| Please note: This article is about the wealthy Imperial. For other uses of the term, please see Akio (disambiguation). |
Otomo Akio was a wealthy courtier of the Imperial Families.
Station[]
Akio was a cunning, manipulative, and ruthless politician, expert in identifying and intensifying existing political rivalries and resentments, granted by heritage of his Scorpion grandmother. He created divisions and then stepped in to play the peacemaker and conciliator, quickly risen through the Second City bureaucracy. Not quite thirty years old, the handsome courtier and a rising star was appointed as karo to the Chancellor of the Left. Doji Shumiko was appointed as his own karo and Seppun Hoitsu as his personal champion. [1] Akio took residence in the Fuan-ti's Tower, within the Imperial District, in a large personal estate that dominated much of the tower's thirdhighest floor. [2]
Maneuvering at Court[]
Akio disliked the Scorpion as a whole, and did not pass any opportunity to outmaneuver them in court. He believed the Otomo was the natural political counterbalance to the Crane, and worked to make the Scorpion a minor force in the Colonies. Akio singled out for his particular attention the most competent Scorpion politician, Bayushi Toshiko, turning their rivalry into something of a game. [3] Akio was interested in another courtier, Doji Nikaitsu, because his behavior was atypical and it broke the routine of the Second City. The Crane eventually committed seppuku, pressed by an investigation performed by a group of samurai. [4]
Art Collector[]
Akio was obssesed with the gaijin artifacts of the Ivory Kingdoms, and gathered in his home all those he could. In 1198 the murder of the Imperial Governor of the Colonies had led to new and more rigid policies about monitoring all traffic in and out of the district. Because these items had not undergone the required inspection to ensure there was no danger to the people of the Second City, he had them brought into the Imperial District discreetly. He knew the recently appointed Mistress of the Gates, Seppun Toriko, as Akio once had spared her father a significant disgrace. Forced by this debt of honor, Toriko arranged to smuggle the artifacts through a gate she personally oversaw. [5]
Commercial Contacts[]
Akio met Doji Chonitsu, a well connected courtier who also traded with ancient artifacts. He was impressed when Chonitsu arranged his invitation to the House of the Sparrow's Song, the most elite geisha house in the city. The two men met regularly, trading each other several nemuranai. Unknown to Akio, Chonitsu was actually a Rakshasa, Raniyah the Sly, a immortal tiger-spirit who was seeking artifacts to release her kin, locked away in a spiritual trap a milennia ago. [6]
Supporting Chonitsu[]
His protegee Miya Ichiko was the local magistrate of Kalani's Landing. Akio ordered her to block any investigation in the activities of the merchant Daidoji Iyashi, Chonitsu's local contact. Iyashi had got into mercantile tussles with both Yasuki Kappako and Yoritomo Hokare regarding a jade mine. [7]
Contact with the Spider[]
Akio deeply despised the Spider Clan, but Spider Conquerors were most of the Rokugani who scoured the jungles of the Colonies. He approached the Head of the Spider delegation, Susumu Minoru. The Imperial requested that any temple found be destroyed and any native Ivinda to be killed, as they could be remnants of the Cult of the Destroyer. Chonitsu had manipulated him to urge the Spider to stronger action against the natives of the Ivory Kingdoms. [8]
Under Investigation[]
Eventually, Akio was intervewed by a group of samurai who were interested in Chonitsu's activities. [9] Akio became aware the group of samurai were digging into his affairs, and sent several of his agents to take care of them. His actions backfired and he finally cooperated, explaining what he knew about Chonitsu. The samurai believed he was not truly a human, but a supernatural threat. The Imperial show his nemuranai to them, as Chonitsu had seemed interested in one of the items. A crossbow bolt had its shaft carved with the symbols of Vishnu, [10] the dead god a milennia ago defeated and imprisoned the majority of the Rakshasa race. [11]
See also[]
References
- ↑ Second City - The Campaign, pp. 49-50, 54, 62
- ↑ Second City - The City, p. 17
- ↑ Second City - The Campaign, p. 54
- ↑ Whispered Secrets, pp. 2, 10
- ↑ Second City - The City, p. 15
- ↑ Second City - The Campaign, pp. 5, 18
- ↑ Second City - The Campaign, pp. 30-31
- ↑ Second City - The Campaign, p. 66
- ↑ Second City - The Campaign, p. 52
- ↑ Second City - The Campaign, pp. 69-71
- ↑ Second City - The Campaign, p. 5
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