hold Kaeru Toshi to avoid the Scorpion to get control of the city. If they still desired the Rich Frog, they should attempt to rule it under the Lion's nose.

Married
Chagatai was married with Matsu Rumiko, who took her husband's family name. The exact date of the wedding was not known.

Against the Gozoku
In 1166 Chagatai went to Toshi Ranbo with his wife Rumiko and formed an alliance with Kaneka to destroy the Gozoku.

Blood Hunt
Iuchi Katamari met Moto Chagatai, and told the Bloodspeakers had risen against the Empire and they would be forced to conduct a savage Blood Hunt to root out the sinister cult. The khan sent Moto Latomu with Moto Akikazu to seek the Maho-tsukai were Isawa Sezaru guessed the cultists would strike, in the Way of Night, where the hidden ruin the Horiuchi family guarded there. In a valley near the Seikitsu Pass the Unicorn found bloodspeakers preparing a powerful ritual. The Unicorn army attacked them.

Attacks on the Khol Wall
After the Khol Wall was built to secure the Western border of the Empire, there were several attacks on it. Chagatai ordered Moto Zhijuan to discover who was behind. He found that some of the attacks came from the minions of the Dark Oracle of Fire when Zhijuan faced Chosai himself. The Moto saw him when he was inside Rokugan borders, so the dark Oracle could not harm him.

Yodotai visits the Empire
The gaijin Yodotai Phyrrus with the assistance of Moto Jochi of the Ujik-hai, Ujik-hai cousin of Chagatai, traveled to the Unicorn Clan from Medinaat al-Salaam to seek out the son of Duqaq. In 1168 they reached the Khol Wall and he was the only one who crossed it. His honor guard led by Gaius was kept in the Wall. Phyrrus met with Chagatai who knew that Duqaq was in fact the Hooded Ronin, and his son was Rosoku. Chagatai did not mention however that Rosoku had been murdered, and when Phyrrus discovered this he immediately traveled home to the Yodotai.

Yodotai, future threat to Rokugan
Phyrrus' honor guard was left behind at the order of Moto Jin-sahn, and the Khan, seeing them as the seeds of a menace to Rokugan, ordered Jin-Sahn to send them into the thick of combat at every turn, to create "accidents", making sure the Yodotai did not return to their lands. In 1167 the Senpet Kesseth, leader of the resistance of his people against the Yodotai invaders, had sent a message asking the Unicorn help agaisnt them. He told the nature of this foreign Empire, true ruthlessness conquerors, an expansionistic people that forced the defeated kingdoms to abandon their beliefs, swapping them with the Yodotai pantheon.

First Skirmishes
Chagatai prepared his clan to be unmatched in the battlefield, and the last war did not fill his ambition. In 1168 Moto Chagatai began to explore ways to reach the capital Toshi Ranbo without being discovered. He desired to support Kaneka's advance at Toshi Ranbo, what he believed was a Shogun's attempt to seize control of the Empire by his brother in arms. It led in several skirmishes with the Lion Clan, which involved Ikoma Fujimaro's outriders and the heir of the Lion Clan Champion, Matsu Yoshino. Chagatai was angry over the loss of his advance force and the Baraunghar conducted maneuvers with the Khol for weeks.

Lessons Learned
A second incursion into the Northern Lion lands prompted the Akodo forces to be relocated from their Dragon positions in the War of Silk and Steel. A much larger army led by Utaku Tama was defeated again by Yoshino. Chagatai realized the Lion moved much quicker than he expected, and the time to become unpredictable themselves had come. Ide Tang had been tasked in the creation of stockpiles of rice in Shiro Ide for the next long winter.

Nezumi Genocide
For unknown reasons the Unicorn led by Moto Hideyo attacked the Tattered Ear in the Shinomen Mori. It would escalate in the Winter War.

Toturi III's Death
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. Chagatai had attempted to convince the Shogun Kaneka to take the role, but Kaneka had refused. Isawa Sezaru's mind had been worn thin by the power he wielded. Seeing no other worthy candidates Chagatai decided he would take the throne himself.

Planning
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 dare 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 tacit understanding this would put them in considerable debt to the Unicorn. The Scorpion began to undermine the Shogun power as a direct consequence to their alliance with Chagatai and the Imperial Chancellor Bayushi Kaukatsu one of the more enthusiastic allies.

Initial Progress
The march of Moto Chagatai and his forces met with initial success. They took three of the Lion's border outposts, including the Village of the Pious Monk, and then moved on to sack Shiranai Toshi. Their next target was Kyuden Ikoma itself.

Battle at Kyuden Ikoma
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 just two days before Chagatai's forces. The castle had only a token assortment of troops led by Ikoma Chikao, 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 breached and the Khol began flooding the courtyards. Unknown to the Unicorn 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 and his men struck out, trying to kill as many shugenja and Khol guards as possible. Before the element of surprise was lost the Lion had managed to kill over seventy five Unicorn. The tide turned, and most of the Lion were killed. Otemi himself was gravely injured by Chagatai, who fired three arrows into the Lion. Otemi's life was just barely saved thanks to Yoshino's forces collapsing the castle gate and striking out at the command unit. The Lion were able to regroup at Bishamon Seido. The Khan torched the castle in the Fall of Kyuden Ikoma and took all the supplies his army could carry from the castle stockpiles.

News Arrived Winter Courrt
Bayushi Kaukatsu, the Imperial Chancellor, was a secret ally of Chagatai, and he was informed of all plans. When these news arrived the Winter Court the Unicorn representative, Ide Jiao, conducted wrong. He nearly exposed the plans of the Unicorn when he agressively sought allies. Jiao told the truth to the delegation, and instead to gain them he terrified Moshi Amika with the Khan's plans. Kaukatsu replaced Jiao with a Shosuro Actor who committed seppuku in his place. Jiao returned to Unicorn lands in secret.

Toshi Ranbo


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 Toshi Ranbo's sentries' shock and dismay, Moto Chagatai's armies were teleported just outside Toshi Ranbo.

Entrance to the City
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 Clan. 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.

Defeat and Shame
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 with 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 Chagatai was spared execution when Naizen spoke on his behalf, claiming the Khan was simply trying to ensure the Empire had a strong leader. 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.

Return back to home
The Khol legions lost one-half or more of their number while the Baraunghar lost ninety percent of its unit. Upon returning, escorted by a Lion army, Chagatai meet shono and placed him in command of the defense against Yoshino's coming invasion in 1170. Shono began to prepare "hit and run" tactics and how to use the terrain in their favor, while the numbers would not.

Lion march to Shiro Moto
The Lion this year began the march to Shiro Moto. Chagatai knew they woukd arrive, being the Unicorn ranks depleted from the previous battles. The defence of Unicorn territory only would delay the inevitable. Chagatai sent his wife and sons to the Shinomen Mori, under the protection of Moto Chen. Chagatai chose Chen as regent, in the event of his death, to hold the position until his son came of age.

Tengoku rejects to support the Unicorn
Chagatai sent Horiuchi Rikako and Moto Tsusung to seek the aid of the Celestial Heavens against the invaders. They took the Heavenly Kobune of Suitengu and traveled to Tengoku. In the middle of a fierce storm Suitengu, the Fortune of the Seas, appeared and ordered to return them back to Ningen-do. The Heavens were displeased with the Empire and Rokugan would be punished.

Death


After his forces pushed their way into Shiro Moto, Matsu Yoshino dismissed his personal guard and engaged Moto Chagatai in single combat. The Lion Clan Champion was outmatched, and Chagatai ran him through, taking a non-mortal wound in the process. Chagatai had been locked inside the building with Yoshino, and it was set on fire. Realizing that the conflicts with the Lion would continue as long as he lived, however, Chagatai committed seppuku in order to spare the Unicorn from further death.

Legacy
His son Moto Taigo became Shogun of the Empire.