| Ikoma Ujiaki (TCG) | |
|---|---|
| |
| Born: | Unknown |
| Died: | 12th day of the Month of Togashi, 1123 |
| People | |
Ikoma Ujiaki was the Ambassador of the Lion Clan to the Imperial Court. [1]
Courtier[]
As a young bushi, Ujiaki had been severely injured in battle, and had never regained the full use of his sword arm. To hide it, he had boasted about his recovered strength, only to be defeated in a training exercise by a young Akodo Arasou, then barely more than a child preparing for his gempuku. He had then been silently dismissed from the military and sent to Otosan Uchi to serve as a courtier instead. His brash, inexperienced approach to court politics embarrassed himself every time he opened his mouth. Eventually, Akodo Kage interceded on his behalf, magnanimously asking the Ikoma Daimyō Ikoma Anakazu to mentor him for a time. [2]
Raising Tensions with the Crane and the Unicorn[]
In 1122 Ujiaki knew the Lion Clan could benefit from inflaming tensions between the Crane and Mantis Clan. To foster hostilities, he charged the spies of the Ikoma family with arranging for the Mantis to be invited to the Imperial Winter Court at Kyūden Doji. After bribery and negotiating with the Imperial bureaucracy failed, an Ikoma shinobi, Ikoma Rumiko, forged an invitation for the Mantis. [3] During the raising tensions between the Lion and the Crane Clan, Ujiaki despised the behaviour of his new Champion Akodo Toturi. He pondered with Akodo Matoko about those who had treasured his connections with the Crane, even in the face of ultimate betrayal. Ujiaki was part of the Lion contigent who assisted to the marriage of his Lord to Isawa Kaede. [4] Eventually Ujiaki met Toturi, pondering the encounters between some members of the Lion and Unicorn delegations, in which the Lion had expressed their displeasure for the breaking betrothal between the Ikoma Daimyō and Shinjo Altansarnai, the Unicorn Clan Champion. Shortly after Toturi won the Test of the Emerald Champion. [5]
Kunshu[]
In 1123 Seppun Michiko reported to Ujiaki that the Emperor Hantei the Thirty-Eighth would soon draw upon tradition and put Kunshu the Ancestral Sword of the Hantei, under the care of one of the clans until the Crown Prince Hantei Sotorii was ready to ascend the throne. [6]
Emperor's Death[]
After a series of disturbing events, which included the Emperor's death, the disappearance of Akodo Toturi, altogether with Prince Hantei Daisetsu, and the shugenja Iuchi Shahai, the acting Emerald Champion Agasha Sumiko appointed the Scorpion Clan Champion Bayushi Shoju as the Imperial Regent, as it was written by Toturi in an Imperial Edict sealed by the late Emperor himself. [7]
Imperial Regents[]
The Lion and Unicorn were not officially at war, but Altansarnai's aggression was being ignored by the new Scorpion regent. As the conflict continued, and with the lack of proper Lion leadership, the Lion Army's supply became shortened. Ikoma Anakazu and Ujiaki devised a strategy after analyzing information from all the supply lines, and they sent Ikoma Ayano to Ikoma Tsanuri, ordering to take Onon Village, a bordering Unicorn village, for supplies. [8] Ide Tadaji pleaded that the Imperial Regent intervene in the Lion's invasion of Unicorn lands, a petition which was backed by Asako Togama, the Asako Daimyō, alongside with Doji Fumiki. Shoju denied Tadaji's request. [9] Eventually Toturi and Sumiko appeared together at Imperial Court and resigned from their posts, accusing Shoju as the person behing the regicide of the late Emperor. [10] Shoju was removed as a Regent an replaced with the Imperial Chancellor Kakita Yoshi who quickly ordered the Lion to remove their troops from Crane and Unicorn territory, and to end their agression. Ujiaki confronted these orders at Court, and the new Regent dismissed Ujiaki as the Lion ambassador at Court. He pondered the situation with Akodo Kage, Matsu Hiroru and the newly arrived Kitsu Motso, and Ujiaki decided to broke an alliance with the former Regent, Bayushi Shoju, against their common enemy, the Crane Clan. [11] The self-proclaimed Lion Champion Matsu Tsuko had perished during the assault of Kyūden Kakita, [2] when the Crane stronghold was destroyed by the defenders using gaijin pepper. [12]
A Black Scroll is Opened[]
After a meeting with Shoju, Soshi Angai visited Ujiaki and accepted the Lion's aid to help Shoju to escape his imprisonment. Ujiaki arranged for a diversion, and had a detachment of Lion troops located nearby, in case it was needed assistance in covering of Shoju's escape. The Scorpion Champion reached safely to a Black Watch compound in the Hojize District. There, Shoju eventually opened a Black Scroll which gave him a complete revelation of the most personal, most hidden secrets of the man that was Ujiaki. [13] Shoju convinced Ujiaki to claim leadership of the leaderless Imperial Legions, mostly consisted on Lion soldiers, to retake the Capital with the support of Scorpion forces stationed there. Led by Ujiaki, the Lion and Scorpion forces smashed through the southern gates of the Forbidden City, scattering the fragmented units of the Army of the Rising Wave and swallowing Seppun Ishikawa's trapped guards. [2]
Death[]
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Ikoma Ujiaki
An assembled army of Crane, Lion, Phoenix, Scorpion, and Unicorn samurai began the assault of the capital. The Army of the Rising Waves joined them, quarreling the usurpers within the Forbidden City. News arrived that Hida Kisada had fallen, and Akuma no Oni's horde marched across their provinces with the discipline of a well-trained Shadowlands army. In the twelfth day of the Month of Togashi, during the first skirmishes in the vicinity of the Miwaku Kabe phantom forms emerged from the ground to fight against the attackers, and oni bolstered the defenders. Kitsu Chiemi summoned the soul of the late Lion Champion Akodo Arasou, who spoke the truth to the Lion, exhorting Lion and Imperial forces to put down arms. Ujiaki was cut down by the Unicorn Clan Champion Shinjo Altansarnai. [14]
External Links[]
- Ikoma Ujiaki (For Honor and Glory)
- Ikoma Ujiaki (Peace at Any Cost)
References
- ↑ A Most Suitable Teacher, by Katrina Ostrander
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 The Villain’s Mask, by Mari Murdock
- ↑ Winter's Embrace, pp. 2, 5, 14
- ↑ Service and Sacrifice, by Mari Murdock
- ↑ The Bright Flames of the World’s Glory, by Nancy M. Sauer
- ↑ Kunshu 2019 Clan Letters
- ↑ Behind the Empty Throne, by Mari Murdock
- ↑ Cold Autumn Harvests, by Marie Brennan
- ↑ Courtly Nets and Hidden Snares, by Mari Murdock
- ↑ The Last Leaf Falls, by D.G. Laderoute
- ↑ The Careful Gardener, by Annie VanderMeer
- ↑ Daidoji, by Nancy M. Sauer
- ↑ A Worthy Opponent, by D.G. Laderoute
- ↑ Heroes of Legend: Chapter Four, by Josiah “Duke” Harrist
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