| Doji Tanitsu | |
|---|---|
| |
| Born: | Unknown |
| Died: | 1169 |
| Spouse: | Kakita Nanami |
| Titles: | Imperial Advisor |
| People | |
Doji Tanitsu, born of two minor functionaries in Toturi's household rose to the position of Imperial Advisor during the reign of Toturi III.
Demeanor[]
Considered as "The Face of the Crane," Tanitsu was almost always very open and honest and had an infectiously cheerful demeanour. His good nature and forthrightness blinded those who did not know him, and his unprecedented skills at manipulation did the rest. He rarely used his skills unless it directly benefited the Crane Clan. [1] Tanitsu liked to paint to relax. [2]
Youth and Training[]
Despite being relatively young he quickly became one of the most prominent courtiers of the Crane Clan, attending the prestigious Kyuden Doji Dojo. [3]
Toturi's Heirs[]
He was a childhood friend with all of Toturi I's three children. [4] [5]
Toturi Sezaru[]
Even as a child Sezaru had been thought of as the odd child, more brooding and serious than his siblings. It was Tanitsu though that always made the effort to include him in their games, and who never judged him because he was different. [4]
Hantei Naseru[]
As children, before Naseru was handed over to the tutelage of Hantei XVI, Naseru and Tanitsu had often played games of go or sadane in the Imperial Gardens each attempting to out manoeuvre or prove themselves more cunning than the other. [4]
Toturi Tsudao[]
Once, for a short time in their teenage years, they had been even more than friends. [4] Tanitsu planned to court Tsudao after his gempukku, but Toturi Kaede intervened. She spoke to Tanitsu as the Oracle of Void about the outcome of his plan. She told him that Tsudao would never accomplish her destiny as the daughter of the emperor and Amaterasu's heir and that she did not love him. [6] After hearing the prophecy, Tanitsu exiled himself from Otosan Uchi with a heavy heart to the Lion lands. [4]
Kaneka[]
At Ryoko Owari court Tanitsu met Kaneka, who had not yet publicly claimed to be the illegitimate son of Toturi, but there were those who were aware of his lineage. [7] The ronin did not see Tanitsu as yet another perfumed and pampered Crane. When Kaneka lived as a ronin and few would accept him, it was a young Crane named Tanitsu who wrote down his tale and brought it to the courts in his book The Forgotten Son, [8] a chronicle which to this day was kept in a place of honor in Shiro Akodo. Tanitsu sought out Akodo Kaneka seeking to put as much distance between himself and Toturi as possible. [4] Tanitsu was said to have increased Kaneka's support within the Crane by telling Doji Kurohito that they would be "taking the raw ore of bushido veined deep within his soul and forging him into the hero our Empire needs." [9]
Kakita Munemori[]
In his later life, he was taken under the wing of Kakita Munemori, [10] [4] considering him a friend and sensei. [11] Tanitsu also began a close relationship with his predecessor Ide Tadaji.
The Four Winds[]
Courting Kakita Nanami[]
Eventually, Tanitsu returned to Otosan Uchi, but had not forgotten Tsudao. Anyhow he began to court Kakita Nanami, a beautiful Crane diplomat he had met during his travels. [4] Nanami knew that Tanitsu's heart still belonged to Tsudao, so Nanami would not be wed to a man who loved another. [1]
Preparations of the Winter Court[]
Courtier Tanitsu
Due to his relationship with each of the winds, he was approached by Miya Shoin and Ide Tadaji to help rebuild the Imperial Court. [6] The Four Winds issued invitations to the Emperor's Winter Court. Court would held in the ruling house of the clan most favored by the Imperial Family. The location of the court had left in the hands of the representatives of the Great Clans. [12] Tanitsu was the Crane member who had to to vie for their favor of one of the Winds. [13]
Tanitsu was one of the very few people in Rokugan who could claim to be on friendly terms with all of the Four Winds, although he was particularly close with Toturi Tsudao. [4] [13] He was one of the few men in the Empire who could rightly call both the Emperor and Shogun friend, a man of peace and calm diplomacy.
In his role as advisor to Doji Kurohito, he suggested the following marriages should each of the winds be crowned emperor. [13]
- Toturi Tsudao - Doji Nagori
- Hantei Naseru - Kakita Kyruko
- Toturi Sezaru - Asahina Kimita
- Kaneka - Kakita Nanami
Failed Winter Court at Kyuden Miya[]
After Tanitsu decided on Nanami to be Kaneka's betrothed, he still wished to support Tsudao at Court. Tsudao believed it to be a plan of the romantic Tanitsu; a clever courtier would offer a damsel to the Lions and then rescue her single-handedly. After the Pekkle no Oni attack however, the Winter Court came to an abrupt end and the Crane could no longer attempt to arrange the marriages to the Four Winds. [2]
Test of the Jade Champion[]
The unexpected march of Toturi Tsudao to Lion lands would leaving the contest without the impartial master of ceremony. Tsudao proposed Tanitsu as her replacement, and Hantei Naseru had to acept. [14]
Toturi II[]
After the Fall of Otosan Uchi and selfproclamation of Toturi II as Empress Toturi II with her capital in Kyuden Seppun Tanitsu arranged his assignment to Kyuden Seppun merely because he knew Tsudao the best. [4] Kaneka marched his troops to Otosan Uchi, to attempt to restore order within the city. Tanitsu met him, to find out Kaneka's true plans for the Empire as Shogun. A group of samurai who was guarding Tanitsu defeated a group of assassins who had come to kill Kaneka. [15]
Kyuden Otomo[]
After the destruction of Otosan Uchi, it was Tanitsu that courted the Otomo family and convinced them that their new home should be built within the Crane lands. [4]
Manipulated by Kakita Munemori[]
To achieve it Tanitsu got an information given by Kakita Munemori, respect the Imperial Chancellor's son Bayushi Ogura and rumors about a Shadowed Tower in the City of Lies. After Tanitsu mentioned them both in a conversation Bayushi Kaukatsu withdrew to vie the Otomo's favor. [4]
Empress' Return[]
Ide Tadaji and Miya Shoin summoned Tanitsu in Kyuden Seppun. They believed Tanitsu could be the natural succesor of Tadaji, having the political acumen to see that the new Emperor would rule with wisdom and justice, and he was a friend of each of the Four Winds. Surprisingly Toturi Kaede, Empress of Rokugan and Oracle of Void, appeared from the Dragonlands in front of them. Kaede requested to send messages to the Four Winds to be gathered around her. She had came to name the new Emperor, but before Daigotsu must be defeated. [16]
Death of Tsudao[]
In the Four Winds March Tsudao died, [17] and it affected greatly to Tanitsu. He did not look well, having lost some weight and taken on a decidedly pale aspect. [18]
Kaneka Betrothed[]
Doji Akiko had invited Kaneka to join the Phoenix Clan, the closest ally of the Crane, to have access to the military might of the Shogun if a conflict appeared. Akiko and Tanitsu came to met Kaneka at Shiro Shiba to cement an alliance between Kaneka and the Crane, offfering a bride, Doji Yasuyo. Kaneka requested a meeting with Yasuyo before accept. [18] Tanitsu was sometimes used as courier between the betrothed. [11]
Imperial Advisor[]
Imperial Advisor Tanitsu
The brilliant but ailing Imperial Advisor Ide Tadaji selected Tanitsu to succeed him once a new Emperor was chosen. He learned that his beloved Tsudao had died during the Four Winds March, and Tanitsu rose to the position of Imperial Advisor in 1160, when Hantei Naseru became emperor Toturi III. [7]
Third Raise of Iuchiban[]
In 1166 Tanitsu told the Emperor that Isawa Sezaru was still missing after the battle he fought against a massive bloodspeaker army. The Jade Champion, Asahina Sekawa, told Tanitsu he felt the Sezaru's hunters were unnecessary, an unchecked chaotic force that interfered with his Jade Magistrates. If the Emperor placed the hunters in his command, he would dismiss them. Naseru could not undo his previous Edict, due to difficulties at the time. [19]
Enmity[]
Once sensei and student, Munemori and Tanitsu became bitter opponents. The two were often brought into conflict by the machinations of their common enemy, Bayushi Kaukatsu. [20]
Daigotsu Soetsu[]
When in 1167 Daigotsu Soetsu was presented to the Imperial Court, Tanitsu was given the task of interviewing their "guest" in Scorpion lands. [21]
Empress Kurako[]
Tanitsu followed to serve as an advisor to the Empress Toturi Kurako, who acted as regent after the death of her husband, Emperor Toturi III. [22] During the first days of the regency he counseled against to reinstaurate the Protector of the Imperial City, warned Kaukatsu was an adversary, and about the Khan Moto Chagatai's ambitions. She did not follow Tanitsu's advices. [23]
Death[]
In 1169 the Unicorn arrived to the city during the last stage of the Khan's Defiance. Kurako moved the Court to safety and sealed the Imperial Throne room. He decided to stand with Kakita Matabei in the antechamber of the Throne room. [24] Tanitsu was killed by Unicorn forces storming the palace during the Khan Moto Chagatai's assault upon the capital Toshi Ranbo wo Shien Shite Reigisaho in 1169. In his possession at the time was a haiku clearly written about his love for Toturi Tsudao.
I go to her now
Perfect blossom, brilliant blade The one true Empress.-[25]
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See also[]
External Links[]
- Doji Tanitsu (Gold)
- Doji Tanitsu Exp (Winds of Change)
- Doji Tanitsu Exp2 (Diamond)
| Preceded by: Ide Tadaji |
Imperial Advisor 1160 - 1169 |
Succeeded by: Daigotsu Susumu |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Secrets of the Crane, p. 47
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Secrets on the Wind - Part 3, by Rich Wulf and Shawn Carman
- ↑ Secrets of the Crane, pp. 47-48
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 Undone, by Shawn Carman and Rich Wulf
- ↑ Way of the Samurai, p. 25
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Winds of Change, by Rich Wulf
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Four Winds, p. 66
- ↑ A Forgotten Saga, Part 1, by Shawn Carman
- ↑ Homecoming, by Shawn Carman
- ↑ The Forgotten Son, by Rich Wulf
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 The Forgotten Son, by Rich Wulf
- ↑ Secrets on the Wind - Prologue, by Rich Wulf
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Secrets on the Wind - Part 1, by Rich Wulf and Shawn Carman
- ↑ Test of the Jade Champion, Part I
- ↑ Four Winds, pp. 47-48
- ↑ Rulebook Story (Winds of Change), by Rich Wulf
- ↑ A New Emperor, by Rich Wulf
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Homecoming, by Shawn Carman
- ↑ Rulebook Story (Web of Lies), by Rich Wulf
- ↑ Four Winds, p. 150
- ↑ Test of Enlightenment, part 2, by Shawn Carman
- ↑ The Truest Test, Part 1, by Shawn Carman
- ↑ Battle Lines, by Nancy Sauer
- ↑ The Truest Test, Part 2, by the Legend of the Five Rings Story Team
- ↑ The Truest Test, Part 3, by the Legend of the Five Rings Story Team
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