Bayushi Sozui

Bayushi Sozui
Born:	Unknown
Died:	Unknown
People

Warning : This article may contain spoilers from several first edition modules!

At first glance, Bayushi Sozui was an impressive and refined Scorpion Clan courtier. In fact, she was a skilled assassin, trained in the ways of the Shosuro Shinobi. She was also a servant of the Lying Darkness.

Birth and Childhood

Bayushi Sozui was born into the Kakita family of the Crane Clan. In 1100, when she was a child, she was supposed to be exchanged for one year with a Matsu child as an act of goodwill. Both the escorts were slaughtered by agents of the Scorpion Clan and the children were stolen in an effort to sow animosity between the Crane and Lion Clans. The Lion child was named Matsu Shimesu.

Sozui was raised as a Scorpion. Conditionned and shadow-branded by the Shosuro family in order to make her forgot her name and her origin, she became very effective as an infiltrator agent, but the process helped the Lying Darkness to claim her as one of its own.

Sodan Senzo Knowledge

In 1118 Sozui enlisted Kitsu Goden, a Kitsu Sodan Senzo who could make the ancestors of both the Lion and the Crane Cans become unhappy with the current state of affairs in the Empire. Goden began guiding certain key spirits astray, and several became yorei, souls bound to the physical world. The most prominet one of them was the spirit of Akodo Arasou, who was killed by the Crane in 1120 attempt to take Toshi Ranbo. Goden and Sozui kept their success a secret.

Kenson Gakka

Sozui as Dragonlfy courtier

This year she had devised a plan to get back the city of Kenson Gakka from the hands of the Lion Clan. Her goal was to increase the tensions between the Crane and Lion Clans. (It's not clear if this was a side effect desired by the Scorpion Clan or if she was at the time already acting for the Shadow). She infiltrated the castle as a Dragonfly courtier and assassinated Akodo Ikare, general of the place, replacing him with a Shosuro Actor. After the kidnapping of Ikare's son, the false Ikare ordered the slaughter of the Yaruki Jukko monastery, who was receiving Crane monks at the time. The only survivor was Tankenka the shinpu of the monastery. Ultimately, the Scorpion Clan's plan to take back Kenson Gakka failed, when the Lion defended it in the Battle of the Humble Turtle, but the slaughter of the monks did increase the tension between the Crane and Lion clans.

Legacy of the Forge

Sozui studied the Kitsu Archives in the Castle of the Swift Sword. There she learned of the Legacy of the Forge, faceless warrior spirits from Toshigoku who had been sealed off by the sodan senzo a long time ago. Scrolls from Kitsu Jikai theorized the spirits could be controlled with the sacrifice of kami spirits, but only when a bridge between Toshigoku and Ningen-do was made, through an epic battle.

Unknown Danger

She did not know that Shimesu had seen her, and retrieved the last part of the accounts. They told of a great danger, as long as the toshi remained in the Living World, every death by their hand would increase their number. Unless the ritual to lead them home was performed quickly, the Legacy unleashed upon the Empire would rapidly grow out of any kami's control, destroying everything it touched.

Unleashing the Legacy

Battle of the Forgotten Tide

In 1123, along with the traitor Kitsu Goden, Sozui manipulated the tensions between the Lion and Crane at Toshi Ranbo. Matsu Agame, a Lion diplomat entrenched in peace talks with the Crane had a secret relationship with Doji Meiko, the daughter of a visiting Crane general. Sozui brought the affair to light and Agame requested seppuku, which would happen in front of the armies of both clans. Sozui concealed herself in the Crane ranks and killed Agami's son, Matsu Izedan, with an arrow, who was acting as his father's second. Agame was unable to complete the cut himself, and bleed to death sobbing Meiko's name. Open fighting between the clans erupted as a result. Using the Legacy of the Forge to possess samurai from both Clans forcing them into the Battle of the Forgotten Tide. Eventually, she was exposed and defeated by a small band of samurai. Sozui fled using her abilities as a shadowspawn, but not before she killed Tankenka, the shikken who had been sent as peacemaker, and former shinpu of Yaruki Jukko.

Last Piece of the Ritual

Sozui and Goden followed the tracks of the last part of the ritual, that had been hidden in one of the many hirajiro in the Plains of Battle. The outpost was guarded by a demon, Giama no Oni, and the Lying Darkness stole the oni's name, through the Shadow Brand Sozui had. Giama went mad, but was able to force the couple back.

Shiro no Yojin

Goden and Sozui decided to unleash the Legacy at another point where the tensions between Crane and Lion was high, Shiro no Yojin. They infiltrated the castle as Lion reinforcements. During the Battle for Shiro no Yojin they were exposed by the same group of samurai who were tracking them down, but she and Goden used their Shadow powers to avoid pursuit. The samurai managed to perform a ritual that released the Legacy from Ningen-do, and the spirits took Goden's life. However, Sozui survived the day.

Preparing the Scorpion Coup

Sozui was in Otosan Uchi prior to the Scorpion Coup, where she acted to increase the instability and chaos in the city in order to facilitate the coup. She tried to bring forth and form an army for the Lying Darkness. She tried to recruit from a Yaruki Jukko monastery, created in Otosan Uchi after the Kenson Gakka massacre. In the persona of Ikoma Shoniko she had begun a romance with Tokiuji, a manipulable sosha, and planted in his mind the seeds of dissension among the masses. In the persona of Hiruma Maroke she planted herself as assistant to Kuni Fujiko, the Crab ambassador in the Court. Since Maroke's first appearance in the Imperial Court, tension had spiraled out of control, and violent debates frequently happened. One of the worst topics was the potential for another peasant uprising in the Karada district.

See also

• Bayushi Sozui/Meta

References

Sources Conflict The sources relating to this article are in conflict with each other.

The module Legacy of the Forge was written to happen before the Scorpion Coup (In the story, Bayushi Sozui still works for her Clan). Later, the timeline from the Third Edition placed the event from Legacy of the Forge during the following year of the Scorpion Coup.

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