| Bayushi Kachiko (TCG) | |
|---|---|
| |
| Born: | Unknown |
| Died: | - |
| Siblings: | Shosuro Hametsu |
| Spouse: | Bayushi Shoju |
| Children: | Bayushi Dairu |
| Titles: | Imperial Advisor |
| People | |
Shosuro Kachiko, the Mistress of Secrets [1] and Lady of Whispers, [2] joined the Bayushi as Bayushi Kachiko when she married the Scorpion Clan Champion Bayushi Shoju. [3]
Training[]
Kachiko learned the art of manipulation in the Hall of Lies. She amassed power by denying it to others, tempting and deceiving and killing until she was a force to be reckoned with in her own right. [4]
Yōjimbō[]
Doji Hotaru, daughter of the Crane Clan Champion Doji Satsume, was appointed as her yōjimbō. Eventually Kachiko was captured by Inazuma no Gendo, who kept her captive atop the highest floor of his keep. Kachiko was saved by Hotaru when the Crane warriors had begun the assault on the keep, which would be known as the Battle of Ice and Snow. [4] Kachiko had got to know Hotaru very well while they were enjoying Mantis hospitality together. Their first kiss was atop the keep in the snowstorm. [5]
Dangerous Beauty[]
Kachiko was regarded as the most desirable woman in Rokugan. She bore a son with Bayushi Shoju, Bayushi Dairu. [6] The Scorpion Champion had wed her after Yogo astrologers had warned that she must become the champion's wife to avert a calamity befalling the clan. [7] Theirs had not been a marriage of love, convenience, or station. Theirs had been a marriage of power. He, a ferocious strategic mastermind, and she, a brilliant political architect. As the two most formidable Scorpion born in the last generation, they had been joined by their clan in the hope that their combined strength would raise the Scorpion like a hidden wave to its apex in the Empire. [8] Shosuro Takeru was her most trusted retainer [9] Bayushi Aramoro, Shoju's half-brother, was her personal yōjimbō. Kachiko had a body double, Asami, to be used when needed. [10]
Secret Lover[]
Kachiko and Hotaru
Kachiko met her former yōjimbō, Doji Hotaru, [4] on the 27th Day of the Month of Togashi, 1118, in a private garden of the Esteemed Palaces of the Crane. The Crane tried to discern the nature of the Scorpion's scheme from Kachiko, but eventually Hotaru and Kachiko fell in love during this meeting. [11] Kachiko told the relationship to her husband, as part of their wedding agreement. [12]
Imperial Advisor[]
Kachiko replaced the former Imperial Advisor Kakita Ryoku [13] whe she was appointed by Hantei the Thirty-Eighth as his closest advisor. Despite it, she saw the Emperor as a weak man, and began to press her husband to take a more direct approach in the Empire's matters. [6] The Otomo Daimyō Otomo Sorai sought her aid to avoid a coalition between the Crane, Dragon, Phoenix and Unicorn Clans. [9]
Winter Court at Kyūden Doji[]
In 1122 Kyūden Doji hosted the Imperial Winter Court, in part to celebrate the recent ascension of Doji Hotaru to the role of Crane Clan Champion. Kachiko attended the event, as well as Kakita Ryoku and her apprentice, Doji Chiyoe, who had been proposed as spouse to the Crown Prince Hantei Sotorii. Kachiko plotted to delay Chiyoe's betrothal, allowing other maidens to be proposed as brides to the Prince. [14]
Satsume's Death[]
The Scorpion Clan's grip on the Imperial Court grew even tighter after Doji Satsume passed away, the father of her secret lover Doji Hotaru. Some guessed the involvement of her Clan and even her own brother Shosuro Hametsu on the death of the Emerald Champion and former Crane Clan Champion. Kachiko met Hotaru who had traveled to Otosan Uchi to learn what she could about her father's death. [1]
Emerald Tournament[]
Kachiko lobbied to the Emperor for the appointment of Bayushi Aramoro as acting Emerald Champion, but the Hantei dismissed her suggestion, in favor of a selection through the customary Emerald Tournament. [9] Kachiko managed the Emperor issued an Imperial Edict announcing that no Imperial Laws would be ammended, repealed, proposed or enacted until a new Emerald Champion would be selected through the Emerald Tournament to fill the current vacant post. It rendered pointless an Unicorn petition to give Imperial status to Toshi Ranbo, a city contested by the Crane and Lion Clans. The Crane representative Kakita Yuri owed Kachiko a favor for such edict, which he regarded as necessary to keep the well-being of his daughter Kakita Asami, hostage to the Lion until until negotiations in Otosan Uchi had finished. [15] Bayushi Yojiro, as an Emerald Magistrate, was given control over planning the Emerald Championship tournament. Kachiko asked him to sabotage the tournament, to use his crafting to ensure Bayushi Aramoro became Emerald Champion. Yojiro gave to his sister Otomo Mikuru a kanzashi with mirrored beads, and she had to use it during the tournament to blind Aramoro's opponent during the final duel. Should the mirror's reflection be contested, Mikuru must offer to commit seppuku for the dishonor of the accident. [16] Akodo Toturi, Aramoro's final opponent, managed to overcome his blinded eyes. The Lion Clan Champion became the winner and new Emerald Champion. [17] Kachiko personally blamed the failure on Yojiro, who had warned Toturi about the Scorpion trick. [18]
Emperor's Death[]
Kachiko and Aramoro were the first to knew about the patricide of the Emperor at the hands of the Prince Hantei Sotorii, soon after the Prince knew his father's decision to abdicate and join the Brotherhood of Shinsei, in order to elevate his second son, Hantei Daisetsu, as the Emperor. Kachiko took proper measures to hide the murder, keeping Sotorii as a suitable heir for the Emperor's position. It included killing other witnesses, such as her servant Aiko, gaining the willful support of the Miya Daimyō Miya Satoshi, who wished to preserve the honor of the Hantei, or using the service of the Nightingale, a Bayushi specialized in removing any evidence of the murder. She sent Aramoro to kill Toturi, who had written the abdication Imperial Edict. [12] Aramoro ambushed Toturi, who managed to kill two shinobi assailants before Aramore mortally wounded him. Unbeknownst to Aramoro, Toturi's spirit was forced by his wife Akodo Kaede to remain in the Mortal Realm, instead to pass into Meido, and Toturi survived. [19]
Shoju's Regency[]
Kachiko reported Shoju that the Hantei had died, murdered by his son Sotorii with the ancestral Hantei blade, in a burst of rage. She also brought with her the Emperor's edict, instead to be protected by the Emerald Champion, Akodo Toturi, who had gone missing. Shoju pressed Kachiko, who confessed she had plotted to maintain Sotorii as the Crown Prince in these dire hours instead to follow the late Emperor's desire, expecting to blackmail the new Emperor into compliance with their wishes. Her husband commanded to find Daisetsu and bring the Prince to his presence. [20] Agasha Sumiko, as acting Emerald Champion, proclaimed Shoju as regent, but delayed the announce of Sotorii to abdicate his claim upon the throne at Shoju's request. [8]
Exiled[]
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Bayushi Kachiko
After disputing with Shoju in the aftermath of the Emperor’s death, Kachiko had been exiled to Toshi Ranbo, far from the Imperial City of Otosan Uchi, and held under house arrest for treason, under the protection of Chief Magistrate Bayushi Yojiro. [4] She left Otosan Uchi in the company of the Bayushi Elite Guard. Shoju had instructed Yojiro on the conditions of her stay: conditions that would prevent her from undermining Shoju's duty any further. [8] During her stay the city was surrounded by the Crane armies, with Hotaru at the head. She wished to reassert her Clan's claim over Toshi Ranbo, but first, Hotaru would attempt diplomacy. [5] Kachiko was instrumental to arrange that Yojiro would permit the Crane Clan forces to reinforce those of the Imperial Legion's and winter there, while Hotaru would accept the Chief Magistrate's authority there as the Emperor's chief enforcer. Privately, Kachiko reported to Hotaru that Sotorii's regicide, and she confessed her involvement in the the cover-up, Aramoro's assignment against Toturi, and that Shoju had exiled to Toshi Ranbo for treason. [21]
Passing the Mantle[]
In the 8th day of the Month of Hida news arrived regarding Shoju had regained the regency with the support of the Lion and the Imperial Legions, and also his declaration as an ally of the Shadowlands, which stripped him of his status as Scorpion Champion. Dairu was not yet of age, so Kachiko became the new Champion and in turn she passed the mantle to Yojiro, who accepted it. Shortly after her beloved Hotaru was challenged by her brother Doji Kuwanan, exposing her as Kachiko's former lover, based on a letter alleguedly written by Hotaru to her father Satsume. Kachiko guessed the letter was a forgery planted by her brother Hametsu, and eventually Kuwanan conceded defeat. Three days later a Lion army appeared at the gates of Toshi Ranbo, commanded by the Lion Clan Champion Matsu Tsuko. [22]
Shoju's Death[]
In the 12th day of the Month of Togashi, Ishikawa and Kachiko helped Hitomi to sneak her within the Forbidden Palace. Her son, Bayushi Dairu, had donned Itsuwari, the Ancestral Sword of the Scorpion, to Hitomi. By tradition, Itsuwari was supposed to strike down the Scorpion Champion if he ever betrays the Empire. Kachiko killed Soshi Angai, one of Shoju's guards, Shosuro Ibuki was killed by Ishikawa, leaving only Yogo Itoju as the last enemy between them and the usurper. Hitomi crossed the doors of the Imperial Throne room wielding Itsuwari, and struck Shoju down in personal combat with her wakizashi. [23]
Aftermath[]
Kachiko and her son moved to the Esteemed Palaces of the Crane, keeping her at a distance of the capital would allow Yojiro the time and space needed to repair the clan's reputation. [24]
River of Gold[]
Shosuro Hyobu had managed to triple her fortune during her tenure as governor of the City of Lies. Kachiko visited her former teacher to question Hyobu about that. Recent pirate attacks had been harming Scorpion interest's in the River of Gold, and Hyobu agreed that Kachiko would deal with the “the pirate prince”, Bakuchiku, and the governor would return the favor. [25] When the Great Clans learned that Yoritomo was seeking to put an end to the river pirate threat, they approached with many offers. Yoritomo found the pirate's sanctuary, a tea house within Friendly Traveler Village. The Son of Storms bribed Bakuchiku's officer and attacked his fleet by surprise. Yoritomo single handely defeated and killed the Prince Pirate. [26]
External Links[]
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Bayushi Kachiko
- Bayushi Kachiko (Into the Forbidden City)
- Bayushi Kachiko (Atonement)
- Bayushi Kachiko (Print and Play)
| Preceded by: Kakita Ryoku |
Imperial Advisor ? - Present |
Succeeded by: - |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Her Father's Daughter, by D. G. Laderoute
- ↑ Kunshu 2019 Clan Letters
- ↑ Legend of the Five Rings: The Card Game
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Caged Birds, by Katrina Ostrander
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Violence Behind Courtliness, by Katrina Ostrander
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 The World, A Stage, by D. G. Laderoute
- ↑ The Villain’s Mask, by Mari Murdock
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Behind the Empty Throne, by Mari Murdock
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Blind Ambition, by D. G. Laderoute
- ↑ A Simple Test, by Mari Murdock
- ↑ Legend of the Five Rings - Roleplaying, pp. 4-5
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 The Last Stone Played, by Robert Denton III
- ↑ Winter's Embrace, p. 17
- ↑ Winter's Embrace, pp. 2, 9, 17
- ↑ Court Games (The Chrysanthemum Throne fiction), by D. G. Laderoute
- ↑ Honor, Loyalty, Duty, by Mari Murdock
- ↑ The Bright Flames of the World’s Glory, by Nancy M. Sauer
- ↑ Whispers of Shadow and Steel, by Mari Murdock
- ↑ Falling Stars, by Mari Murdock
- ↑ Black and White, by D.G. Laderoute
- ↑ Truth and Lies, by Katrina Ostrander
- ↑ Heroes of Legend – Chapter One, by D.G. Laderoute
- ↑ Heroes of Legend: Chapter Five, by Marie Brennan
- ↑ The Battle of Cherry Blossom Snow: Epilogue, by Robert Denton III and Marie Brennan with Katrina Ostrander
- ↑ River of Gold Part 4, by Robert Denton III
- ↑ River of Gold Part 6, by Robert Denton III
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